Robert Pattinson, Lea Michele, Sandra Bullock, Taylor Swift Declared Influential

Time magazine releases its annual list featuring some of our favorite stars

By Breanne L. Heldman Apr 29, 2010 4:04 PMTags
Lea Michele, Lady Gaga, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Swift, Sandra BullockMathew Imaging/WireImage.com; A Jesse Grant/WireImage.com; John Shearer/Getty Images; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Fotonoticias/WireImage.com

It's about Time!

We sure do love seeing some of our favorite stars on the magazine's annual Most Influential list. And this year is no let-down, with the fabulous Lea Michele, Sandra Bullock, Robert Pattinson and Kathryn Bigelow making the cut.

Of course, more obvious characters like Barack Obama, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton and Steve Jobs populate the list—but do they look as good in a funky glitter leotard as Lady Gaga? We think not.

Actually, her fashion sense is only a small part of why the mag selected the "Bad Romance" singer. "Lady Gaga's art captures the period we're in right now," they say. In this case, they is Cyndi Lauper, but that's still some heady stuff.

So how did they justify including a vampire, a Glee gal and even Ashton Kutcher? And who do they think has the power to save the music business?

Despite that dubious duet at the Grammys, Stevie Nicks has some big words for Taylor Swift: "Taylor is writing for the universal woman and for the man who wants to know her...It's women like her who are going to save the music business."

Wow.

Olivia Newton-John credits Michele with "inspiring young people to get involved in musical programs in schools and encouraging communities to fund them."

Chills!

New Moon director Chris Weitz shares his love for Pattinson, describing him as seeming "to answer Freud's rhetorical question, 'What do women want?' " Weitz also expresses fear of saying anything remotely critical of the star or he's "dead meat. That's the devotion the Twilight films inspire."

Here's what Sean "Diddy" Combs had to say about his pal @aplusk: "Most people use it to promote themselves, but [Ashton] uses Twitter to connect, to strike up conversations, to send positive messages to the millions of people who read his words. This guy will show us the future. And it's gonna be a blast."

Betty White sounds off on Bullock, but we wish they'd have her do a rewrite given yesterday's revelations. There's simply so much more to say about her rightful place among the leaders now.

Oscar winner Bigelow placed third among the Artists list. Fellow director Oliver Stone said the Hurt Locker doyenne "unflinchingly stuck her finger in the tragic heart of a national wound—our inability to face ourselves."

Her ex-husband, James Cameron, falls decidedly lower on the list but made the cut just the same.

Neil Patrick Harris is shifting the public perception of gay men, according to Joss Whedon, by making "the issue of his sexuality disappear without desexualizing himself."

Ben Stiller is near the top of the Heroes list for his charity, StillerStrong.org.

Additionally, George Lopez explains the importance of being Conan O'Brien, Phil Donahue comments on Oprah Winfrey and Usher talks Prince. Lost executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof land safely in a shared spot.

And then there's Sarah Palin's spot near the top. We won't get into that.

Get the whole list at Time.com.

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A lot of these people hang out in Big Pic. Just sayin'.