The New Seven Wonders of the World

New Seven Wonders of the World
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This article is about the New 7 Wonders Foundation list. For other uses, see Wonders of the World .
New Seven Wonders of the World was a project that attempted to update the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World concept with a modern list of wonders. A popularity poll was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber[1] and organized by the Swiss-based, government-controlled New7Wonders Foundation,[2] with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon.[3]
The New7Wonders Foundation claimed that more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Nothing prevented multiple votes, so the poll was considered "decidedly unscientific".[4] According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York-based polling organization Zogby International, New7Wonders Foundation drove “the largest poll on record”.[3]
The program drew a wide range of official reaction. Some countries touted their finalist and tried to get more votes cast for it, while others downplayed or criticized the contest.[3][3][4] After supporting the New7Wonders Foundation at the beginning of the campaign, by providing advice on nominee selection, The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) distanced itself from the undertaking in 2007.[5][6]
The New7Wonders Foundation, established in 2001, relied on private donations and the sale of broadcast rights and received no public funding or taxpayers ' money.[7] After the final announcement, New7Wonders said it didn 't earn anything from the exercise and barely recovered its investment.[8]
In 2007 the foundation launched a similar contest, called New7Wonders of Nature, which will be the subject of voting until mid-2011.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Winners
2.1 UNESCO
2.2 Egypt
2.3 Brazil
2.4 Peru
2.5 Chile
3 =
3.1 India
3.2 Mexico
3.3 Other finalists
3.4 See also
3.5 References
3.6 External links
[edit]History

References: 3.6 External links [edit]History The origin of the idea of seven wonders of the world dates back to Herodotus (484 BC – 425 BC) and Callimachus (305 BC – 240 BC), who made lists which included the Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes and Lighthouse of Alexandria. Only the Great Pyramid of Giza is still standing. The other six were destroyed by earthquake, fire, or other causes.[9] The finalist candidates for the New Seven Wonders. According to the New7Wonders milestone page,[10] filmmaker and aviator Bernard Weber launched the project in September 1999. The project 's web site started in 2001.[3] To be included on the new list, the wonders had to have been built before 2000 and in an acceptable state of preservation. By November 24, 2005, 177 monuments were up for consideration. On January 1, 2006, the New7Wonders Foundation said the list had been narrowed to 21 sites,[11] by its panel of seven architects from five continents: Zaha Hadid, Cesar Pelli, Tadao Ando, Harry Seidler, Aziz Tayob, Yung Ho Chang and its President, Prof. Federico Mayor, the former Director General of UNESCO.[12] The list was later reduced to 20, removing the Pyramids of Giza — the only remaining of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World — from the voting and designating it an Honorary New7Wonders Candidate.[13] The project assigned what it called attributes to each finalist, such as perseverance for the Great Wall of China, passion for the Taj Mahal, and awe for the Easter Island statues. A midpoint tally reported a top 10 list which included all 7 winners, plus the Acropolis, Easter Island, and the Eiffel Tower.[14] Many monuments were supported by dedicated websites or strong placements on national websites. National figures and celebrities promoted the New7Wonders campaign in many countries.[15] New7Wonders stated that it saw its goal of global dialogue and cultural exchange as having been achieved, thanks to the sheer number of votes cast and the diversity of the voters registered.[7] The theme song of the contest was written by Tony Jameson of the UK medieval folk/rock band, The Dolmen. Members of the band performed the song live at the Lisbon ceremonies.[16]