New Seven Wonders of the World

Un article de Vev.

For the list by USA Today/Good Morning America, see New Seven Wonders. For other uses see Wonders of the World (disambiguation)

Image:New 7 Wonders Winners.png

Location of the New Seven Wonders winners.

New Seven Wonders of the World is a project that attempts to revive the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World concept with a list of modern wonders. A popularity poll was organized by the private, non-profit New Open World Corporation (NOWC), with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal.<ref name="nwVFC">« »</ref>

The Swiss-based NOWC claims more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Since nothing prevented fans, government or tourism agencies from casting multiple votes, the poll is considered "decidedly unscientific".<ref name = "LAT"/> According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Washington-based polling organization Zogby International, NOWC drove “the largest poll on record”.<ref name = "nwVFC"/>

NOWC relied on private donations, the sale of merchandise such as shirts and cups, and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.

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.<ref name = "LAT">http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-wonders8jul08,0,299368.story?coll=la-default-underdog</ref><ref name="nwVFC" /> UNESCO has distanced itself from the undertaking.<ref name=UNESCO>http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=38482&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html</ref>

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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 reasons.<ref> New Seven Wonders named amid controversy

. Retrieved on 2007-09-07. </ref>

Image:New7wonders.png

The finalist candidates for the New Seven Wonders.

According to the NOWC milestones page,<ref>http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=48 NOWC Milestone page</ref>, Swiss-originated Québecois businessman Bernard Weber launched the project in September 1999. The project's web site started in 2001 when Mr. Weber paid $700 for a site based in Canada.<ref name="nwVFC" /> To be included on the new list, the wonders had to be man made, completed before 2000, and in an "acceptable" state of preservation. By November 24, 2005, 177 monuments were up for consideration. On January 1, 2006, the NOWC said the list had been narrowed to 21 sites,<ref>BBC News Article 2 Jan 2006</ref> later reduced to 20 following complaints from Egypt over the Pyramids' inclusion as a candidate in competition with others.

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. <ref>http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/opera-house-fading-in-race-to-be-new-wonder/2007/06/14/1181414439693.html </ref>

Federico Mayor, a former UNESCO Director General, was the president of project's expert panel as an individual.<ref> Madrid 2004

. Retrieved on 2007-07-07. </ref> NOWC is not connected with UNESCO.<ref> UNESCO is not involved

. Retrieved on 2007-07-07. </ref>

Organisers stated that their aim was to use part of the revenue from the contest between the well-known monuments, from future votes, related merchandise, and use of the voters database <ref>The New Yorker: "Buddhas for Bamiyan" Retrieved 2007-7-16 </ref>, to set up, or contribute to, various restoration projects in the world <ref name="bbc1hit"> BBC News: "More than a one-hit wonder?" Retrieved 2007-7-21</ref>. <ref>New Seven Wonders: "The New7Wonders Foundation" Retrieved on 2007-7-18</ref><ref name="LAT"/>

After the final announcement, however, NOWC said it didn’t earn anything from the exercise and barely recovered its investments.^[1]<ref name="bbc1hit"/>

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Winners

In alphabetical order:

Wonder	Location	Image
Chichen Itza	Modèle:Country data Mexico Yucatán, Mexico	Image:El Castillo, Chichén Itzá.jpg
Christ the Redeemer	Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Image:Christtheredeemer.jpg
Colosseum	Image:Flag of Italy.svg Rome, Italy	Image:Colosseum in Rome, Italy - April 2007.jpg
Great Wall of China	Image:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China	Image:GreatWallNearBeijingWinter.jpg
Machu Picchu	Image:Flag of Peru.svg Cuzco, Perú	Image:Peru Machu Picchu Sunset.jpg
Petra	Modèle:Country data Jordan Jordan	Image:Khazneh.JPG
Taj Mahal	Image:Flag of India.svg Agra, India	Image:Taj Mahal in March 2004.jpg
Great Pyramid of Giza (Honorary Candidate, see below)	Modèle:Country data Egypt Cairo, Egypt	Image:Pyramide Kheops.JPG

The company plans to develop a new list of seven wonders of nature through a similar process, taking nominations through August 8, 2008.

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Reactions

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UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in a press release on June 20, 2007, reaffirmed that it has no link with the "private initiative", which it says would reflect "only the opinions of those with access to the Internet." The press release concluded: Modèle:Cquote

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Egypt

Egyptian commentators have viewed it as competition to the status of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving monument of the original Ancient Wonders. "This is probably a conspiracy against Egypt, its civilization and monuments," wrote editorialist Al-Sayed al-Naggar in a leading state-owned daily. Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said the project was "absurd" and described its creator, Weber, as a man "concerned primarily with self-promotion." Nagib Amin, an Egyptian expert on World Heritage Sites, has pointed out that "in addition to the commercial aspect, the vote has no scientific basis."<ref name=APF>http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070125/wl_mideast_afp/egyptarchaeology "Egypt fumes over fresh seven wonders competition for pyramids." Article retrieved Jan. 25, 2007</ref>

After the complaints from Egypt, the New7Wonders Foundation designated the Pyramids of Giza — the only remaining of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World — as an Honorary New7Wonders Candidate, and removed them from the voting.<ref>http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=391 NWOC Pyramids of Giza</ref>

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Brazil

In Brazil there was a campaign Vote no Cristo (Vote in the Christ) which had the support of private companies, namely telecommunications operators that stopped charging voters to make telephone calls to vote.<ref> Sete Maravilhas: Brasil comemora eleição de Cristo Redentor

 (Portuguese)

. Retrieved on 2007-07-10. </ref> Additionally, leading corporate sponsors including Banco Bradesco and Rede Globo spent "millions" of dollars in the effort to have the statue voted into the top seven.<ref name="nwVFC" /> Newsweek reports the campaign was so pervasive that:

Modèle:Cquote

By early July, around 10 million Brazilians had voted in the contest.<ref name="nwVFC" />

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Chile

The Chilean representative for the Easter Island Moais, Alberto Hotus, said that the organizer, Bernard Weber, gave him a letter saying that the Moais had finished eighth and were "morally" one of the New Seven Wonders. Hotus said he was the only participant to receive such an apology.<ref>"Líder pascuense furioso porque le dieron a la isla un triunfo moral" Las Últimas Noticias July 10 2007</ref>

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Jordan

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan joined the campaign to back Petra, Jordan's national treasure.<ref name="nwVFC" /> Despite Jordan only having a population of under 7 million people, over 14 million votes were made from the country.<ref name="nwVFC" />

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India

The Taj Mahal was lagging at No.14 with just 0.8% of the votes one month before the final declaration. A campaign to publicize the campaign in India gathered speed and it reached a crescendo in July 2007 with news channels, radio stations, and many celebrities asking people to vote. Toward the end of the campaign, 13% of all votes being cast came from India.<ref name=Rediff>http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/08wonders.htm "Taj Mahal joins wonders of the world list." Article retrieved July 23, 2007</ref> At the end, the Taj Mahal of Agra got the highest number of votes.^{[citation needed]}

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Other finalists

The other 13 finalists,<ref>Finalist Page</ref> listed alphabetically, were:

Wonder	Location
Acropolis of Athens	Modèle:Country data Greece Athens, Greece
Alhambra	Modèle:Country data Spain Granada, Spain
Angkor Wat	Modèle:Country data Cambodia Angkor, Cambodia
Easter Island Moais	Image:Flag of Chile.svg Easter Island, Chile
Eiffel Tower	Image:Flag of France.svg Paris, France
Hagia Sophia	Image:Flag of Turkey.svg Istanbul, Turkey
Kiyomizu Temple	Image:Flag of Japan.svg Kyoto, Japan
Kremlin, Red Square, and Saint Basil's Cathedral	Image:Flag of Russia.svg Moscow, Russia
Neuschwanstein Castle	Image:Flag of Germany.svg Füssen, Germany
Statue of Liberty	Image:Flag of the United States.svg New York, United States
Stonehenge	Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Amesbury, United Kingdom
Sydney Opera House	Image:Flag of Australia.svg Sydney, Australia
Timbuktu	Modèle:Country data Mali Mali