Nikki Poteet knows how to compete against other good-looking women. The blonde college student from Richmond took home the tiara in the 2007 Virginia Coed contest.

Last weekend, she competed for the title of Miss Fredericksburg.

Yet conventional beauty pageants can’t quite prepare Poteet, 21, for the sort of judging that’ll take place inside an Alexandria strip mall on a Thursday morning in late August. Sure, Poteet will need to look good and smile.But the judges will be looking for her to “naturally gesture to or show off a prize” and “walk gracefully frontwards and backwards.”

Poteet and nearly 30 others have lined up outside a Sleepy’s mattress store near the Van Dorn Metro stop with aspirations of winning a nationwide contest to become a model on their grandmother’s favorite game show, The Price Is Right.

Auditioning for the role of product arm candy won’t simulate the complete Price Is Right modeling experience, considering there’s no showcase to hawk (anchored by the Alaskan cruise or a brand new Chevy Malibu!) and no Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner to display.

The role-playing, though, does involve a staple of Price Is Right giveaways. At some point, contestants must do a hand sweep over their choice of either a stuffed Sleepy’s sheep or a mattress sample.

Then they must say: “This mattress courtesy of Sleepy’s—the mattress professionals, the most trusted name in mattresses.”... Continued