This year, General David Petraeus took home the top honor from Barbara Walters.
In a break from her usual choice of a woman to top the list (for the last five years, anyway), last night Barbara Walters sang the praises of "a different kind of general fighting a different kind of war" on ABC's Barbara Walters Presents the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2010.
She commended America's top military leader in Afghanistan for a style of war "fought by teaching farmers new techniques, helping businesses grow, keeping the peace so life can go on, and people can have something to fight for."
It was a surprising choice for Walters. Though she pointed out that "in the military, he's a kind of rock star," Petraeus isn't on magazine covers at the supermarket checkout line. Pop culture icons, or highly-celebrated politicians, tend to be her idea of "fascinating." The rest of her list -- Justin Bieber, Betty White, LeBron James, the cast of Jersey Shore, Kate Middleton, Sarah Palin, Jennifer Lopez, Mark Zuckerberg and Sandra Bullock -- did, in fact, follow that formula.
As usual, Walters only interviewed about half of the list. For Bullock, she showed clips of their talk before Bullock's life went haywire. Apparently, the actress didn't grant her a follow-up interview, now that she had some real personal drama to discuss. The segments about Middleton (Prince William's fiancée), LeBron James (the NBA player who ditched his team this year) and Mark Zuckerberg (the guy who founded Facebook in his college dorm, becoming a billionaire at age 23) were also clip jobs.
Walters did interview Bieber, whose fascinating quotient is highest with tweens. (And if you are a tween, you'll be unsurprised to hear that he once again denied having a girlfriend.) Lopez granted Walters an interview and talked about her new "private" approach to life. "I was kind of living my life out loud," she said. "And I remember [husband Marc Anthony] said, 'You don't have to live like this.'" But Lopez didn't disclose any truly fascinating facts about her life. Palin said nothing that she hasn't said in countless other interviews.
The show did have one fascinating moment. It came during Walters' interview with the Jersey Shore cast. Turns out they think everyone's like them. "The only difference [between us and other young Americans] is we had a camera on us," said Pauly D. "Everybody else parties and stuff, but we were just filmed during it."
Well, okay, maybe that's true. Now out of my way... I need to go flash a bartender and get another free jello shot. Woooo-hoooo!
What did you think of Walters' choice for the Most Fascinating Person of 2010? Chime in below!
Source: http://www.ivillage.com/barbara-walters-most-fascinating-person-2010/1-a-305358
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