Korean singer Rain topped the 2011 Time 100 Poll in the magazine’s online voting to select the 100 most influential people of the year.
Time closed the online poll on April 16 with Rain as the 2011 readers’ choice among 203 candidates — gaining 444,401 votes.
Rain was also No.1 in the poll and included in the final list of the 100 most influential figures in 2006 and ranked first in 2007 and second in 2008.
Rain was followed by Taiwanese singer and actor Jay Chou with 232,696 votes and British singer Susan Boyle with 170,138 votes.
Time describes Rain saying: “This South Korean sensation has been making waves in his native country for years, but his catchy beats and hot dance moves have made his popularity soar internationally. Who can forget that dance-off with Stephen Colbert, or his parts in the movies Speed Racer and Ninja Assassin?”
Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, is popular not only as a singer with his trademark powerful dancing, but also as an actor starring in the two Hollywood films.
Beyonce ranked fifth and Barack Obama was placed on 46th.
The magazine will announced the final list combining the online results with other standards on April 21.
With www.koreatimes.co.kr input
