President among top five

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been voted among five most attractive persons in the world, through a worldwide voting on Internet by the prestigious Time Magazine. The 2011 survey was carried out to find out how the Time worldwide web readers picks the most influential 100 people in the world.

Though official voting for inclusion on the TIME 100 list ended over the weekend with South Korean pop icon on top, surfers on Time website could continue to vote for their favourites until the final list, selected by Time editors, is announced on Thursday (21).

At the time of going to press last night, President Rajapaksa was ranked fifth with a staggering 108,085 people voting him to be the most influential person in the world.

There have been many commendable messages by thousands of voters who have hailed President Rajapaksa as a truly influential leader who put a permanent end to a three decade long terrorism and liberated innocent civilians with an inspirational political leadership.

Rain

Jay Chou

Susan Boyle

Cheng Yen

The Lankan President is the only politician to secure a topmost slot on his debut appearance in the Time 100 Most Influential personalities annual contest. In contrast, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, making his third appearance in Time 100 Voting, could secure only the 73rd place.

In a significant pattern of voting, US President Barack Obama was placed only 46th, slightly ahead of his country's State Secretary and former First Lady Hillary Clinton (43rd) and Burmese political icon Aung San Suu Kyi (39th). However, the founder of the controversial WikiLeaks website which became popular overnight after leaking confidential state reports, Julian Assange was placed 11th.

Finishing on top when the official voting ended was Rain, the Korean sensation who has been making waves in his native country for years. His catchy beats and hot dance moves have made his popularity soar internationally. He has polled a mammoth 434,992 votes. In the second place is Taiwanese director-singer-songwriter Jay Chou with 227,094 votes.

The 32-year-old has already conquered Asia with his sweet tunes and sultry style.

Singer Susan Boyle is placed third with 160,457 votes. Boyle certainly couldn't have dreamed the dream she's been living since she showed off her pipes and stunned the skeptical judges on Britain's Got Talent two years ago.

The journey from anonymity to stardom has brought her two multiplatinum No. 1 albums, a book deal and an exhaustive media tour across the world.

Cheng Yen, a 73-year-old Buddhist nun and philanthropist is placed fourth. Widely considered Chinese world's Mother Teresa, she runs the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, one of Asia's largest charities.