From her senior picture in the 1995 South Medford High School yearbook, you’d never know Emily Adams didn’t like the way she looked.

Amid the sea of photos on Page 174, Adams sported too much hair and too much makeup, just like every other Medford girl in the mid-1990s.

Beneath a bright smile, however, Adams hid a deep dissatisfaction that’s only now found its cure, thanks to the television reality show, "Extreme Makeover."

In an episode that airs at 9 tonight on ABC Channel 12, the former Medford resident, now 27, is one of two women chosen to undergo multiple plastic surgeries and weeks of recuperation in an effort to enhance their looks — and their lives.

"I was given a genie in a bottle and — poof! — they gave me whatever I wanted," Adams said, speaking by phone from her home in Placentia, Calif.

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What Adams wanted was nothing less than an overhaul of her physical appearance. Growing up in Medford, Adams said she never liked what she saw in the mirror.

"I thought, ‘My nostrils are huge, I don’t have a chin, I look like I’m sleepy all the time,’" Adams recalled. "I always felt about three or four steps behind everyone else."

Inside, Adams was an ebullient, confident girl who always longed to be a performer. Outside, her lackluster looks didn’t reflect that vision, Adams said.

"I never felt pretty, no," Adams said. "I felt cute, but I was never pretty or sexy."

So when Adams saw an episode of "Extreme Makeover" in October 2003, she decided to show up for a Santa Monica, Calif., casting call. Fresh from a five-year Army stint in Europe, Adams was looking for a jump-start to a possible career in broadcast journalism or entertainment.

"I told them from head to toe everything that was wrong with me," Adams recalled. "I didn’t leave them anything to point out."

Show producers liked Adams’ military background and her enthusiastic, try-anything attitude. She told them she’d parachuted from airplanes and had always wanted to bungee-jump.

Producers framed Adams as "an ex-Army daredevil," according to ABC publicity. More than that, Adams also appeared to be an ideal candidate for multiple procedures, said Mozell Miley, an ABC public relations representative.

"It has to be really extreme, a major makeover," Miley said.

A major makeover is exactly what Adams got during seven weeks of treatment earlier this year. Doctors shortened her nose, lengthened her hair, lifted her brow and lower eyelids, rebuilt her chin, repositioned her lip, shortened her teeth and injected fat into her cheeks.

They performed LASIK eye surgery, laser leg vein surgery, Botox eye injections, chemical facial peels and something called Zoom whitening for her teeth. Oh, and they boosted her bosom from an AA cup to a B.

"I’m 5-foot-7. Now I wish I would have said ‘Larger,’" Adams said this week, nearly a month after surgery.

Overall, though, she’s more than satisfied with the makeover results.

"Throughout the experience, I loved what I had done," Adams said.

Emily’s mother, Jackie Adams of Medford, took a little time to come to that conclusion. The local real estate agent said she was stunned at her daughter’s revelation last month.

"I would not have recognized her on the street," Jackie Adams said. "But 48 hours later, when she got all the makeup off, she was looking like my daughter."

Emily Adams’ husband, Brian Melanethy, 34, was more surprised at seeing his tomboy wife in a dress than anything else, she said.

"I don’t look so dramatically different that I’m unrecognizable," she said.

Adams, who plans to watch tonight’s show at home with her husband, hopes to find a job in the entertainment industry. She’s not counting on her "Extreme Makeover" experience, though, to land one.

"It’s 22 minutes on TV," she said. "It’s a really competitive field."

Instead, she’ll focus on learning to relate to the world from a new perspective.

"It’s going to make me dress differently, it’s going to make me smile more," she said.

Throughout the makeover process, producers and others asked Emily Adams one key question: "How is this going to change your life?"

Now that it’s over, Adams is philosophical about the impact.

"Plastic surgery is not a cure-all," she said. "If you don’t have confidence, plastic surgery won’t give it to you.

"But," she adds, "it’s nice icing if you have the dessert all baked."

Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail jaleccia@mailtribune.com

Cave Junction woman to receive a medical makeover

Victoria Brown, 62, sought to correct scars, damaged teeth and poor vision, all the result of illness and trauma throughout her life.

Brown, who is self-employed, had a large scar on her left cheek, the result of surgery for melanoma, a potentially deadly skin cancer. She also suffers from Crohn’s disease and had a heart catheter inserted nearly a decade ago, which caused her to lose most of her teeth.

"It’s been devastating," Brown told organizers. "My major concern is my teeth, because my dental problems affect my health, confidence and self-esteem. But I’d also love it if I could see clearly and not have to wear my glasses."

Brown will receive plastic surgery from cosmetic surgeon Robert Jensen, laser vision surgery from Paul Imperia and dental work from Randall and Karla Rothfus, all Medford professionals.

Brown was chosen from hundreds of applicants for the local contest. The medical team interviewed six finalists before choosing her. In addition to the procedures, she will receive new clothes, hairstyling and makeup.