The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Oprah tops Forbes most powerful celebrity list Posted: 26 Jun 2013 04:47 AM PDT After two years as a runner-up, Oprah Winfrey was named the most powerful celebrity on Wednesday by Forbes, heading the six women and four men who make up the top 10. It was the fifth time the former talk show host who runs her own TV network has headed the annual ranking of 100 celebrities. Singer Lady Gaga came in second, followed by director/producer Steven Spielberg and singers Beyonce and Madonna. "There is nobody else with that kind of consistency and power," said Dorothy Pomerantz of Forbes.com. "There are only three people who have been on every single one of our lists since 1999. It is Oprah, Howard Stern and Steven Spielberg." Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, who was No. 1 last year, dropped to 12th place. With earnings of $77 million from June 2012 to 2013, Winfrey was not the highest earning celebrity, an honor that went to Madonna who made $125 million. But Forbes said Winfrey's position in Hollywood and her presence in the press, on television and in social media propelled her to the No. 1 spot. "She still wields an enormous amount of power, which is really what we look for in our fame matrix. She is taking this cable network and turning it around just through the sheer force of her will, her connections and her ability." Despite hip surgery, which forced her to cut short a tour, Lady Gaga earned $80 million in the past 12 months which, along with her army of fans and powerful social media presence, assured her second place. "She is still a huge force in pop music. Even when she is not playing, people are talking abut her and speculating about her," Pomerantz said. Spielberg, with earnings of $100 million in the last year, was the top man on the list, ahead of rock star Bon Jovi at No. 7, tennis champion Roger Federer and Justin Bieber, the youngest member of the list, squeezed into the top ten at No. 9. Although only 23, sixth place singer Taylor Swift, made the list for the first time and rounded out the top 10 along with Emmy-award winning TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. Forbes based a celebrity's earnings on income from tours, books, contracts, endorsements, movies and residuals. Each celebrity was given a marketability score, developed by California market research firm E-Poll. It gauged fame and influence by how often celebrities appear in the media. It used Starcount, a Singapore-based company that looks at 11 social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to determine their presence in social media. "In today's world celebrities have this enormous ability to reach out to their fans, who really are their customers, and to sell their product, which is really themselves. If they don't take advantage of that it hurts them," said Pomerantz. Pop stars, most notably Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Barbados-born singer Rihanna, are particularly good with handling social media, according to Forbes. Top celebrity couples include Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z (32), American football quarterback Tom Brady (65) and his model wife Gisele Bundchen (81), and actor Ashton Kutcher (53) and his girlfriend Mila Kunis (89). Best actress Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, who was No. 49, is a newcomer to the list this year, as is Hugh Jackman, who was No. 11, and new father Channing Tatum (23). The full list of the top 100 celebrities can be found at www.forbes.com/celebs - Reuters, June 26, 2013. |
| Michael Jackson son to testify, as anniversary marked Posted: 25 Jun 2013 04:56 PM PDT
The 16-year-old, the eldest of the singer's three children, could take the stand as early as Wednesday at the trial, in which the Jackson family is suing AEG Live for hiring the doctor convicted of killing him in 2009. Lawyers at the Los Angeles trial, which started at the end of April, would not confirm media reports that the teenager would be the next witness, after a medical expert who has already testified for two days. "Not today," was all Jackson family lawyer Brian Panish would tell AFP Tuesday, when asked if Prince Jackson would be next to take the stand. A family spokesman also said she could not confirm the scheduled appearance. CNN cited lawyers as saying the teenager would be the next witness after Dr. Gordon Matheson, a sports medicine professor who has testified since Monday. Prince Jackson will likely testify Wednesday, it reported. Jackson died at his rented Holmby Hills mansion in Los Angeles on June 25, 2009 of an overdose of surgical anesthetic propofol, administered by his personal doctor Conrad Murray to help him sleep. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 over the death of the 50-year-old self-styled King of Pop. Jackson's mother Katherine is suing AEG Live, alleging that they negligently hired and were responsible for Murray, a cardiologist, and should have known that he was unsuitable to care for the singer. The current trial, and the 2009 court case, have aired details of Jackson's long-time struggle with insomnia and abuse of a number of drugs, including propofol. Fans of the singer gathered Tuesday at the Forest Lawn celebrity cemetery, just north of Los Angeles, where Jackson's body is buried. Huge numbers of flowers were placed on his grave. Jackson's daughter Paris was also listed before the AEG trial as among witnesses due to be called. But it is now thought unlikely she will testify, after she was hospitalized earlier this month following a suicide attempt. - AFP, 26 June, 2013. |
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