People’s 100 Most Beautiful: Kate Hudson is that Beautiful
Is Kate Hudson the most beautiful person on the planet?
When People Magazine put the rom-com queen on the cover of their double issue for the 100 Most Beautiful, people started making the assumption that that’s what the famed gossip magazine meant. And really, when you look at this picture for long enough, you start to believe it. Without a doubt, Kate Hudson is beyond beautiful and she’d be in my personal Top 10.
With Kate Hudson kicking off the list, People Magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful list for 2008 is one of the most spot-on, well-balanced beauty lists that I’ve ever seen.
Keeping the 69 page feature fresh are the different categories - age, hair color, no makeup, up and coming stars, and more, that made this year’s issue the perfect dentist office companion. While Maxim looked for the “Hot 100,” People takes a more elegance stance, looking for the most “beautiful,” which makes it my kind of list.
Not a Drop of Makeup
In what is definitely the most brave section of the magazine, stars posed for photos without makeup, having their age in print just below their names as well.
Ugly Betty cast mates Rebecca Romijn (35) and Gabrielle Union (35), along with Brooke Shields (42), a freckly, but still beautiful Ghost Whisperer Jennifer Love Hewitt (29), and country newbie Taylor Swift (18) brought a diverse crowd of lookers onto the fresh faced section.
And while Zoe Saldana (29), Vanessa Hudgens (19), and Elizabeth Banks (34) all braved the photoshoot without their Hollywood faces, it was fanboy fantasy and Heroes‘ star Kristen Bell (27) and Friday Night Light’s own Minka Kelly (27) who stole the section with looks that make you wonder why they even “have to” wear make up.
Winners: Kristen Bell and Minka Kelly
The New Classics
“The fab faces of 2008 put a twist on tradition.”
The faces featured in this section filled traditional Hollywood roles in a 2008 way - The Phenom (Miley Cyrus), The Practical Joker (Ashton Kutcher), and The No-Drama Queen (Mary J. Blige).
What made this section particularly cool was that all of these stars were relevant this year, so every name was familiar, avoiding the question of “Oh, what is that person in?”
Norah Jones, “The Brit Import” Kate Beckinsale, and even funny girl Sarah Silverman looked stunning, making “Crooner” Josh Groban and “The Comeback Kid” Christina Applegate just look average.
Overall, it was the new classic “Country Sweetheart” Carrie Underwood, who took a beautiful picture that literally made her eyes look photoshopped, that made her stand out as stunning in a crowd of beautiful. But Ashton Kutcher, the one time model turned prankster also pulled off the rare talent of looking like a model without trying to look like a model.
Winners: Carrie Underwood and Ashton Kutcher
Hall of Fame
This section paid tribute to people who had made the Beautiful list so many times that they deserve their own section. With people like Nicole Kidman (9), Angelina Jolie (6), Jennifer Lopez (8), Johnny Depp (5), and even Jessica Simpson (5…not too many more to come) getting the list rolling, this section was a virtual “who’s who” of Hollywood elite. And what a coincidence, they’re all ridiculously good looking. I suppose somethings are still right in the world.
Representing for the R&B songstresses were Alicia Keys (5) and Beyonce (5), sharing a page with every woman’s dream, George Clooney (8).
Halle Berry (12) showed staying power and ageless beauty, while Brad Pitt (8) and Matthew McConaughey (5) shared a page, almost symbolizing a near changing of the guard as McConaughey seems to grab as much of the spotlight with his shirtless antics as Pitt ever did.
With so much good lookingness crammed into so few pages, it’s tough to choose a winner for this section, but I’ll go with Alicia Keys for her unconventional beauty and George Clooney, for his all around appeal that makes him a pretty cool guys for the ladies (in that way) and the fellas (the other way).
Winners: Alicia Keys and George Clooney
Heating Up
“These are the faces to watch: The New talents, the rising stars and the next generation of Hollywood beauty.”
Rumer Willis?? It was an unconventional way to start out a section of relative unknowns compared to the All-Star list that preceded them. The list includes the likes of Sarah Larson (George Clooney’s girlfriend), Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies), Amanda Beard (Olympic swimmer), and Jason Taylor (Miami Dolphins Defensive End).
But stealing the show in this section? The Cast of Gossip Girl - Blake Lively, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr, Penn Badgeley, Taylor Momsen, and Leighton Meester - a ridiculously good looking group of people posed for a shot that captured the cast in all their good looking glory (better than this one).
While not the show’s main character, Taylor Momsen, a 14 year old who plays a 15 year old on the show, is definitely one of the most beautiful of a cast filled with lookers. By no means is she crazy “hot” (because that would make me feel really dirty), but even Chace Crawford, who dated Carrie Underwood, said that she was “pretty much perfect.” Well said, Chace. Well said.
Winner: The Cast of Gossip Girl
My Beautiful Costar
In this section, Hollywood types wrote about their good looking costars in well-known duos - Alec Baldwin wrote about his muse Tina Fey, while Michael Urie played assistant to his Ugly Betty boss Vanessa Williams, and Christopher Meloni wrote about Mariska Hargitay. Since she’s all the rage right now…
Winner: Tina Fey
Year of the Red Head
One of the more random parts of this year’s list featured Desperate Housewives’ Marcia Cross, Enchanted’s Amy Adams, and even her dirty lookalike Isla Fisher. Less familiar to me was Christina Hendricks, who came before better knowns like Julianna Moore and Lauren Ambrose.
Winner: Amy Adams…or Isla Fisher if you’re feeling a little dirtier
More than Skin Deep
This was one of the coolest sections of the magazine, just because the section was less about glamorous pictures than it was about the causes that these well-known faces support.
The list included David Beckham (Children’s Rights), Jennifer Garner (Education), Queen Latifah (Scholarships), Rihanna (Children’s Welfare), Salma Hayek (Healthy Mothers & Infants), Patrick Dempsey (Cancer Support).
Winner: Everyone (to take a page from the warm-hearted section)
Perfect Partners
“Three celeb couples prove that nothing flatters like the look of love”
At some point, Ashlee Simpson became hotter than her sister Jessica. This past weekend, she married Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, who was once quite the teen dream himself. Together, they form a beautiful couple, regardless of what lengths Ashlee took to get that hot to the point that she kind resembles a hot Stephanie Pratt.
Eva Longoria and Tony Parker along with Jessica Alba and Cash Warren’s good lookingness as couples has been long established, confirmed, and reconfirmed. While Jessica Alba is generally enough to tip the scales in her direction for anything, in terms of general beauty, it’s really tough to beat the Longoria-Parker clan, who mix glamor and athleticism into a neat little ball of beauty.
Winner: Eva Longoria-Parker and Tony Parker
All-Consuming Beauty
“Three TV Foodies share their scrumptious secrets”
Rachael Ray. Ingrid Hoffman. Sandra Lee. No Giada Di Laurentiis???
Winner: Push (No Giada, but I’d give it to RR)
Age Defying Beauties
With the last major section in the super feature, this section set out to feature women who “look at least a decade younger than they really are.” Though I’d say that many of the women featured on earlier pages fit the role just as well, the section featured Angie Harmon (35), Carrie Ann Inaba (40) of Dancing with the Stars fame, Raquel Welch (67!), and Iman (52).
Winner: Raquel Welch. 67, no way!
So after all that, even though she was on the cover, is Kate Hudson really the world’s most beautiful person for 2008?
Probably not, but I don’t think anyone is complaining after a list that felt more complete than most any of its kind.
It’s amazing when you can have a list like this that leaves out Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Megan Fox, Stacy Keibler, Liv Tyler, Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari, any current Victoria’s Secret models, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Alyssa Milano, Rachel Bilson, Kate Bosworth, and any of the Young Hollywood party types, and yet you don’t feel like anyone is severely missing.
This year, People’s 100 Most Beautiful > Maxim’s Hot 100
