It’s that “Time” of year again, folks. Time magazine is in the process of selecting its “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and they’ve got it narrowed down to an impressive list of finalists. Naturally, there are a couple of our favorites on the list. From Time:
STEPHEN COLBERT
AGE: 43
OCCUPATION: Comedian, host of The Colbert Report
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 1PRO: Hands down the nimblest satirist on TV or in print (I Am America! (And So Can You!)) has spent more than 23 weeks atop the New York Times bestseller list), Colbert can take any catastrophe — a rejection from the South Carolina primary, a crippling writer’s strike —and spin it into comedy gold.
CON: Colbert’s “making” of surprise Iowa winner Mike Huckabee — endorsed by The Report when his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination was at a comically low ebb — raises questions about whether Colbert’s meta-ness has turned meddlesome. Is he satirizing American politics…or hacking it? Also: Do we care?
Perennial fave Jon Stewart is also on the list of finalists, as are many other fine (and not so fine) nominees.
Oh, and … I’m not sure whether I should mention this but, right now, Stephen is ranked third on the overall list. Ahead of him are Barack Obama and … uh … Rain.
The inspiration for “Singin’ in Korean” is up for being the most influential person? Seriously? Why do I have this funny feeling we’ll be hearing about Macros again soon…
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See, my favorite thing about this poll is that Bush is at 145! Oh, online polls. The scientific accuracy of them astounds me. ;)
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I´m wondering if Rain wins again, what about “He is singin´ in Korean 2″? :))) it could be great..
@Lisa, normally I´m against Macros and cheating in polls but Rain – Noooooooooooooooo!!! :D
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Oh, let’s face it, the “TIME 100″ list is always comprised of some very worthy individuals … and then the ones that make you say, “Huh?” I just like to see Stephen included on lots of these lists and, as fodder for show segments go, these types of things are excellent.
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I agree with Ms I. Some of the contenders aren’t even close to what I’d consider “Influential”, but it is really cool to see Stephen on that list with people like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.
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Did anyone else catch the Colbert reference on Branson’s profile? “CON: His bold business practices (and frequent attempts to break world records) can also be construed as self-aggrandizing Barnumism. Just ask Stephen Colbert, who got a face-full of Branson’s antics in an interview.”
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RAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNN!!!!!!
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Rain?!?!?! Again?!?!
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Man, it seems like our failure to get him to #1 was only yesterday…
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Perez Hilton is #2 now, which is clearly absurd, but his site probably has a lot of readers, who are voting. Stephen is still third, but only has 1,102 total votes at this point, and I know the Colbert Nation can do way better than that, so I think this has only just begun.
It should be amusing to see where it goes this year! A face-off between him and Obama, perhaps? A showdown with the Dalai Lama? Although, I have to say, those Rain supporters seem diligent. Rain already has 7 times as many votes as Stephen.
Here’s hoping Stephen announces the poll on the show. He could get tens or hundreds of thousands of additional votes, plus it would be a good “excuse” for him to rerun the “Singin’ in Korean” video … Not to mention producing a follow-up if he loses to Rain again…
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If Stephen gets beat out by Perez Hilton does that mean he’ll start his own celebrity blog?
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OK. Barack Obama I can understand, but Perez Hilton and Rain?!? C’mon! The story and links have also been posted on the Colboards in a couple of different forums so hopefully the people with loads of spare time will just sit and vote their little hearts out.
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Oh, if only Obama were still ahead of Stephen. Now it’s Perez Hilton, of all people.
Oh, and uh, RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAIIIINNNN!
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I just enjoy the irony of Rain and Stephen being so close in rank in these polls. You know his nomination will get “the bump” for sure if he mentions it on the show tonight…
And I bet you anything The Nation will make sure that he’s #1 on that list! C’mon, Nation!
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We need to go around all the other blogs and message boards and make sure everyone votes!
I have tonight off, I’ll see what I can do. lol.
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I am continually puzzled about: what does rain influence?
anyone have an idea?
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*cracks knuckles* Time to put my supervillainess powers to work! }:-D
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Don’t just vote for Stephen – give Rain and the others a bad rating to bring them down
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Rain influences fangirls–the strongest power in the world
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ok, what is the big appeal with this Rain guy?!
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@Eris: we should have a battle royale between the Rain fangirls and the Colbert fangirls and see who’s cuisine will reign supreme. then we’ll see who’s influential.
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Let’s bump up Neil Degrasse Tyson (friedn of the show) currently at 64!
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@vigwig,
I agree about giving Neil Degrasse Tyson a bump too.
If we give Rain and Perez Hilton bad ratings while giving Stephen (and Jon Stewart and Neil Degrasse Tyson) good ratings, will that help bring Rain and Hilton down? Is it based on average rating or total votes for a person. I don’t want to give those guys a low rating and somehow help them out in the process.
The Colbert Nation definitely needs to come together and put Stephen over the top. We cannot let people like Rain and Perez Hilton beat him.
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*shakes fist at Rain*
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@pellenaka
@vigwig,
Done and done.
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Ok, to you guys who screwed up the Fantasy League by writing macros, it is now your time to make it all up to us. Use your power for good, not against fellow Zoners / Zonies!
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I think we need a NoRainZone.
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@ColbertFaninChicago,
Good one there ;-)
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How are Rain and Perez Hilton getting SO many votes?! They don’t influence me, or anyone I know…
I mean, losing to Perez Hilton could potentially be fodder for another piece, but I’d much rather him win, personally.
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…. “him” being Stephen, not Perez…
Wanted to clear that up.
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Stephen is now ahead of Barack Obama, and Rain is #1. WTF?
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Oh no. Stephen’s average rating is going down. It was 82% earlier. Now it’s down to 80%. Maybe someone is using macros to help Rain or Perez Hilton and to hurt Stephen.
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GAH!
He’s now 4th. How are these people getting these votes so …gosh darn fast?
I almost have have a mind to say (with grabby hands) “Macros please!”
But at the same time, I don’t want to cheapen the contest… Hrmph… (that’s my disgruntled noise).
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See the colboard for instructions. You too can become a macro mastermind! (I’m still at work, but I’m starting mine soon–I’m going to need help, obviously Rain’s fangirls are voting down Stephen too). Remember to clear your cookies!
http://www.colboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=39099&start=0
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@pellenaka
@vigwig
@One of the Heros,
Done and Done here.
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Come on Nation. Let’s boost those numbers. Stephen is hot and rocks. And it is our mission to put him at the top. Here my cry Nation! Do your duty!
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Hey did anyone notice… waaaay down at 206… Nikki Finke?
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Okay, Stephanie Meyer has gotten like 10,000 votes in less than 2 hours.
Somebody has something set up. No question about that.
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@ ay, Yes I noticed Nikki Finke and bumped her.
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Okay, seriously, how do you make these macro things to vote for Stephen?!
Couple of questions: who is Stephanie Meyer, and what is up with Rain? Last year’s Time 100 poll and “Singin’ in Korean” are the only reasons I even know who Rain is! (Am I just old and out of touch? Is he really that popular?)
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Stephanie Meyer wrote Twilight– that vampire series? I made the mistake of reading the first book in the series….awful.
I voted manually about…10 times (for Stephen, not Meyer).
I also would have had no idea who Rain was, if it hadn’t been for “Singin’ in Korean”.
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NFZers, I hate to be the spoilsport but I don’t like the use of macros to influence voting at all.
Sure it can be fun and goofy, and people can look at tactics as “good” or “evil” depending on their context. Macros screwed our Tournament, but now their use is condoned “in the name of” getting Stephen Colbert to win a popularity contest? Why is this situation really different?
Personally, I think the idea of macro voting su**s and is patently bogus. I’m offensively surprised at the boldness (gall?) of its re-suggestion here at NFZ.
Sorry, friends. I’m venting some judgmentalism in this case. I’ve said my piece.
***judgment tone off**
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@laughing at nothing:
You’re right: sorry about the macro comment.
But, seriously, is there a way to recognize and eliminate recognition of macro-voting in online polls (other than manually analyzing results)? Rain and Stephanie Meyer *cannot* be that popular! (I don’t think I’m *that* out of it!!)
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Okay, so Stephen’s back up to third, apparently because of all the negative votes for Perez Hilton. But yet again, Stephanie Meyer has gotten almost another 10,000 votes since the last time I checked.
SIGH
That gets me kind of miffed actually. Not that she and Rain are ahead (which baffles me) but that they and Perez Hilton have so many more votes than anyone else and there’s really nothing that those of us who are subjected to personal morals can do about it.
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I hope Stephen mentions this next week. I thought he would today.
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I think he’s starting to understand the true power of the Colbert Nation and probably knew that somehow his fans would rig the voting — I think he may have learned that through the whole bridge naming fiasco. Just a thought…
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Oh come on–the Nation is famous/notorious for vote-rigging! Also at this point it’s so ridiculous that it’s pretty obvious who would win in the non-vote-rigging category, last I checked Nelson Mandela.
If you are going to get your dander up, do it for real voting like Ohio and Florida!
Yes, I know I was a bad person for the macro-voting in March Madness, but this is obviously a plea for macro-voting by Time, because they aren’t even cookieing it (disregard my previous comment about cookie-clearing).
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@Eris:
I’m not talking about the Colbert Nation. I’m talking about NFZ. The laissez-faire attitude of “Everybody cheats so why shouldn’t we?” isn’t really the impression I’ve received from this blog.
I’m surprised that this issue would rear its ugly head again so soon after the thoroughly unhappy effect it had around here.
I moved from the Colboards to NFZ so I could find a less crazy and uncontrollable forum for SC discussion. I’m not interested in being part of a Colbert legion notorious for vote-rigging and lunatic behavior. I don’t want NFZ’s reputation as a Stephen Colbert site to be cheapened.
Eris, I know you don’t understand why I would care in this way, but I do.
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This is seriously irritating. Now Britney Spears is beating Stephen. I’ve never heard of Stephenie Meyer and only know about Rain from TCR.
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I will gouge both my eyes out with a spoon if Britney Freekin’ Spears wins over Stephen. If she does, it’s pretty clear to me that something is terribly wrong with this world.
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