Miss Columbus' Day

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Melina Kanakaredes

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Even when she's being kidnapped, Guiding Light's Eleni is so sweet that Melina Kanakaredes, who plays her, says, ''I worry the audience is going to get completely sick of her.'' No chance. With a refreshing winsomeness, the Ohio- born Kanakaredes, a former Miss Columbus, is a Face to Watch in my book. In three years, she has parlayed her role as a mousy caterer into a deserved Emmy nomination. ''I don't even read other people's scenes,'' she says. ''I figure Eleni is supposed to be naive and in the dark.'' This fall she'll appear in the Gregory Hines- directed feature White Man's Burden. And, yes, that was her singing in the background during last week's GL couples-in-love montage. ''I believe you can never learn enough, grow enough, or do enough,'' says Kanakaredes. And we can't get enough of her.