TIME HONORS TOP 100 IN NYC

TIME HONORS TOP 100 IN NYC

By:  Hope Wilkos,  Monique Nolan Writer/Blogger

 

Once a year, TIME brings together their top 100 most influential individuals of the year in order to celebrate their successes and recognize their achievements.  This year the event took place on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 in New York City at Lincoln Center, the heart of art and culture in the city.

After having been through so much darkness in the past week, this was a celebration of light and honoring those that exemplify the meaning of making a difference in other’s lives.  Each came from various walks of life symbolizing that given self-confidence and determination, you can carry out your dreams.

One of the guest speakers of the evening was Vice President Joe Biden.  Shining brightly in a royal blue gown with a strand of diamonds around her neck, Gabrielle Giffords accompanied by her loving husband, Mark Kelly, truly has overcome the obstacles of misfortune and she is a strong advocate of gun control these days.

Up and coming ‘Tonight Show’ host-to-be, Jimmy Fallon, was competing for attention as he joined Jimmy Kimmel cracking jokes.  Fallon couldn’t help but go back to his roots of entertainment origin as he caught up with fellow SNL alumni, Amy Poehler.

It was an evening of exceptional people with Oscar-winning Daniel Day-Lewis, top filmmaker Steven Spielberg, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, “Girls” creator Lena Dunham (one of the top 100 winners for 2013), Grammy-winning Frank Ocean and beaming newlyweds Justin Timberlake (one of the top 100 winners for 2013) and Jessica Biel rounding out the guest list.

Dignitaries in attendance included President of the Supreme Federal Court Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (one of the top 100 winners for 2013) and his wife Kelley Ashby and Senior Adviser to President Obama, Valerie Jarrett.

UNICEF staffers Christopher Fabian and Erica Kochi were eager to share the generous strides that UNICEF is making around the world.

One of the most world-renowned designers of all time, ,made the list and was in attendance joined by the gorgeous Olivia Munn who was the best publicity for Kors as she showed off a beautiful and bright yellow dress paired with Jimmy Choo shoes.  This was an incredible feat for Kors and he was deeply appreciative of receipt of the honor bestowed upon him.  His outfits have been spotted all across the city these last few days as Kate Hudson was seen wearing some of Kors’ classics from his Fall 2013 Collection and Pre-Fall 2013 Collection for her guest appearance on the Good Morning America Show and taping of The Late Show with David Letterman.

Of the 100 professionals chosen, seven cover portraits reflect a year of what this title truly stands for. Malala Yousafzai is the Pakistani schoolgirl who has advocated for girls’ rights, Jay-Z is entertainer turned entrepreneur, Jennifer Lawrence shows that having winning beauty and talent are a quality that can go far,  Rand Paul is characterized as the GOP voice of reason in a challenging society, Elon Musk is a global visionary for a cleaner and greener future, Li Na is a true tennis phenomenon and Aamir Khan is a Bollywood star using his talents to raise social awareness in India.  These are the individuals that comprise the seven different TIME covers.

Dressed in black and simply a vision in a Victoria Beckham dress, Christina Aguilera performed spectacularly for the upbeat crowd.

This prestigious list recognizes people who are , according to TIME Managing Editor Richard Stengel, “using their ideas, their visions, their actions to transform the world and have an effect on a multitude of people.”  View all the images from the eventful evening of April 23, 2013, in the April 29 issue of TIME that is now available on newsstands and on your tablets.  See if your favorite person made the list.

PHOTO CREDITS: George Whylie, Maxine Nolan-Whylie