Magazine Ranks Top MN Celebrities
Full list
The folks at Mpls. St. Paul Magazine are known for their lists, and their tongue-in-cheek ranking of Minnesota's top celebrities hits newsstands Monday.
The magazine rated 207 locals in the limelight -- everyone from Wally Szczerbiak to Wally the Beerman.
Actor Josh Hartnett and multi-hyphenate performer Prince are tied at the top spot. Other folks in the top 20 include sports stars Randy Moss and Kevin Garnett, actresses Jessica Biel and Jessica Lange, '70s sex symbols Cheryl Tiegs and Loni Anderson and former Governor Jesse Ventura.
The method behind the editors' rating system is as interesting as the list itself.
For example, swinging a table at an "in" spot like Bellanotte sent celebs' stock skyrocketing. The magazine's Adam Platt said they handed over their list of candidates to the restaurant's bigwigs, who put a checkmark next to anyone they'd seat without a reservation on a full night.
How about the glam factor? If you made the comp list for Glamorama, the annual fashion show at Marshall Field's, your star power instantly increased.
Celebrities were also judged on their "Q Rating" -- how recognizable they are.
"You got three chances," Platt said. "The more (people) that recognized you, the more points you got."
If you're a close, personal friend of Sid Hartman's, however, your chances were not so good.
"If you're not a friend of Sid's, you get 10 points," Platt said.
Got a book, a show or a movie? That, too, is worth 10 points.
"As we said in the magazine, 'To be money, a celebrity has to make some,'" Platt explained.
Other celebrity criteria included an individual's national stature, if he or she had merchandise for sale on eBay, if the person graced a magazine in the past year, or better still, if someone made a mag's "hot list."
Platt said no one got a perfect score.
The top-rated celebrity with a truly local profile is one of WCCO-TV's own: anchor Amelia Santaniello.
"Amelia is the highest-ranking person on the survey who is not on the national scene," Platt said.
WCCO-TV anchor Don Shelby made the list as well, but it didn't help that he's an F.O.S.: a "Friend of Sid's".
"Not enough mentions in 'CJ' is the other problem," Platt said. "He needs to work on that."
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_023234134.html