Whatever the sceptics think, the Roses still enjoy the whole thing hugely, writes Roisin Ingle.
The fourth floor of the Brandon Hotel represents the holy grail for hard-core Rose of Tralee fans. This is where the roses get their beauty sleep, swop hairspray and practice their party pieces.
The corridor, depending on your view of the competition, smells like a florists or a funeral parlour. The strains of a tin-whistle can be heard from one room, while in another Toronto is waiting patiently for Texas to do her make-up.
There are chocolates and teddy bears and balloons and make-up flung in every corner. The Toronto Rose, Cat McCormick, is reclining on her bed in a pair of pink pyjama.
She reckons she has less pressure because her party piece has been cut. In one of a number of departures from tradition this year, not all the Roses will be displaying their talents during the live broadcast. McCormick doesn't mind.
"You can't get too excited about it," she says, looking far too calm for somebody who is about to face a live television audience of an estimated one million people. "It's all good fun. I've just woken up from a nap."
The Darwin Rose, Jess McNeill, is equally serene, popping her head around Toronto's door for a gossip, "I've felt like a celebrity all week," she says. "I never want this to end."
The first ever England Rose, Charlotte Doherty, looks wide-eyed upon hearing that some people might describe the competition as naff. "It's brilliant. I've had an amazing time," she says.
In Tralee town, the festival is in full swing, although you can't help noticing that people seem just as preoccupied with the recent trouncing of the Kerry football team.
It pays to be careful what you say outside the bookies where the faces of the 26 contestants stare happily out from a piece of luminous card. Just as you are speculating on the prospects of South California, a tanned man in a baseball cap says: "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm backing her." It turns out South California is his daughter. Tralee is crawling with relations of Roses and the wise visitor will be diplomatic at all times.
Earlier, new host Ryan Tubridy put the Roses through their paces at a rehearsal in the Dome.
"Get your ass over here, San Francisco," he teases. And that's when you know, that for this year's crowning of yet another Rose of Tralee, Tubridy's performance will certainly be a little different.