Barbara Walters’ “Most Fascinating People of The Year” list, which is presented as a TV special, has been popular since its inception in 1993. However, this year Walters managed to create a list with only one Black person, Kanye West via his association with fiancee Kim Kardashian, under the title of “Kimye”. Here are 10 intriguing Black people who should have been on Walters’ list.
Beyonce
Queen B ruled 2013. Her talent and beauty created a great deal of buzz and many of her appearances and interviews received major media attention. From her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour to her controversial visit to Cuba, Beyonce was the celebrity most searched online.
However it was her surprise album that really made this Beyonce’s year. On Dec. 13, she unexpectedly released her fifth and self-titled studio album on the iTunes Store without any prior promotion. It was described as a “visual album” as every track was accompanied by a music video.
The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, with three-day sales of 617,213 digital copies, giving the singer her fifth consecutive No. 1 album in the United States. This made her the first female artist in the chart’s history to have her first five studio albums debut at No. 1.
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Ejiofor’s titanic and steadfast performance in director Steve McQueen’s unblinking portrait of mid-19th-century slavery, “12 Years A Slave,” has already been hailed as the performance of his career. Ejiofor has become a fixture on the fall awards circuit, a best-actor Oscar nominee and a name pronounced recently with considerably more familiarity. (It’s CHOO-ih-tell EDGE-ee-oh-for.)
With deep, soulful eyes, Ejiofor captures (“12 Years a Slave” character) Solomon Northup’s indomitability and his undiminished integrity. McQueen, the British director of “Hunger” and “Shame,” compares Ejiofor’s dignified genteelness to Sidney Poitier.
