She was lovely and fair as the rose of the summer,
Yet 'twas not her beauty alone that won me;
Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eyes ever dawning,
that made me love Mary, the Rose of Tralee.
- from
The Rose of Traleeby William Mulchinock
The excitement in Tralee, Co Kerry, is mounting as the town prepares to host its 44th Rose of Tralee festival, the annual event that most definitely prefers not to be called a beauty pageant.
Although the line-up of 26 Roses from all over the world are, as always, fair of face, the judges will of course be looking for that indefinable mix of beauty, brains, charisma and all-singing, all-dancing talent in the 2003 winner.
The Rose of Tralee has its origins in Tralee's annual Carnival Queen Festival. In 1959, a group of local business people decided to revamp the carnival to encourage tourism to a town suffering from post-war emigration, according to the Rose of Tralee website.
"The new event would be called a festival and the carnival queen contest turned into a celebration of the Rose of Tralee song. It would bring Irish people home on holidays and a trip was made to America to attract Roses from New York and Boston. This was not to be a beauty contest; the winner would be picked for her good character and personal qualities."
Alice O'Sullivan from Dublin became the first Rose of Tralee in 1959. Tomorrow night, Irish-Italian woman Tamara Gervasoni, the 2002 Rose, will hand over her crown. Bookmaker Paddy Power is offering odds of 4-1 on the Dublin Rose to win the title, with both the New Orleans and Perth Roses priced at 50-1. The New York, Toronto and Ulster Roses are all priced at 7-1 and the Kerry Rose has odds of 10-1 to win.
In another bid to freshen up the festival, RTÉ's lively young broadcaster Ryan Tubridy has been brought in to present this year's event, replacing Marty Whelan as the man who will interview each Rose and help her showcase her talents to best effect.
In a world where Sex and the Cityis one of the biggest draws in the TV ratings, the Rose of Tralee still suffers a slight image problem, perhaps because its very wholesomeness and light family entertainment value is seen as a bit 'naff' by younger generations.
But the festival organisers might baulk at calling in the raunchy Sex and the City team to spice up the Roses' wardrobes and on-stage banter with Ryan.
The Rose of Tralee is still a big ratings winner for RTÉ, which is hoping viewers will turn on in their millions tonight and tomorrow.
Tralee and its surrounding area also benefits enormously on an economic level from the annual festival, drawing more than 200,000 visitors from all over the world each year.
A full list of the 2003 Roses (with pictures) and their handsome young escorts (with pictures) can be viewed at the Rose of Tralee website www.roseoftralee.ie.