MARIETTA - A sellout audience is once again expected for the 52nd annual Miss Cobb County Scholarship Pageant on Saturday.

Eighteen young women will compete to become the new Miss Cobb County and win a $12,000 scholarship. The winner will also compete for the Miss Georgia crown next June in Columbus.

The pageant will be at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Anderson Theatre at Cobb Civic Center at 548 S. Marietta Parkway in Marietta. Tickets are $20. Choice patron seats are $30. Tickets can be reserved by calling (770) 435-6378.

The Miss Cobb pageant will spotlight contestants in a production titled, "Mama Says."

"We're going to have a real strong talent competition," said pageant spokesman Chuck Fallis. "The talent is extraordinary."

Four of the 18 contestants are classical singers, he said, and others will perform a variety of talents, from tap dancing to clarinet playing. Pebblebrook High School's renowned "Company" song and dance group will provide entertainment between competitions, as will as three other entertainers.

As is tradition, last year's Miss Cobb winner will crown this year's pageant winner. However, the moment will be even more special this year considering the 2009 Miss Cobb winner, Emily Cook of Marietta, was recently crowned Miss Georgia.

Cook became the fifth Miss Cobb to bring home the Miss Georgia crown.

"I can't tell you how happy the Miss Cobb committee is to have Miss Georgia after 22 years," Fallis said.

The Miss Cobb pageant also became the first Miss America preliminary in the nation to win state titles in both the Miss Georgia Pageant and Georgia's Outstanding Teen Pageant. Brianna Godshalk, 16, of Acworth, won the 2009 Miss Georgia's Outstanding Teen title.

The Cobb pageant consistently ranks in the top 10 in the country among local pageants in amount of scholarships awarded, officials said.

The first runner-up will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship; the second runner-up, a $1,500 scholarship; the third runner-up, a $1,000 scholarship; and the fourth runner-up, a $500 scholarship. The contestant who scores highest in the talent competition will take home $400; the private interview winner will earn $300; the swimsuit winner will be awarded $200; and Miss Congeniality will win $200.

Fallis said the competition boils down to who will make the best spokeswoman.

"She won't go around the county playing the saxophone all year," he said of the eventual winner. "(The judges) are always looking for a young woman who speaks well and can relate to all different people."

The judges for this year's Miss Cobb County Pageant are: Tim Gann, executive director of the Miss Hoover Scholarship Pageant in Alabama; former Miss Cobb 1984 Lisa Seagroves Nulph; Keith Broadway, a professional entertainer; Michelle Bonds, a media and health communications expert; and Mark Kent, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Foundation's director of education and community outreach. The pageant's emcee will be Kandice Pelletier, former Miss Cobb 2002 and Miss New York 2005.