Barbara Walter's 10 Most Fascinating People of 2006

Please keep in mind that when the show aired leading up to the #1 Most Fascinating Person of 2006 the other nine that made the list were never categorized on the show. The list here is in the order that each person was shown on the show and will be numbered that way. All writings here are not everything stated in the show, simply the backgrounds of who they are and what they have accomplished in every way possible.

#10 Andre Agassi- Who could forget the most emotional going out party in the history of tennis when Agassi took the tennis courts for the last time on September 3rd, 2006(You tube search Andre Agassi for speech). With 21 years of service he accomplished everything he could in tennis and reaching over $31 million in career prize money plus all of his endorsement money has had a very prosperous stay.

Always in the public eye coming into the tennis world Agassi showed how he was different. With everyone looking dull and boring wearing white shirts and shorts, Andre came onto the see with fun and enthusiasm sporting colors galore, and long hair to look much more like a rock star as opposed to a tennis star. Who can forget the "Image Is Everything" Canon "Rebel" camera commercials. With this brought many things including an eventual marriage to Brooke Shields. However, in 1999 their divorce was finalized and Agassi started dating another tennis great, Steffi Graf. They were married in October of 2001and now have two children Jaden and Jaz(think they'll play tennis?).

Over the years he has contributed to many charities, and founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in 1994, which assists with disadvantaged children. He has been named the most socially involved tennis player in history, and back in 2001 he established the Andre Agassi College Prep Academy in Las Vegas, which is a tuition free charter school for at risk children.

One of the most memorable portions of the show that Andre said, "It was never about winning" struck my attention like lightning. How could someone that won so much, even think such a thing. As the years passed by we watched a young flamboyant boy turn into a man, a husband, a father and an icon to the tennis world for eternity.

#9 Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt- Or in the public view BRANGELINA. If there is anyone in the spotlight it's these two Hollywood stars. After Pitt's separation from Jennifer Aniston he started dating Jolie and even accompanied her to Ethiopia to pick up her adopted daughter. They now have their first biological daughter together named Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt.

One of the biggest humanitarian works to date in Hollywood is Angelina Jolie representing United Nations HighCommissionerFor Refugees as a Goodwill Ambassador which protects and supports refugees at the request of a government or the United Nations and assists in their return or resettlement. The organization won the Nobel Prize in 1954 and 1981. In 2001 Jolie donated $1 million dollars to Afghan refugees in response to an emergency appeal from the UNHCR. Many more missions came along over the years and in September of 2006 the Jolie/PittFoundation was founded which made initial donations to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders of $1 million dollars each. Due to her hard work within the UNHCR and other organizations in 2003 she was awarded the Citizen Of The World award by the United Nations Correspondents Association. In 2005 Angelina was awarded Cambodian citizenship for offering to donate $5 million dollars to set up a wildlife sanctuary. Then in October of the same year she was awarded the Global Humanitarian Award by the UNA-USA.

We seem to see all the things that makes us want the things that celebrities have. It may be the money, fame, or even the power that draws us to upper class individuals. What we don't see enough of is the media attention of the good many celebrities do for humanity. Learning the unselfishness of both Angelina and Brad makes others believe and understand that it's not all about the money, power, and fame, even to them.

#8 Joel Osteen- This might be one of the best told stories about a preacher I have ever read or heard about. If you have not heard of Joel Osteen before he is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Doesn't sound like it's that big of deal but as of this year he has over 40,000 people attending his service every Sunday, not to mention the 7 million viewers that watch it on television across the country.

Joel is called "The Smiling Preacher" for is constant big grin from ear to ear. He began his preaching by not preaching. His father, John Osteen, founded Lakewood Church on Mother's Day in 1959. His congregation grew to over 6,000 members through many different efforts over the years, but in 1999 John died of a heart attack and left Lakewood to wonder. Joel was never into preaching and his efforts stressing this he opted to go to college at Oral Roberts, but after his fathers death he decided to come back and begin preaching at the church. He felt all that his father worked for over the years should be carried on with him. The torch was passed, and so started the controversy and criticism as to how this young man was going to be able to accomplish and hold together what his father had built.

To everyone's amazement, even his own, he has done things only his father could dream of doing. Joel's services are not geared towards sin, and racism, and gay marriages, or other worldwide debates, but of goodness and prosperity of fulfillment. Often criticized by many of focusing too much on money, he believes it to be taken out of context. Believing health, building confidence, and feeling good about oneself, then of course the money are all ways to prosper. He is also the other of the #1 New York Times bestseller: Your Best Life Now.

He is married to Victoria Olsteen who is considered by many as the co-pastor of Lakewood Church and they have two beautiful children, Jonathen and Alexandra. On their first date Joel took Victoria to a Houston Rockets game at the Compaq Center where they sat as high as they could remember. Not knowing then that what they were envisioning was where they were headed, and as of 2006 they are remodeling it for their new church home.

#7 Jay-Z- MTV's List Named Jay-Z the "Greatest MC of All Time" in 2006. Many would say the retirement in 2003 left fans wanting more, and in 2006 Jay-Z he came out of retirement to release his new CD Kingdom Come. This album was an instant hit selling 680,000 copies in the very first week alone which was his personal best for albums.

It was never easy growing up for Sean Corey Carter(Jay-Z). His father left him at age 12, and living in Brooklyn was not the best of places to be at the time. He soon found himself selling drugs on the streets and in school, and stating to Barbara Walters that, "It was all around me. You could smell it in the hallways, and it was just everywhere".

It would have been hard to tell where exactly Jay-Z would be today if he didn't wake his family up in the middle of the night banging drum sets on the kitchen table. Which brought his mother to buy him a boom box, and with that brought beats and lyrics and his interest in music. Getting started no major label would give him a record deal so he created Roc-A-Fella Records as his own independent label. In 1996 he struck a deal with Priority to distribute his music and with the release of Reasonable Doubt featuring an appearance from Notorious B.I.G. as we say, the rest is history. Although retiring, greatest hits and other ventures kept his name in the spotlight for those 3 years to lead everyone to believe he would come out of retirement.

Jay Z is a very private person outside of his music, and his "hush hush but everyone knows" relationship with Beyonce is always swirling in the media. The curiosity of society keeps it buzzing day in and day out. It has been said that having their relationship of four years they will be marrying very soon, however when Beyonce was asked this she denied any claims. The couple believes that keeping their relationship out of the public eye has helped it immensely. Although, in May of 2006 there were reports that Jay Z and another artist Rihanna partied together privately in his club in New York City. He also had received a fifteen minute telephone call from Rihanna while attending a New Jersey Nets game(which he owns a piece of) and led to a disagreement with Beyonce. No reports about the matter were heard of again.

Time Magazine released it's 100 Most Influential People of 2006 with Jay-Z and Beyonce being premiered as one of the "Power Couples" of the year. Jay Z's upcoming world tour will be a way he pledges to bring awareness to others about global water shortage. In November of 2006 he was aired on ABC's Nightline to talk about the problem. It's nice to see someone who has come a long way with the help of fans all around the world, that he can take the time out to give back to society anyway he can.

#6 Sacha Boran Cohen- Or to many known as Borat, has pretty much offended every person in the entire world, and he's having fun with it. Borat is a fictional Kazakhstani journalist that started on the Da Ali G Show that is unscripted and he goes and interviews others in character. Although most of his recent fame came from the movie that was released Borat: Culture Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Anything from degrading Kazakhstan people, Exploitation of Gypsies, using real people in non-fiction films, antisemitism, pro-Iraq war stance, conflicts with Kazakhstan government, Debates have swarmed the Internet on every topic, which has boosted this comedian into the spotlight.

He even cost a TV news producer her job in Mississippi, she booked Borat before fully knowing his previous work. Every show he is asked to be on he is always in character, and on this particular interview with Brad McMullen, Borat made sexual references, kissed McMullen, and even interrupted one of their weather reports all which was filmed in the movie. This is just one of many that have cast lawsuit after lawsuit for various reasons. Most notably his arrival at the White House gates in September 2006, where he gave a press conference to invite "Supreme Warlord Premier George Walter Bush" to a screening of his new film along with, O.J. Simpson and "Melvin Gibsons".

The real identity of the person behind the act still seems to be a mystery and there has only been a couple instances where Sacha has been seen without the mustache. Although many despise his act and what it stands for, in October of 2006 he was awarded the German Comedy Award as the best international comedian. If so much controversy surrounds his character, I am curious as to who votes to hand out this award. Especially when the state prosecutor of Hamburg, Germany filed a complaint against him for slander.

If you don't understand Borat, or what he does, it's simply making fun of the fact of how uptight society is over certain topics. Whether someone is invading your personal space, talking about sex, racism, homosexuals, the Iraq war, or anything else that makes others feel uneasy. Not to mention taking a foreigner and society having to deal with him and his questions. Maybe he does go too far at times, but it's the ones that stick their necks out to make a point that become noticed.

#5 Steve and Terri Irwin- The year has been tragic for Terri Irwin and her two children with the death of her husband, famous crocodile hunter Steve Irwin on September 4th, 2006. Barbara wanted to honor him by bringing Terri on the show to talk about their life together and her future with the children Bindi Sui, and Robert Clarence.

In 1991 Steve was doing a demonstration on catching a crocodile and talking about the anticipation, and quick instincts to wrestle a crocodile under water and flip it up into the boat unharmed. Terri instantly found who she was looking for and their meeting at the park would be their defining moment. They married just a year later, and for their honeymoon they took a crocodile trapping adventure which later became the first episode of The Crocodile Hunter.

The show grew so popular that by 1999 it was being shown in almost 140 countries to 500 million viewers. In addition, his operations grew into the zoo he took over for his family, the television series, The Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation which was later renamed Wildlife Warriors, and the International Crocodile Rescue.

Along the way he received awards starting in 2001 with the Centenary Medal for his service to global conservation and Australian tourism. In 2004 Irwin was recognized as the Tourism Export of the Year and was also nominated for Australian of the Year as well.

On September 4th, 2006 while snorkeling in Queensland he decided to take some shallow water shots for a segment that his daughter was hosting while the weather was subsiding. Tragically during filming a stingray spine pierced through Irwin's chest when he swam to close and put a whole in his heart. Later discoveries announced that by pulling the barb out himself may have caused his death. With Steve gone, it was time for Terri and Bindi to carry on the tradition. To finish what he started, and pay tribute to a devoted husband, father, and friend. Bindi decided to speak at his funeral with this to say:

"My Daddy was my hero - he was always there for me when I needed him. He listened to me and taught me so many things, but most of all he was fun.

I know that Daddy had an important job. He was working to change the world so everyone would love wildlife like he did. He built a hospital to help animals and he bought lots of land to give animals a safe place to live.

He took me and my brother and my Mum with him all the time. We filmed together, caught crocodiles together and loved being in the bush together.

I don't want Daddy's passion to ever end. I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did.

I have the best daddy in the whole world and I will miss him every day. When I see a crocodile I will always think of him and I know that Daddy made this zoo so everyone could come and learn to love all the animals. Daddy made this place his whole life and now it's our turn to help Daddy."

#4 Anna Wintour- Many men are unaware who Anna Wintour is, but I do imagine most women are very knowledgeable of her. For those who don't she is the Editor-In-Chief for Vogue and has been since 1988. Growing up Anna went to a north London collegiate school which required a dress code. She was the rebel of her time wearing her skirts higher than allowed, and producing her ever famous haircut bob at the age of 14 and still has her trademark do today.

Due to her cold shoulder demeanor, the movie The Devil Wears Prada starring Meryl Streep is about a girl fresh out of college who wants to get into fashion. The way Streep plays her role in the movie is rumored to be mocking the likes of Wintour and Vogue, although it has been denied. Barbara Walters asked her about the movie and Anna stated that if Streep's actions in the movie portray a woman of being able to get things done, then Anna will take that as a compliment.

It is said that Wintour's salary is close to $2 million dollars a year with perks like a $25,000 wardrobe budget(ladies, I know your eyes are wide open right now), a chauffeur, and a room at the Hotel Ritz Paris during European Fashion Week. She has simply become one of the most powerful people in the fashion business today.For all of her success she has raised over $10 million dollars for AIDS charities, and serves as a trustee for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pretty good for someone who is portrayed as a rude person don't you think.

#3 Jon Ramsey- Who can forget the national horror through every household as reports of the six year old beauty pageant contestant Jon Benet Ramsey being murdered the day after Christmas(1996) were televised across the country. What started as a desperate cry from parents to find the killer soon turned to the parents being the prime suspects in the matter.

New light came to the case 10 years later as a 41-year-old school teacher John Mark Karr confessed to murdering Jon Benet. Unfortunately, for Jon Ramsey, the wall he had built around his heart for the matter, was breaking down once again, only to find out 16 days later that his DNA didn't match the one found at the scene and he was released. Which further creates the debate as to who killed Jon Benet. Bringing Jon Ramsey on the show this year Jon stated when they supposedly found the killer that he felt sorry for the man after finding out that the DNA didn't match. Wondering why it would provoke him to confess to something that he didn't do.

Patsy Ramsey(Jon Benet's mother) and Jon were both on the Barbara Walters show many years ago and proclaimed that they knew she was in a better place and one day they would see her again. Walters asked the couple if Jon Benet was in a better place and Mrs. Ramsey replied, "I believe my arms are the best place for her to be". Adding to more heartache to the family, Patsy lost her battle with ovarian cancer on June 24, 2006, she was 49. Barbara Walter's talked about Patsy's passing with Jon and he had this to say, "I know she is with Jon Benet, and I will see her and Jon Benet again, I know how the story ends. I'm not afraid of that".

*(He also made reference to his other daughter in the statement above from a previous marriage that died in a car accident, but her name I cannot remember)

#2 Patrick Dempsey- The past 20 years have been nothing short of amazing for the actor. Being McNerdy starring his first major film in 1987 "Can't Buy Me Love" to McDreamy in the #1 hit television show Grey's Anatomy in 2006 as been a wonderful achievement. Barbara asked Patrick if he ever thought he'd be the sex symbol of the show, and with a few chuckles he replied, "Not at all". She went on to ask what he thinks it was about him that makes all the women swoon and at the same time they both said, "The hair". He also told her at his age now he doesn't even think about it, but when he was 21 and filming Can't Buy Me Love he thought that was who he was then.

Patrick is married to Jillian Fink Dempsey who is a makeup artist and founder of Delux Beauty. They already have a daughter Tallulah Fyfe that was born in 2002, and as a September of 2006 are expecting twin boys next year. For all the women that want to hear the bad boy side, he drives race cars in his spare time. Patrick will be driving in the Rolex 24 in 2007.

For those that have not seen the show it's about five interns struggling to become surgeons in a stressful environment, enduring heartache, friendships, and a competitive atmosphere in a Seattle based hospital. Grey's Anatomy can be seen on Thursdays at 9/8 central on ABC.

#1 Nancy Pelosi- Since the Democrats won the majority of the house in the midterm elections in 2006 Nancy Pelosi has been elected as the next Speaker of the House. Pelosi is the first woman to lead a major political party in either house, and in January when Congress reconvenes she will become the first woman Speaker as well. It's a great statement for the entire country as a whole.

Stating to Barbara Walters Pelosi is a mother first and then a politician. Quite comically getting asked by Barbara to do give an impersonation of her "mother tone of voice" and her "speaker tone of voice". Pelosi has five children of her own. One of her daughters, Alexandra, covered the Republican presidential campaigns in 2000 as a journalist, and later made a movie called Journeys With George about her experience.

You could say her political platform is extremely strong and diverse. Starting with voting for the Unborn Victims OfViolence Act in 2001, which made it a federal crime to commit violence against a pregnant woman that results in the death of an unborn child. She also has voted on agricultural, budget and taxes, civil liberties, education, environment and energy, foreign policy, and many other things she strongly believes in.

She has come along way since her career started in 1987, and has a lot more to accomplish. Probably one of the best remarks of the came when Walters asked if they needed a woman in her position and as she looked around to give a political answer without strongly voicing her opinion she stated, "Maybe that's what it takes, a woman to go in and clean house". She also was asked about comments made towards President Bush in earlier years about him being incompetent amongst other things and how if we should have the troops withdrawn from Iraq within the next 6 months. Without hesitation she stated, "The withdraw is long overdue". She also had stated previously , "The war is a big blunder".

Thanks for taking the time to read about the 10 Most Fascinating People in Barbara Walters eyes. I now challenge you to tell everyone who you think should be on or not on this list, and who you would replace them with and why. Thanks again.