Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
POWER AID: Fame has never been so fleeting, even if you're a big star on a big TV show that has reached its big end.
God is the best marketer.
Jennifer Lopez is much more interesting with a man than without. And Ben Affleck is interesting only with Jennifer Lopez.
These are among the conclusions that can be reached by looking at this year's Forbes magazine ranking of the 100 most powerful celebrities.
Last year's No. 1, Jennifer Aniston, fell to No. 17.
This year's No. 1, Mel Gibson, didn't make the list last year.
Lopez and Affleck, two of 2003's top 10, didn't make the 2004 list.
Forbes calculates power by combining a celebrity's earnings, which it estimates from June to June, with Web mentions on Google, press clippings, TV-radio mentions and the number of times a celebrity's face appeared on the cover of 17 major magazines.
Under this formula, almost 40 of the people who made last year's 100 didn't repeat, among them Nicole Kidman. And in another great moment in celeb ex-couple history, taking an open spot is Tom Cruise, at No. 4 after not making the list the past two years - after being No. 1 in 2001.
WHERE THE REAL POWER LIES: Four members of the Forbes top 10 repeat from '03: Tiger Woods, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and the Rolling Stones. Winfrey has made every top 10 since 1999, Woods every one since 2000, Spielberg every one except 2001.
BREAKDOWNS: Gibson and Winfrey tied for first in the pay category. No. 1 in every other category - Web hits, TV and press - was former President Bill Clinton (No. 51 overall). The top actor-type in Web hits was Julia Roberts (No. 2, No. 24 overall), in press and TV-radio was Gibson (Nos. 6 and 5, respectively).
BIGGER THAN RUBEN STUDDARD: American Idol reject turned pop culture phenomenon William Hung is ranked the 96th most powerful celebrity (no actual Idol contestant made the list). The people embarrassed to be behind him are teen actors Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes (Nos. 97 and 98), actor-model Carolyn Murphy (No. 99) and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten (No. 100).
- Sharon Fink can be reached at 727 893-8525 or fink@sptimes.com