But she's deep

IF Julianna Erdesz doesn't claim Nevada's first-ever Miss America tiara two weeks from now at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, those bitches who run the pageant will have some explaining to do. In addition to explaining why they picked Las Vegas -- the global epicenter of gambling, hookers and false promises -- to showcase 52 exemplars of wholesome, all-American femininity.

Mostly onstage effervescence and teeth whiteners and practiced personal best, modern-day pageants are miles away from anything like Sunday school, but is exposing all that earnestness to our world-class, corporate iniquity a good idea?

Long before 2007 Miss Teen USA Pageant gave us South Carolina glam girl Caitlin Upton's gut-busting deconstruction of why one-fifth of Americans -- sorry, that's U.S. Americans -- can't find their homeland on a map, beauty queens have fascinated us.

Why would young women subject themselves to such scrutiny? Are the crown, $50,000 in scholarship money and 12 months on the daytime talk show circuit really worth the fulsome talent contests, enhanced media interrogations and all that mandatory graciousness?

Well, yeah. Winning Miss America would open the door on a brighter future. Isn't that what this country is all about?

It's this brand of hope that motivates Erdesz, the first American-born daughter of parents who fled communist rule in Hungary and whose American dream initially meant five years of crushing poverty here while the family lived in an RV.

Under that tiny, gossamer crown, smart-asses, is an arsenal of hope and persistence. The kind that kept Erdesz coming back to compete in the Miss Nevada Pageant three times before she finally won the title in mid-July 2008. It's the same species of tenacity that got her into the renowned American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, and the same tenacity that's motivated her to set her sights on a master's at the New School University in Manhattan - which she hopes to parlay into an eventual Broadway career. It also spurred Erdesz to found Arts Reach, an education and advocacy program for at-risk youth.

During a recent interview, to her credit, the 24-year-old Reno resident gracefully deflected our digs at Miss America's on-location incongruity or the anachronism that is the modern televised beauty contest -- and did what beauty queen contestants do best: sell themselves.

CityLife: What is a typical day for Miss Nevada?

Julianna Erdesz: I've been up since 8 o'clock. I go to the gym, then I spend about an hour just going through e-mail and the news. Today, I've got a talent rehearsal in half an hour; that's two hours a day now that it's coming down to the wire. After that I have a seamstress appointment for alterations.

CL: I keep forgetting that a good amount of this competition is costume changes. How many outfits will you go through in the Miss America pageant?

JE: Only three or four outfits a day.

CL: Only. Sounds like my day. Velvet smoking jacket for lounging at breakfast. Then, a quick dip into my leg warmers for the gym, followed by dirty trousers and a Smiths T-shirt for the office. Would you agree keeping it professional is so thankless?

JE: This experience has been absolutely wonderful. I got involved with because Miss America is the No. 1 supplier of scholarships ... That's why I became involved.

CL: You're a pageant vet, having won Miss Reno-Sparks in 2003, Miss UNR in 2004 and Miss Carson City in 2008. Do you still get nervous?

JE: I do, but the more you do it, the more you get used to it. It's nerve-wracking because this will be the largest audience I've performed in front of, but I love to be on stage.

CL: What will you perform at the pageant? Will you sing, will you dance?

JE: A little bit of both. I'm more of a singer than a dancer. I'll be performing "One Rock 'N' Roll Too Many" from Starlight Express ... I picked it because it's very "musical theater." I loved that the song stays true to my roots. It's a song that people would have to know musical theater to know. It's fun. I get to have fun and be myself.

CL: I have to ask you about another famous pageant winner: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. What do you think of her?

JE: She goes to prove that the women involved in (pageants) are powerful, beautiful, well-spoken women. It proves that women have a voice.

CL: Palin. Well-spoken. Hmmm. Last question: What do you say to those who think pageants exploit women or belong in a previous era?

JE: I don't agree. If you don't know everything that it's about, then it's easy to make your mind up. But the reason we do it is so we have a title and a voice. When you walk into a room with a title and a crown, people pay attention to what you have to say. I have a voice, so I get to go out there and have an impact.

The 2009 Miss America Pageant takes place Jan. 20-22 and 24 at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Info: 877-307-8667