
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 16, 1994                   TAG: 9409160032
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BAREFOOT BEAUTIES

Daisy Mae would feel right at home at this year's Miss America pageant. The curvaceous blonde of the L'il Abner comic strip was always drawn as barefoot as Saturday night's contestants will be during the swimsuit competition.

That's right. Perhaps in an effort to be more politically correct, less sexist or to paint a more realistic picture of the young American woman of the '90s (big hair and perfect teeth aside), the Spandex-clad ladies will be completely exposed from the ankles down - a first in the pageant's 74-year existence. After all, how many women have you seen on the beach in high heels?

And that's not all: The traditional swimsuit procession (was it the front or back view you preferred?) also has taken its place in history. Viewers will have to be content to judge contestants en masse as they appear in a swimsuit production number.

If all this change is disconcerting, better check your local listings for alternatives. Or were you really tuning in to watch yet another contestant play a Liberacied version of an overplayed classical piece?

As for us, we'll stay tuned till the end, because we're betting they've changed the lyrics of the theme song as well, to: ``There she goes ... check out her toes!''

by CNB