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Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui - Source: Getty Images
Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui has topped an annual poll of
the world's 99 most desirable women, with organizers saying her
appeal was boosted by the fact that she does not feature heavily in
celebrity magazines.
The 32-year-old actress, best known for the TV series Entourage,
was named by men's website AskMen.com as the woman with the
qualities most men would want in a girlfriend or wife, taking the
title from last year's winner Eva Mendes.
Previous winners of the annual list of the world's Top 99 Most
Desirable Women, now in its 10th year, include Katherine Heigl,
Beyonce, Jessica Alba and Adriana Lima.
"Hearing what the vote is made of is the biggest compliment of all
because it's about being a well-rounded woman. That's really
empowering and is just a massive compliment to me," Chriqui said in
a statement after coming 12th last year.
In second place in the 2010 poll, which involved about eight
million votes, was American model Marisa Miller and in the third
slot was British actress Kate Beckinsale.
AskMen.com's editor-in-chief James Bassil said Chriqui's role in
Entourage as a sweet, ideal girlfriend had helped her in the survey
- but so had the fact that she is not over exposed.
"We don't see a lot of her. She is not a very public person so it
leaves some room to the imagination. She is not out there making a
spectacle of herself which could sully her image," he said.
"A lot of the behaviour we see in the media is not the kind of
behaviour that you want to see in a girlfriend or wife. You can get
over-saturation and we don't want to see their real and sometimes
stained and depressed sides of their lives."
Chriqui has appeared in a list of films including Don't Mess With
The Zohan, and TV series The O.C. and Entourage.
Celebrities like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears who appear
regularly in the media did not feature at all in the 2010 list.
Spears reappeared on the list in 2009 after a few years' absence
but was out of favour again in 2010.
"It has to do with a lack of mystery and enigma," said
Bassil.
He said it was interesting to note that Megan Fox has fallen from
second place to No 11 in 2010 after a year of heavy publicity for
the American actress.
"She has become very much the type we see everywhere, getting a lot
of publicity but with not a lot of success driving this. Sure,
she's had massive roles in massive movies but they are few and far
between compared to many others," he said.
Newcomers to the list for 2010 included Italian model/actress
Elisabetta Canalis, 31, debuted at No 43, which Bassil put down to
the fact that she is dating Hollywood idol George Clooney.
He said it was interesting that French actress Marion Cotillard
came in at No 54 as the movie Nine has not been that successful in
North America.
The list by AskMen.com, a unit of News Corp's Fox Interactive
Media, had the perennial favourites like Jessica Alba at No 5
followed by Beyonce in sixth place and Angelina Jolie at No
88.
"All the top women we see in this list are pretty well behaved and
respectable women. We don't see a lot of them parading around in
public unless it is in the framework of their careers," said
Bassil.
Following is a list of the top 20 women in the list of 99
with their position in last year's poll in brackets where
relevant:
1. Emmanuelle Chriqui(12)
2. Marisa Miller(3)
3. Kate Beckinsale (10)
4. Alessandra Ambrosio(6)
5. Jessica Alba(15)
6. Beyonce (50)
7. Penelope Cruz(25)
8. Cheryl Cole (20)
9. Eva Mendes(1)
10. Miranda Kerr(46)
11. Megan Fox (2)
12. Gisele Bundchen(28)
13. Bar Refaeli (34)
14. Erin Andrews
15. Padma Lakshmi
16. Kelly Brook
17. Natalie Portman
18. January Jones (98)
19. Monica Bellucci(18)
20. Paz Vega(53)
Notable movements:
Beyonce climbed from 50th to 6th
Gisele Bundchen climbed from 28th to 12th
Jessica Alba climbed from 15th to 5th
Audrina Patridge climbed from 68th to 35th
Taylor Swift climbed from 57th to 51st
Penelope Cruz climbed from 25th to 7th
Jessica Simpson fell from 70th to 82nd
Angelina Jolie fell from 42nd to 88th
