Vote for the New Wonders! Win fabulous prizes!

Okay, there's no prize winning involved, but you can now vote for the New 7 Wonders of the World.

How this whole thing all came about, how the nominees were picked, I'm not sure - but it's interesting nonetheless. I'm pretty much for the majority of the nominees being there, but I can't help but think there certainly could be a lot more to choose from. When I think of the "original" 7 Wonders of the World, I think of architectural marvels that make people think "how the heck did they do that?" I don't think a Wonder should necessarily be something that's interesting to look at, but something that was the first of it's kind, an architectural and Engineering feat.

Some notable "snubs" in my opinion: where's Big Ben (Parliament)? The Chrysler or Empire State Buildings in New York? Mt. Rushmore? The Notre Dame Cathedral?

I think structures such as the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, and the Taj Mahal got picked more for being well-associated with their respective countries and less for their "wondrous" appeal. Heck - many Parisians wanted to get rid of the Eiffel Tower after the World's Fair! That's not to say the structures are not feats of Engineering.

If the organizers of this vote wanted to see some serious publicity, they would hold a American Idol-style reality show, with potential Wonders getting voted off each week until 7 remain. Get a snooty Engineering expert, someone who just gushes at all architecture, and then, I don't know, one of these people who works for a style magazine. Each country would present their nominee(s) and what went into building it, and the judges would have their say. Imagine the snooty Engineering expert telling the Eiffel Tower, "please, that thing wouldn't stand up to the air coming out of my hair dryer." Or the style person saying about the Colosseum in Rome, "I'd be embarrassed to hold a concert there!" Of course the gusher would gush about everything, making their presence as a judge useless.

I'll be interested what the final results will be. I hear some countries are having local celebrities campaigning for their potential Wonders, such as the Brazilian soccer team chatting up Christ Redeemer. Which reminds me, where's all the publicity for the Statue of Liberty?? Screw immigration reform, let's pimp the Statue of Liberty! Er- um - that didn't sound quite right. You know what I mean.

And in case you ask (and no one will), I'd honestly have to say, out of all the nominees there, the 7 Wonders would be the Acropolis, the Colosseum, Angkor, the Great Wall of China, Petra, the Moai of Easter Island, and the Statue of Liberty (hey, I'm biased, sue me).