Friday, March 02, 2012

Hello, everybody. We're just a few paragraphs away from ending the suspense once and for all with the announcement of the starting field for Sexiest Woman of 2012, but first up...

"Dancing With The Stars" announced the Season 14 cast on Tuesday, and among those about to shake it (partners' names are in parentheses): Telenovela star William Levy (Cheryl Burke), tennis great Martina Navratilova (Tony Dovolani), soap opera's elder stateshunk Jack Wagner (Anna Trebunskaya), soul/R&B legend Gladys Knight (Tristan MacManus), infotainment sexpot Maria Menounos (Derek Hough), sexy soprano Katherine Jenkins (Mark Ballas), Melissa Gilbert (Maksim Chmerkovskiy), "The View's" Sherri Shepherd (Val Chmerkovskiy), Disney star Roshan Fegan (Chelsie Hightower), singer Gavin DeGraw (Karina Smirnoff), Donald Driver of the Green Bay Packers (Peta Murgatroyd), and Steve Urkel himself...Jaleel White (Kym Johnson)!

With "The Voice" already owning Monday nights so far and "American Idol" continuing to slip, this season's roster will do all it takes to not only win our votes, but the ratings as well. I can see Sherri as the first to go with Jaleel, Maria, and Gladys to possibly go all the way. We'll find out starting March 19.


And now...the other announcement you've all been waiting a year for:

All week, I've been thinking up the 120 names fit enough to take down the two names who currently own the Sexiest Woman of the Year title, revising them along the way. Well, the wait is over, so without further ado here they are starting with the Juniors:


Group A
Shailene Woodley
Vanessa Hudgens
Emma Stone
Dianna Agron
Hayden Panettiere
Nina Dobrev
Julianne Hough
Ashley Greene
Alexa Vega
Rihanna

Group B
Candice Accola
Selena Gomez
Kate Upton
Kristen Stewart
Jordin Sparks
AnnaLynne McCord
Ashley Benson
Maria Sharapova
Emma Watson
Lea Michele

Group C
Emma Roberts
Victoria Justice
Taylor Momsen
Demi Lovato
Jennette McCurdy
Lucy Hale
Miley Cyrus
Miranda Cosgrove
Nikki Reed
Naya Rivera

Group D
Taylor Swift
Lacey Schwimmer
Dakota Fanning
Jessica Lowndes
Heather Morris
Tulisa Contostavlos
Jennifer Lawrence
Aimee Teegarden
Blake Lively
Emmy Rossum

And now, the Seniors, with the fourteen Academy Award winners scattered throughout (numbered in parentheses):

Group A
Reese Witherspoon (1)
Kristen Bell (2007 runner-up/2008 winner)
Sandra Bullock (2)
Meryl Streep (3)
Katherine Heigl (2006 third-place finisher)
Cameron Diaz
Charlize Theron (4)
Anne Hathaway
Heidi Klum
Carrie Underwood

Group B
Kylie Minogue
Jennifer Aniston (2006 runner-up/2008 third-place finisher/2009 winner)
Jessica Biel
Rachel Bilson
Britney Spears (1999 winner/2000-01 third-place finisher)
Mila Kunis
Nicole Kidman (2001 winner) (5)
Helen Mirren (6)
Kate Winslet (7)
Kate Beckinsale

Group C
Halle Berry (8)
Madonna
Kaley Cuoco
Maria Menounos
Jessica Alba (2000 and 2003 winner)
Jennifer Lopez (2001 runner-up)
Anna Paquin (9)
Sofia Vergara
Eva Longoria
Gwyneth Paltrow (10)

Group D
Scarlett Johansson (2004 third-place finisher)
Stacy Keibler (2007 third-place finisher)
Natalie Portman (2002 runner-up) (11)
Penelope Cruz (12)
Jennifer Love Hewitt (2002 third-place finisher)
Christina Aguilera (1999 runner-up)
Olivia Wilde
Courteney Cox
Marisa Tomei (13)
Angelina Jolie (14)

Finally, we have the Underdogs:

Group A
Leighton Meester
Kristin Cavallari
Bar Refaeli
Olivia Munn
Sarah Hyland
Katy Perry
Jennifer Hudson
Nancy O'Dell
Rachel McAdams
Erin Andrews

Group B
Amanda Seyfried
Paula Patton
Adriana Lima
Kelly Brook
Laura Prepon
Michelle Williams (actress)
Karina Smirnoff
Lindsey Vonn
Elizabeth Hurley
Connie Britton

Group C
Jennifer Morrison
Nicole Scherzinger
Christina Milian
Kelly Clarkson
Brooke Burke-Charvet
Ashley Tisdale
LeAnn Rimes
Lacey Schwimmer
Zooey Deschanel
Minka Kelly

Group D
Amber Heard
Jane Lynch
Emily VanCamp
Kym Johnson
Sarah Shahi
Anna Faris
Miranda Kerr
Elizabeth Banks
Audrina Patridge
Cheryl Burke (2009-10 third-place finisher)

Coming off her surprise third Oscar win seen by 39.1 million viewers, the early favorite right now is Meryl Streep (she or Helen Mirren -- both in their 60s -- could be the oldest Sexiest Woman winner ever); but the ones to also watch for are Lucy Hale, Emma Stone, Emily VanCamp, Kate Upton, Sofia Vergara, Nina Dobrev, and Zooey Deschanel.

The process is the same as last year:  Top 90 ladies (30 Juniors, 30 Seniors, 30 Underdogs) after the preliminary round will go on to Round 1 where 60 will remain -- 20 from each category -- for Round 2 when it'll be down to only 30 (10 apiece).

Starting in Round 3 when we return in the fall, the real battle begins with the categories removed and last year's third-place finisher Kate Walsh plus a mystery entrant joining the remaining field. The top 20 ladies after that join last year's co-winner Hilary Duff in Round 4, and...

The top ten from Round 4 plus two more from the Second Chance Round will meet that other big winner, Sarah Michelle Gellar, in the final round (which, if everything goes according to plan, will be in mid-November)!!!

So yes, it's going to be an exciting spring and fall asking the question of questions: Who is the Sexiest Woman of 2012? It all begins on Monday, March 26, so so long and stay strong!