The 24 People of the Year

Here is my 2nd Annual list of the 24 people of the Year: 2009

1.Neda Agha- Soltan & Iranian Election Protestors- The young woman that was shot on film and became the face of the protestors of the reelection of Ahmadinejad

2.Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, Evan Williams- The Twitter guys. Revolutionized communication with Twitter’s micro-blogging.

3.Sonia Sotomayor- Appointed by President Obama as the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court.

4.Lady GaGa- The new face of pop; took over the world with her music. The Fame became the first album to have 4 No.1’s singles on Billboard, and has sold 8 million + copies.

5.Glenn Beck- The ex-drug addict/ alcoholic joined Fox News Channel. Cried several times on-air. And became the face of the conservative movement.

6.Taylor Swift-Propelled herself to the mainstream music scene. First artist in history to have 2 albums on the Top10 end of year charts. Embarrassed by Kanye West at the VMAs. Landed 8 Grammy nominations (3 of the big 4 nominations). Swept the Billboard Awards with 7. Had Fearless certified 5x platinum by the RIAA

7.Michael Jackson- Unexpectedly died after announcing his “This is It” world tour.

8.Capt. Richard Phillips- Captain of the MV Maersk Alabama. Held hostage for 4 days in exchange for his crew. Successfully freed by Navy SEALs.

9.Chelsey B. Sullenbuger III- Captain of US Airways flight 1549 who landed the plane successfully in the Hudson River after the engines failed due to striking birds.

10.Manny Pacquiao- Boxing’s Pound-for-pound king; Fresh off his KO of de la Hoya he had a 2nd round KO over Hatton and Miguel Cotto. Became the first boxer in history to win titles in 7 different weight classes eclipsing de la Hoya’s 6 titles.

11.Manuel Zelaya & Roberto Micheletti- Zelaya, ousted Honduran president by a coup d’état, was succeeded by Micheletti. Further complicated the political order in an already unstable region. Micheletti was later replaced by questionable elections.

12.Tiger Woods- World’s No. 1 golfer made a very anticipated return to golf after a season ending injury on his fractured leg after winning the U.S. Open. Lost the PGA Championship to an unknown Y. E. Yang. First athlete to earn $1 billion. Took, arguably, the biggest tumble in history from being on top of the world after his scandal of affairs with several women.

13.Nadir Khayat- “RedOne” The hottest producer on the face of the planet. Produced Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance”, “LoveGame”, “Poker Face”, and “Bad Romance.” Also, Sean Kingston’s “Fire Burning.” And several other huge hits. This was truly RedOne’s year.

14.Danny Boyle- Director of critically acclaimed Slumdog Millionaire. Won 8 of 10 Oscar Nominations.

15.Nadya “Octomom” Suleman- Gave birth to octuplets in January 2009. Involved in a controversy of being implanted with 8 embryos. The 8 kids brought her total to 14.

16.Bill Clinton- Humanitarian efforts and successfully negotiated the release of 2 American journalists from North Korea after being sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

17.Juanes- Furthered his humanitarian efforts around the world. Held a controversial concert in Havana, Cuba for peace.

18.Roger Federer- Won Wimbledon and the French Open and reached the finals in the other two Grand Slams. All-time leader in Grand Slam wins with 15. 6th Wimbledon title. All-time leader in Grand Slam finals appearances with 21.

19.Robert Pattinson- Twilight star. Became a household name in 2009 after staring in Twilight and sequel New Moon.

20.Juan Martin del Potro- Beat World’s No.1 tennis player Rafael Nadal at the Sony Ericsson Open. Reached the No. 5 ranking. Beat best tennis player ever Federer in a grueling 5 set match at the U.S. Open. All at the prime age of 20.

21.Hamid Karzai- Won a second term as president of Afghanistan in a very controversial election after being accused of voter fraud. Key in the U.S.’s success in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and the war on terror.

22.Kurt Warner & Larry Fitzgerald- solidified themselves as the most dangerous QB-WR duo in the NFL. Won the NFC West, reached the Super Bowl in a most unlikely run and were minutes from winning the Arizona Cardinals’ first Championship. Late in 2009 they led the team to it’s second consecutive division title, Fitzgerald set the new record in playoff yards with 546 and 7 TDs.

23.Alex Rodriguez-Admitted to using steroids. Led the New York Yankees to their 27th World Series. And finally produced in October.


24.Ted Kennedy- the Great Lion of the Senate. Passed away August 25, 2009 before he could see health reform in the United States. Champion for social justice and universal healthcare. “The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.”