Every year Barbara Walters picks ten people who have fascinated Americans, then interviews them on TV. This year the ten were; Jessie Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet, Simon Cowell, The Kardashians, Herman Cain, Katy Perry, Derek Peter, Donald Trump, Amanda Knox and Pippa Middleton. But the overall most fascinating person of 2011 was given to Steve Jobs.
Normally, the rule says that the person needs to be alive to receive this honor, they made an exception for him though. They were planning on having him already, but then died so they said, “Rules are made to be broken”, and they awarded him with the top prize. Steve Jobs was the founder of Apple, and was battling cancer for 8 years when he died this fall. Those close to Jobs say that he loved his family and Mac more than anything.
When the announcement was made that The Kardashians would be on the show, there were a lot of mixed feelings. People say that they are famous for being famous, and that they have no real talent. But they still seem to entertain people. They have their main show on E! (Keeping Up with the Kardashians) and lots of spin-offs. They became famous because one the daughters, Kim, was one of Paris Hilton’s best friend.
This year they had two people that at one point were considering running for the GOP nomination; Herman Cain (who dropped out of the race) and Donald Trump. Herman Cain was in the lead for the Republican candidacy for the 2012 presidential race, but lots of women kept accusing him of sexually abusing them. It got so bad that he dropped out of the race. He said, “I was raised in the segregated south, and I never dreamed I would be where I am today.” Donald Trump had seriously considered himself for the spot of Republican nominee. People thought that it was a joke at first. But now if the wrong GOP republican candidate is chosen, he says that he will run as an independent.
Others included Pippa Middleton, who was given the honor for winning over the worlds hearts at the royal wedding of her sister, Kate Middleton and Prince William. Amanda Knox, the girl who was locked up in an Italian jail for four years because she was accused of murder and was convicted was also given the award. This year she asked that they re-open the case, and the Italian justice system did. She was found not-guilty and went home. Derek Jeter has been a baseball player for the New York Yankees for 17 seasons. He was drafted straight out of high school, and hit his 3000 hit this past season. Katy Perry was also given the award because she had five number ones from one album, the only other person who has done that is Micheal Jackson. She is also just a great singer and role model.
Simon Cowell, who was a famous judge on the hit show American Idol, quit and started his own show called The X-Factor. He is known for being mean, but he says he actually loves people, he is only mean when they seem not nice. He is worth 320,000,000+ dollars and has achieved all of that, even though he dropped out of high school. The actors of the gay couple on the show Modern Family were also given the award, Jessie Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet. Both of them were teased some when they were younger; Jessie for being geeky and gay, and Eric for being tall and largest in his class. But now they are very famous. They show the world through the show that gay couples are nice and loving, especially to their kids. They also consider themselves best friends off set.
