Columbus, Ohio- Of the thousands of aspiring Pamela Andersons, only one will become Playboy magazine’s 55th-anniversary Playmate.

She might be picked from the pool of 600 applicants who visited the Westin Columbus during a two-day casting call this week — or from the six other cities where the magazine is hosting talent searches this year.

And, she might not necessarily know how to model.

Megan Lampros, after all, enjoyed her modeling heyday when she was young enough to want her hand held at fashion shows.

Now, at 20, the University of Toledo student is hoping for a “comeback” in Playboy — a curious notion for someone who had to be persuaded to wear shorts, instead of jeans, to the Columbus call.

“People dare you to go off the high dive. I think this is her jump, you know?” said her mother, Jackie Lampros-Moore, waiting outside Megan’s audition room.

“It’s like: ‘If I can do this, I can do anything.’ ”

To her credit, Megan answered her interview questions confidently — or, at least, loudly — and didn’t shake as much as she thought she would.

She winked and smirked for photos in a blue bikini, then agreed to take off her top.

She wasn’t so sure, though, about her next move.

“Do I just throw it away?” she asked the photographer, holding her bra.

(Well, yes, but toss it over your shoulder, like a bride with a bouquet, she was told.)

Next, she was instructed to remove her suit bottoms — a request she didn’t expect.

Her question: “Do I take my shoes off?”

After the five-minute audition Tuesday, Megan returned to the lobby to tell her mother that she had just been photographed completely naked.

“Oh, nice, princess!” the proud mom exclaimed.

And then, like a true amateur model, Megan headed to get a Whopper.

Most Playboy wannabes are similarly uninitiated, said Jeff Cohen, executive editor and publisher of special editions, who estimates that 90 percent of the hopefuls have never modeled.

“We realize it’s a big deal,” he said. “But Playboy has always been the acceptable, risque erotica. That’s why everyone’s here.”

Not that all the candidates are beginners.

The modeling resume of Calvina Sparkes, a 29-year-old student at Columbus State Community College, includes stints as the Coors Light girl, the Captain Morgan’s girl and the Chiquita Banana girl, as seen in bars and grocery stores.

Another Columbus State student, who gave her name as Brittany Nicole, has appeared in a collegiate issue of Playboy and even was recognized by another woman at the auditions.

Still, she had to try out for the coveted 55th-anniversary centerfold — a job that pays $55,000 instead of the usual $25,000 Playmate contract (or the $500 Brittany earned for the college shoot).

“It’s a special edition,” said Brittany, 21. “You have to be on the same level as everyone else.”

Jillisa Reynolds, a professional model (and bartender) from Rochester, N.Y., is also a Playboy expert of sorts.

In a lucky instance of networking, she recently scored a date to the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles , where she dined next to the magazine’s founder, Hugh Hefner.

Such credentials made Reynolds, 20, popular at the casting call, where many Playmate hopefuls (Lampros included) mentioned The Girls Next Door as a key inspiration.

Since the Playboy-themed TV show made its debut on E! in 2005, turnout at the magazine’s casting calls has increased as much as 15 percent, Cohen said.

Among the many mansion details Reynolds shared with fellow candidates: The driveway has a “Playmates at Play” sign instead of a yield sign, she ate fish but thought it was chicken, and a server asked her whether she preferred her water cold or at room temperature.

“I was like, ‘Um, I’m from New York; we drink cold water,’ ” she explained. “And it was a bottle of water with the Playboy logo on it, not the Poland Springs logo. It was so cool.”

“Oh, my God, that is so cool,” said an envious Holly Parker, 21, an aspiring model from Wheeling, W.Va.

Both Reynolds and Parker had other photo shoots earlier this week, should the 55th-anniversary Playmate gig not work out.

They might also be selected to appear in special-themed Playboy editions or Web sites.

For the amateurs, though, the Columbus casting call — which concluded yesterday — might have been their one-time shot.

That’s why sisters Cori and Samantha Campbell of Dayton and Troy, Mich., proved that they auditioned for Playboy by taking pictures of themselves in front of a Girls Next Door sign.

If she doesn’t become the Playboy model, Whitney Degroat, 22, of Springfield figures she’ll at least have a life experience to share:

“It’s something to tell my grandkids: ‘Grandma tried out for Playboy.’ “