Contestants with model Dipannita; (below) finalist Sourav Dhanuka. Pictures by Pabitra Das

What’s common to 19-year-old psychology student Roja Paramita Dey, Guwahati boy Sudhir Choudhary who strums the guitar in a band called Echoes, and Salt Lake resident Tilottama Dutta who wants to be an actress? All of them, of course, want to be the next big thing in the glam world, but the immediate goal is to be the Glam King or Glam Queen at the Streax Unish Kuri Glam Hunt ’08. The contest that enters its third year saw about 3,000 entries, out of which 51 were screened for the Calcutta prelims on Tuesday.

Hunks and not PYTs dominated the show at Floatel. Of the 51 contestants, 31 were boys! Who says glam is girl territory? Judges Dipannita Patra, Parno Mitra and Rana Basu had their tasks cut out. “We were looking for a young and fresh face. We also judged how confident they were,” smiled Dipannita, fetching in a red knee-length dress.

Million dollar smiles, sinewy silhouettes and the confidence quotient just right — the attractive 51 put their best foot forward and walked the ramp. Nine emerged winners: four young men — Sourav Dhanuka, Pratapaditya Lahiri, Shubhamohan Saha and Bhaskar Thakur — and five young women — Tanusree Basu, Roja, Satarupa Pyne, Sreeja Sen and Tilottama Dutta. “This contest will help me test my potential,” said Roja Paramita Dey, a resident of Nager Bazaar, who adores Sushmita Sen. While for some it was a first go at the arc-lights, a few came with experience in their kitty. Pratapaditya, 18, has been into modelling for the past eight months and has some good endorsements on his CV.

The Calcutta prelims were preceded by prelims at Guwahati in end-August, where more than 200 had turned up to try their luck. Fancy Bazaar’s Sudhir Choudhary was the winner.

l 10 contestants are off to a rigorous grooming session with ramp hottie Shonal Rawat playing teacher. The finals will be held on September 27 at the Oberoi Grand.