Curtis Bray, a contestant on the Biggest Loser this season, rubs Norma Rodriguez's belly for luck as she waits in line for auditions for NBC's next season of Biggest Loser in Burbank on March 7, 2008. (Sean Hiller/Staff photographer)

BY MELISSA HECKSHER, Staff Writer

Casting producer Allison Kaz has recruited for many a reality show. She's helped find young entrepreneurs for "The Apprentice," exhibitionist shut-ins for "Big Brother" and hotties (and not-so-hotties) for "Beauty and the Geek."

But no casting call is quite like the one she does for NBC's "The Biggest Loser."

"It's really a community," said Kaz from inside NBC Studios in Burbank, where "Loser" just completed its last round of auditions for the upcoming season. "They're so inspired to change their lives, and then when they're in line with hundreds of other people who are going through the same thing that they are, they feel uplifted. They feel hope. And it's the first time they've felt hope in a long time."

Close to 400 people waited in line March 8 hoping to be picked for the sixth season of the hit reality show, which pits teams of overweight contestants against each other to lose weight and win a grand prize of $250,000.

Unlike most competitive reality shows, Kaz said, the cash, in this case, tends to be secondary.

"On this show, the money is on the back burner," Kaz said. "People come here because they want to transform their lives."

Consequently, it's the emotional, not the physical, weight that makes choosing would-be contestants difficult.

"You hear everybody's story and you really want to put everyone through," Kaz said. "Everybody deserves it."

But only about 20 contestants will make it through the casting process and onto the show.

Among those hoping for spots were Angela and Aimee Hill, identical twins who weigh 320 pounds and 280 pounds, respectively.

The two tall, blue-eyed 23-year-olds, seniors at California State University, Fresno, said they're tired of being known as "the chubby twins."

"Throughout school, it was always like, `You know Aimee and Angela?' and people would say, `Oh, you mean the fat twins?' " said Aimee. "I'm like, OK, what about my other qualities?"

"We're a lot more than our weight," Angela added.

Michael Rivera, 29, who came to the casting call from the Northern California town of Pittsburg, had more dire reasons for auditioning. His dad died of obesity-related heart disease and - at 355 pounds - he doesn't want to follow in those dangerously heavy footsteps.

"I don't want to be my dad," said Rivera, whose weight has made him reluctant to marry and start a family with his long-term girlfriend. "What kind of father or husband will I be if I leave my family at a young age?"

Like many of the men and women auditioning, Rivera has been obese since he was a child and says he has tried everything.

"I've tried all the fad diets," he said, "but I want something that will work."

What will work, he hopes, is the watchful eye of America and the military-style pushing and prodding from "Loser" trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper.

The proof is in the pounds lost. In its five seasons, the show's 94 contestants have lost more than 9,000 pounds, collectively - an average of about 95 pounds each.

"It just goes to show, with hard work, anything's possible," said Nicole Michalik, a former "Loser" contestant who attended the recent auditions to provide inspiration to the applicants. "It's amazing what the body can do."

Michalik weighed 273 pounds at the beginning of the show's fourth season and lost 105 pounds by the season finale.

"I was a size 26; now I'm a size 12 - a 10 in some clothes," she said. "I got a small shirt from the Gap the other day - I'm shopping with 14-year-olds. That, to me, is crazy because I've never, ever been at a normal weight before."

Maintenance is its own battle, she added.

"This is not a diet, it's a lifestyle," said Michalik, who has continued to shed pounds since leaving the show. "There is no finish line."

Of course, there's clearly a starting line: the casting call.

To whittle down the applicants, producers will ask finalists to do a one-on-one on-camera interview, as well as create a video documenting their home lives.

Contestants must then be approved by the show's doctor and submit a letter from their primary-care physicians ensuring they are physically fit enough to endure the three months of rigorous diet and exercise.

"It's definitely a shock to their systems," Kaz said, adding that all contestants are monitored by doctors throughout the season. "What they do on the show, what they put themselves through - a lot of us who are in shape wouldn't be able to compete with these contestants by the end of the season."

Kaz said the final cast will be chosen by mid-April and will be composed of individuals and couples (such as husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend or sibling teams).

"We are looking for contestants who truly need this," Kaz said. "We want contestants who want to change their lives and who are willing to go on national TV and be held accountable by America."

NBC held auditions for the next season of Biggest Loser Saturday in Burbank on March 7, 2008. James Burt and
Jennifer Kostick are hoping to be on the next season. (Sean Hiller/Staff Photographer)

Melissa Heckscher (310) 540-5511, Ext. 329 melissa.heckscher@dailybreeze.com