Sunday, Jan. 05, 2003

The 10 Best 10 Best Lists

By Julie Rawe

We've just weathered another busy season of year-end rankings, from movies and minutiae to the biggest news stories of the year. Having trouble sorting through the clutter? Here are our picks:

1
Chicago Tribune: Top 10 Trent Lott Apologies. Pulling in at No. 3: "I don't accept those policies of the past at all... I'm the son of a sharecropper myself"

2
Fineman P.R.: Top 10 P.R. Blunders. Martha Stewart's mess got nosed out by Abercrombie & Fitch, for its marketing of thong underwear to preteen girls, which prompted boycotts by profamily groups

3
NASCAR: Top 10 Best Paint Schemes. Proof that even motorheads try to color-coordinate. Robby Gordon's black-and-orange Chevy was praised for "ingenious use of his sponsor's logo"

4
New York Times: Top 10 Movies. With no fewer than four lists, one each from four critics, 28 films can say they made the Top 10. Only quadruple winner: Talk to Her

5
Tatler: Britain's 10 Most Eligible Bachelors. The London society magazine tapped Prince Harry. His older brother William didn't make the list because he no longer lives in the city

6
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Top 10 Celebrity Excuses. "Crack is cheap. I make too much money to use crack." Whitney Houston, on why crack is not among the drugs she has admitted using, snagged No. 3

7
Booklist: Top 10 Science Reference Sources. The compilers pleaded there were so many contenders they had to limit the list to the 500s of the Dewey decimal system

8
Investor's Business Daily: Top 10 News Events of 2002. Corporate scandals, at a surprisingly low No. 7, were outranked by the D.C. snipers

9
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Top 10 Shows on the Strip. Gladys Knight, at the Flamingo, edged out Blue Man Group: Live at Luxor

10
AskMen.com: Top 10 Ring Tones for Your Cellular Phone. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, at No. 10, won praise because, unlike many of the standard high-pitched cell tunes, it "won't scare the bejeezus out of you when your phone rings"