The annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list is out and the top five has a couple of surprises. For a celebrity to get onto Forbes most powerful celebrities list, they have to make a lot of money, get great Google juice, be on the cover of a fair few magazines and be mentioned in the press often. These five most powerful celebrities had all of this and more.
Number 5, Tiger Woods – Tiger Woods landed at number five on the Celebrity 100 list this year, the same place he was at last year. Unfortunately for Tiger, or at least for his wife, much of Tiger Woods’ Google hits, magazine covers and press mentions have been because of his various indiscretions and not necessarily because of his golfing abilities. He is still the world’s highest paid athlete though but, this year, he lost advertising contracts from Pepsi and Accenture just to name a couple of companies that didn’t want their name associated with Tiger Wood’s tainted one.
Still, like many celebrities, it’s amazing how much they can overcome and Tiger seems to be doing a good job in working to get his good name and reputation back. Either way, he’s at number five on Forbes Celebrity 100 list and that’s nothing to be sneezed at.
Number 4, Lady Gaga – The most surprising and one of the biggest moves on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list is the outlandishly costumed and bizarrely talented Lady Gaga. Not even appearing on the 100 most powerful celebrities list last year, this year she debuted at number four. Primarily because of advertising contracts with Virgin Mobile and Polaroid, Lady Gaga also made a stunning (and shocking!) video in which products from her advertising partners showed up almost as much as Lady Gaga herself. Her 106-date concert tour also made her $31 million so, no, not surprising she’s at number four.
Remember too, the Celebrity 100 list requires lots of Google hits and press clippings, and Lady Gaga is the ‘Queen of the Media’, due to her controversial image, which only helped. To say Lady Gaga hadn’t even been heard of just over two years ago it’ll be surprising, if she continues to move this fast, if she doesn’t hit number one soon.
Number 3, James Cameron – The only guy in the top five of the Forbes Celebrity 100 list and the biggest mover is director, James Cameron. (Think about that, four powerful women and one powerful guy – how times have changed!). James Cameron made it onto the list because of the phenomenal success of ‘Avatar’ which made close to $3 billion (yes, billion with a ‘b’) at the box office. Last year, Cameron wasn’t even on the list so no wonder he’s being called “King of the World”.
James Cameron is also the only non-American on the top five list, as he was born and grew up in Canada. Cameron, of course, is the director of of the top two grossing movies of all time with ‘Titanic‘ and ‘Avatar‘ .
Number 2, Beyonce Knowles – At number two on the Forbes five most powerful celebrities list is Beyonce Knowles. Last year’s number four, she’s climbed a couple of spots not only because of the money she makes from singing but also from endorsements from make-up companies and her own fashion label. Former member of Destiny’s Child, Beyonce is known for her revealing costumes, numerous Grammy awards and being named Billboard’s most successful artist of the 2000 decade. With this kind of longevity, look out, Beyonce could very well be next year’s number one.
Number 1, Oprah Winfrey – Probably not surprising to some, Oprah Winfrey has moved from last year’s number two spot back to this year’s number one. Since 2005, this is now the fourth time Oprah has been in the top spot. Last year, Oprah announced the new season of The Oprah Winfrey Show will be her last season, an announcement alone that made her number one. Add to that Oprah’s new TV network, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), a 24/7 cable network that will offer ‘self-discovery’ and positive thinking programs, and it’s likely Oprah could be number one on the Forbes list for years to come. Oprah’s income was more than $315 million last year.
To read more about these top five most powerful celebrities as well as everyone else on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list, don’t miss checking out the Forbes website (see below).
Sources:
Forbes Celebrity 100 List – Forbes
