Model Adriana Lima, best known as one of Victoria’s Secret’s Angels, joins such previous winners as actress Charlize Theron, actress Monica Bellucci, and model Laetitia Casta.
In a record display of participation by AskMen.com’s readership of over 5 million monthly unique visitors, in excess of 250,000 ballots were cast over a two-month period.
The idea for the Most Desirable list began in 2001 to counterbalance the excess of “most sexy” and “most beautiful” lists being published. The goal of AskMen.com’s Top 99 is to select the female celebrities that men feel are long-term relationship material, rather than voting according to a celebrity’s popularity, fame or beauty.
Readers were asked to vote according to who they would most want a relationship with, would consider marrying, or considered best suited to be the mother of their children.
“Over a quarter of a million ballots for the 2005 edition of the Top 99 list were cast, from men aged 16 to 65, ensuring a fair and balanced representation of today’s male preferences,” says Ricardo Poupada, the President and Editor in Chief of AskMen.com.
“While all the women on the list are extremely attractive, men respond every year to the fact that this list is not just about looks, but desirability. In other words, women they would want to date or introduce to mom.”
Although Adriana Lima has been in the news for years, as much for her exotic looks, fashion show appearances and brief engagement to rocker Lenny Kravitz, last year was a standout for the 23-year-old.
Countless magazine covers and most notably, a Victoria’s Secret commercial with Bob Dylan and a starring role in the Victoria’s Secret runway show all helped vault her to the top.
Rounding out the Top 5 are previous winners Bellucci and Theron at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, as well as models Josie Maran at No. 4 and Heidi Klum at No. 5.
Once again, the AskMen.com Top 99 list features a slew of international favorites such as Anna Kournikova, Salma Hayek and Petra Nemcova, as well as usual suspects like Jennifer Lopez, Brooke Burke, Shania Twain, Beyonce Knowles, and Halle Berry.
Beautiful newcomers who had big years in the entertainment world also made an impact on the list for the first time this year, with Eva Longoria of the ABC hit drama Desperate Housewives, and Mischa Barton of the FOX series The O.C. most notable among them.
There was also no shortage of surprises, with perennial favorites like Britney Spears, Jessica Alba and Pamela Anderson coming in at a relatively low No. 74, No. 78 and No. 81, respectively.
“Our readers clearly chose on the basis of desirability, rather than who was the most controversial or commercial,” says AskMen.com gossip columnist and Senior Editor Rosy Saadeh.
“When you go through the entire list for this year, or even the past few years, you really get a sense of how diverse and unpredictable the selections are.”
Also new to the list this year, and the result of immense popular demand, is a gallery feature that allows readers to surf through pictures of every one of the 99 desirable women.
With more than one pic available for such stunners as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Shannon Elizabeth and Krista Allen, reader interest should reach a fever pitch.
With coverage on MSN, AOL, ABC Radio, in The National Enquirer and in The Sydney Morning Herald, over 6 million readers took in the previous version of the Top 99 list.
The 2005 version promises to draw in as many as 10 million unique visitors, as AskMen.com readers discover where their most desirable women, as well as the favorites of their fellow readers, placed on the list.
For access to the full list, visit http://www.askmen.com/women/2005_top_99/index_pr.html