As EW previously speculated, First Lady Michelle Obama was named Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating Person of 2009. “”It has been a whirlwind. But it’s been amazing. I mean, if you think about this year, I had to get these two beautiful girls settled into a new city, into a new home, into a new school. We got a dog. I visited eight countries with my husband. I planted a garden. I’ve started a mentoring program. It has been everything. And now, here we are at our first Christmas in the White House,” the first lady said on Walters’ special, which aired on ABC Wednesday night. She also spoke of her famously toned arms. Other most fascinating people of the year included Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert.
More on Barbara Walters special:
Ken Tucker: Barbara Walters and her ’10 Most Fascinating People’ bored the pants off us
I missed the end. I guess it’s no surprise. She’s the only person they would’ve picked over Gaga. I don’t care how many people are going refer to her as Gag or Caca in their reply to this.
Way to take the fun out of it, Nick.
MO is deservedly the most fascinating person of the year (the only person on the list i find fascinating, anyway). i could also have seen Michael Jackson being named the most fascinating person of the year.
Well if you can name dead people, I think there are more than a few I could think of who are more fascinating that Michael Jackson.
What a joke! I guess Oprah had a hand in the choice.
I truly do not understand why people seem to find Michelle Obama so fascinating. And “She has great arms!” doesn’t count.
I was surprised to see that Susan Boyle wasn’t on the list. Going from no one to international multi-platinum sensation is definitely a noteworthy story.
Boyle and Taylor Swift both should have been on the list. Obama and Sanford should NOT have been…
Agreed. What has she done to be fascinating?
She’s married to someone who made the news!! Isn’t that enough? Maybe it should have been her and Todd Palin, Mrs. Glenn Beck, Lord Gaga, whoever Adam Lambert and Tyler Perry’s girlfriends are.
I think Michelle Obama was the most deserving of being the most fascinating person. Those who think otherwise should also rest easy knowing their beloved Sarah Palin was also included in the special as well.
Not everyone who can’t stand the Obamas is a Republican. Let’s just say I voted for Hillary and leave it at that…
Here’s another Hillary Hater. He won get over it.
Deezy, the equivalent of Michelle Obama being on the list is not Sarah Palin, but would actually be Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd. He, like Michelle Obama, did nothing more than happen to be married to someone who actually made the news.
i’m a proud democrat who voted for obama, and even i don’t think she did anything to deserve this. read to children? talk about helping the poor? have a workout regimen? please, might as well name hayden panettiere or any other teen queen fascinating, apparently they fit the criteria.
I thought it might be Tiger Woods. That’s all she’s been talking about for the past two weeks.
Kate Gosselin’s hair stylist is the most fascinating person of the year. So many questions need to be asked. I want to know how can said person make such an intricate hairstyle without the ability of sight.
She seems nice enough but I don’t get what’s fascinating about her except that she married well. Was Laura Bush fascinating? The only thing Barbara asked her about was her workout schedule.
Barf. Barf. Barf. This family has done nothing to receive all of these these accolades except NOT be Dubya. And btw, Michelle’s arms are not particularly attractive.
Isn’t that enough?????
Meowwwww much Cardsgal?????
This show disappoints me every year — not necessarily for who the top 10 picks are, but for the fact that each “interview” lasts for about 2 seconds, and in many picks there isn’t even an interview, just some highlight clips of said person’s career (re: Brett Favre) For some reason I develop “amnesia” and every year think that I will get new insight into these top picks by watching this program, only to be disappointed by stock footage, previously aired snippets from Barbara Walters interviews, and 2 second interviews. How about changing the program to 2 hours instead of 1, or only picking the top 5 most fascinating people and fleshing the interviews out a bit? Shame on me for being fooled again!
Ugh, more Obama obsession. Once again, this family hasn’t done anything particularly important. Before I get to Michelle, let me just point out that Barack’s movement to close Guantanamo Bay was incredibly idiotic. Why would you want to bring those terrorists back to jail here? They were the ones who attacked New York and killed thousands of innocent people. Let me tell you something, too much liberalism is ruining this country, and if Obama keeps it up, he’s only going to make it worse. Now back to Michelle. Exactly WHAT has she done that is so fascinating? And people saying she has “great arms” doesn’t count. Though why people obsess over them I’ll never know. I guess some people are easily pleased. This family hasn’t done anything to accept all those awards. And Obama’s Noble Peace Prize was an absolute joke.
I agree 100%. They have done nothing but have parties at the White House. This whole thing makes me sick and afraid.
Thank you!!
Well, it’s good to see that Fox News has done it’s job and has you “afraid”. Afraid of what exactly? That Obama is going to create a bogus war and then spend billions and put our country in debt while making Americans look like complete dolts to the rest of the world? Oops, that’s already happened. Do us all a favor and lock yourselves in your homes and never come out. Oh, and stop using the internet – don’t you know that Obama and his commie friends are monitoring everything you say and that they are going to show up in the middle of the night and brainwash your daughters into becoming Socialists?
Michelle Obama is a descendant of former slaves who came from one of the poorest neighborhoods in America and went on to graduate from Princeton, Harvard Law School and had a full time career while raising two children before quitting for the 2008 election, no other first lady has come close to those kind of intellectual or professional accomplishments except for HRC (who I also really admire), but HRC grew up white, protestant and upper middle class so Michelle has broken certain other barriers in her own right. You have every right to disagree with Obama’s policies but you seem so ignorant about them that I don’t know how you can make any kind of legitimate judgement. And as for the Peace Prize – it’s ‘Nobel’ not ‘Noble’, and he didn’t ask for it.
Thank you Quinny! Finally someone with sense!
So. What has she done lately? It is the most fascinating person of 2009. Not when she was growing up. Not when she was in college. And she wasn’t a slave.
I’m sure there are many other woman who have grown up in poor neighborhoods who have equal if not better accomplishments. If she were the only poor black woman to graduate from the ivy league that would be fascinating. And can’t most black people trace their ancestory back to slavery? If she wasn’t the first lady we wouldn’t even know her.
Lots of people grow up poor and lots of people that grow up poor makes something out of themselves. So, what makes her so special that she’s at the top of a list like this? The only thing she did differently than any other person in her situation was marry Barack. If she had not done that, no one would even know who she is.
Before you say that Michelle Obama has done nothing to make her a fascinating person, try doing a little homework:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama
If you read her bio, you find all kinds of interesting things. Her family has an interesting history. She’s incredibly smart, skipping grades in school, doing her undergraduate studies at Princeton and earning a law degree from Harvard. She met her husband when SHE was mentoring HIM as a summer associate at her law firm, and she’s held various positions in the Chicago city government, and she was the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago.
I find all of those things more fascinating than some 20-year old who happens to be a decent songwriter, if not a great performer (which I don’t think Taylor Swift is), or a woman who sings well but may not be the most attractive person on the face of the planet.
dear god, i’m SO sorry. for starters, i didn’t look on WIKIPEDIA before stating an opinion so i could pretend to be an expert. woe is me!
well shoot, i can’t find the wikipedia article about this, but from what i can see this is about the most fascinating person of 2009 and not most fascinating person of 1983 (when she graduated princeton), or of 1988 (when she got her jd from harvard). in fact i’m pretty sure she wasn’t even in the running for those years because she’s either no different than any other african american disadvantaged youth who went on to ivy league schools, or wasn’t married to someone famous at the time. you can take your pick.
ps: i voted for obama, so politics aren’t a problem for me. and i’m sure she’s a wonderful person, it’s just that she isn’t the only one with this story.
Look, with Obama getting a peace prize during war time and now Michelle one of the most facinating people of the year…Barbara needs to retire. I always said they were nothing but mere celebs and now its proven! Thanks Barbara! And THEY need to run this country instead of costing this country! ROOKIES running the best country on earth. SAD! And dangerous….But look! Michelle has great arms *sigh*
I dislike the intense media coverage of First Ladies. I suppose it’d be naive to say ‘we didn’t vote for them’, but the whole thing seems so calculated and cynical on both the media’s part and theirs.
Michelle is not the POTUS, Barack is! I also never understood the media’s obsession with the first ladies.
Michael’s kids? Mark Sanford’s wife? Where was Taylor Swift? I’m not a fan, but it seems she has been in the spotlight a lot. I’m surprised it wasn’t the Twilight cast somehow.
Sorry, there is nothing “Fascinating” about Taylor Swift – except that people actually find her music to be pleasurable.
Agreed. What is fascinating about a goofy kid?
I really don’t understand why she is most facinating. Her only accomplishment is being the President’s wife and wearing $500 sneakers to a homeless shelter . . .
Sam — I think you’re confused, we’re talking about Michelle Obama, not Laura Bush or Nancy Reagan.
p.s. what does ‘facinating’ mean?
Brown nosing will get you everywhere, so will pressure.