Post by merg on Jun 22, 2004 11:05:28 GMT -5
holy crap, the worst singer in the world beats Lindsay Lohan in the rankings... which leads one to wonder, how bad is she? or how dumb can the Forbes people be to even RANK him??
www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14344,00.html
"Forbes": Mel, Hung Have the Power
by Joal Ryan
Jun 18, 2004, 1:00 PM PT
William Hung is no longer merely ubiquitous, inescapable and tone deaf. He's also powerful.
The infamous American Idol reject has joined the famed likes of Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz on Forbes magazine's annual list of the most "powerful" entertainers and sports stars.
The Celebrity 100, appearing in the mag's July 5 issue, ranks familiar faces by their pay and by their presence (on magazine covers, on TV and radio shows, on the Web).
Gibson, whose self-financed passion for The Passion of the Christ made him a hot-button topic on editorial pages and made his film a hot-ticket item at the box office, lorded over all comers, crowned the most powerful of them all.
Broken down into categories, Gibson tied for first in estimated earnings ($210 million), ranked third in Web hits (2.1 million), fifth in TV/radio mentions and sixth in overall press clippings.
Daytime-talk queen Oprah Winfrey was Gibson's equal in the pay department, hauling in $210 million over the last 12 months. Overall, she ranked third on the power list, the best showing for a woman.
Harry Potter conjurer J.K. Rowling, sixth on the power list, was the only other notable to crack the nine-figure mark, per Forbes, with $147 million in earnings since last June.
Blue-collar hero Bruce Springsteen, eighth overall, was the highest paid musician, with an extremely white-collar $64 million.
Cruise, fourth overall, was the highest paid actor, with $45 million in Collateral; Charlie's Angels ditz Diaz, 14th overall, was the highest-paid actress, with $33 million.
Neither of Cruise's ex-significant others, Nicole Kidman and Penélope Cruz, cracked the Celeb 100. Likewise, Diaz's current beau, Justin Timberlake, was a nonfactor.
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, on the other hand, proved to be a genuine power couple. Aniston, last year's Celeb 100 champ, ranked 17th overall on the new list, with $26 million in pay (50th among the top earners); Pitt came in at 36th, his estimated gross an epic $25 million (51st place).
Rich guy Donald Trump, meanwhile, looked like a mortal in the celeb world. The Apprentice star ranked a middling 64th overall, and 85th in pay, with an estimated $6.9 million from his show-biz ventures.
Hung, the "She Bangs"-singing undergrad who turned a disastrous Idol audition into a recording career, however short-lived, placed 96th on the Celeb 100, topping the likes of Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan. He got there on the strength of the media's fascination with his tale. Paywise, he hasn't yet cracked a $1 million, per Forbes.
Lohan rival, teen queen Hilary Duff, finished a respectable 72nd on the power list. The magazine estimated her pay at $8.5 million (80th place).
Tween queens the Olsen twins bested the likes of former President Clinton. The newly minted adults earned another $28 million (35th place) for their college fund, and ranked 48th overall, while Clinton finished 51st.
The ex-leader of the free world ranked first across the board in media mentions, but only 86th in pay, with $6.3 million. Sales of his memoirs, My Life, due out Tuesday, could boost his bottom line in time for next year's list.
Or, maybe they won't.
As Forbes itself pointed out, fame is a fickle thing. Last year, Jennifer Lopez ranked fifth overall on the Celeb 100. This year, despite a year's worth of mega-tabloid coverage, but possibly because of a box-office dud called Gigli, she didn't rank anywhere. Neither did her former Bennifer partner, Ben Affleck, a lofty seventh in 2003.
Others falling out of the Top 10, not to mention the Top 100, were Eminem and Dr. Dre (sharing second-place honors last year) and Paul McCartney.
Britney Spears, queen of the Celeb 100 in 2002, failed to make the cut for the second straight year. In her pop-tart stead, Jessica Simpson placed 61st, earning $4 million (93rd place) for failing to grasp the concept of buffalo wings. (Per usual, her overshadowed Newlyweds costar, Nick Lachey, didn't rate a mention on the Forbes list.)
Top 10 holdovers from last year were Winfrey, golf star Tiger Woods, director Steven Spielberg and the still-rolling Rolling Stones.
Here's a complete look at the power Top 10 from the 2004 edition of Forbes' Celebrity 100 list:
1. Mel Gibson
2. Tiger Woods
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Tom Cruise
5. Rolling Stones
6. J.K. Rowling
7. Michael Jordan
8. Bruce Springsteen
9. Steven Spielberg
10. Johnny Depp
www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14344,00.html
"Forbes": Mel, Hung Have the Power
by Joal Ryan
Jun 18, 2004, 1:00 PM PT
William Hung is no longer merely ubiquitous, inescapable and tone deaf. He's also powerful.
The infamous American Idol reject has joined the famed likes of Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz on Forbes magazine's annual list of the most "powerful" entertainers and sports stars.
The Celebrity 100, appearing in the mag's July 5 issue, ranks familiar faces by their pay and by their presence (on magazine covers, on TV and radio shows, on the Web).
Gibson, whose self-financed passion for The Passion of the Christ made him a hot-button topic on editorial pages and made his film a hot-ticket item at the box office, lorded over all comers, crowned the most powerful of them all.
Broken down into categories, Gibson tied for first in estimated earnings ($210 million), ranked third in Web hits (2.1 million), fifth in TV/radio mentions and sixth in overall press clippings.
Daytime-talk queen Oprah Winfrey was Gibson's equal in the pay department, hauling in $210 million over the last 12 months. Overall, she ranked third on the power list, the best showing for a woman.
Harry Potter conjurer J.K. Rowling, sixth on the power list, was the only other notable to crack the nine-figure mark, per Forbes, with $147 million in earnings since last June.
Blue-collar hero Bruce Springsteen, eighth overall, was the highest paid musician, with an extremely white-collar $64 million.
Cruise, fourth overall, was the highest paid actor, with $45 million in Collateral; Charlie's Angels ditz Diaz, 14th overall, was the highest-paid actress, with $33 million.
Neither of Cruise's ex-significant others, Nicole Kidman and Penélope Cruz, cracked the Celeb 100. Likewise, Diaz's current beau, Justin Timberlake, was a nonfactor.
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, on the other hand, proved to be a genuine power couple. Aniston, last year's Celeb 100 champ, ranked 17th overall on the new list, with $26 million in pay (50th among the top earners); Pitt came in at 36th, his estimated gross an epic $25 million (51st place).
Rich guy Donald Trump, meanwhile, looked like a mortal in the celeb world. The Apprentice star ranked a middling 64th overall, and 85th in pay, with an estimated $6.9 million from his show-biz ventures.
Hung, the "She Bangs"-singing undergrad who turned a disastrous Idol audition into a recording career, however short-lived, placed 96th on the Celeb 100, topping the likes of Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan. He got there on the strength of the media's fascination with his tale. Paywise, he hasn't yet cracked a $1 million, per Forbes.
Lohan rival, teen queen Hilary Duff, finished a respectable 72nd on the power list. The magazine estimated her pay at $8.5 million (80th place).
Tween queens the Olsen twins bested the likes of former President Clinton. The newly minted adults earned another $28 million (35th place) for their college fund, and ranked 48th overall, while Clinton finished 51st.
The ex-leader of the free world ranked first across the board in media mentions, but only 86th in pay, with $6.3 million. Sales of his memoirs, My Life, due out Tuesday, could boost his bottom line in time for next year's list.
Or, maybe they won't.
As Forbes itself pointed out, fame is a fickle thing. Last year, Jennifer Lopez ranked fifth overall on the Celeb 100. This year, despite a year's worth of mega-tabloid coverage, but possibly because of a box-office dud called Gigli, she didn't rank anywhere. Neither did her former Bennifer partner, Ben Affleck, a lofty seventh in 2003.
Others falling out of the Top 10, not to mention the Top 100, were Eminem and Dr. Dre (sharing second-place honors last year) and Paul McCartney.
Britney Spears, queen of the Celeb 100 in 2002, failed to make the cut for the second straight year. In her pop-tart stead, Jessica Simpson placed 61st, earning $4 million (93rd place) for failing to grasp the concept of buffalo wings. (Per usual, her overshadowed Newlyweds costar, Nick Lachey, didn't rate a mention on the Forbes list.)
Top 10 holdovers from last year were Winfrey, golf star Tiger Woods, director Steven Spielberg and the still-rolling Rolling Stones.
Here's a complete look at the power Top 10 from the 2004 edition of Forbes' Celebrity 100 list:
1. Mel Gibson
2. Tiger Woods
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Tom Cruise
5. Rolling Stones
6. J.K. Rowling
7. Michael Jordan
8. Bruce Springsteen
9. Steven Spielberg
10. Johnny Depp