the new 7 wonders

i’m a bit of a list girl. i like them, i use them. as such i’ve been following the new 7 wonders selection process, because i like the idea of being able to check all of them off of my ‘visited’ list.

good morning america is scheduled to announce the new seven, beginning on the 9th. i’m still a bit confused as to why the new 7 wonders site says they won’t be announced until next year (07/07/07, which incidentally, is my new wedding date) and gma is announcing them this week, but, whatever. the 21 finalists are as follows:

1. Acropolis of Athens, Athens, Greece
2. Alhambra, Granada, Spain
3. Angkor Wat, Angkor, Cambodia
4. Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico (been there)
5. Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6. Colosseum, Rome, Italy
7. Easter Island statues, Chile
8. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France (been there)
9. Great Wall, China
10. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey (been there)
11. Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan
12. Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow, Russia
13. Machu Picchu, Peru
14. Neuschwanstein Castle, Fussen, Germany
15. Petra, Jordan (been there)
16. Pyramids of Giza+, Egypt
17. Statue of Liberty, New York, United States (been there)
18. Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom (going there...in 18 or so days)
19. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
20. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
21. Timbuktu, Mali

(sorry, the list girl in me could not resist identifying those already visited)

In addition to these 21, you can apparently vote for the 8th wonder of the world from the ‘runner-ups’, only three of which are in the current top 21 (weird!):

1. Great Wall, China
2. Machu Picchu, Peru
3. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
4. Grand Canyon
5. Victoria Falls
6. Saturn V
7. Panama Canal
8. Venice

i am still confused as to how 4-8 ended up as runner ups since they didn’t make the top 21 to begin with. i also am not sure why saturn v would be considered, maybe a wonder of the galaxy, but of the world? And lastly, I need to express my sheer disgust at the fact that the great wall, machu piccu, and the taj mahal (all sure things in my book) are in the runner-ups list.

with that said, here are my guesses for the 7:

1. Acropolis of Athens, Athens, Greece (feeling confident about this one)
2. Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (totally guessing on this one)
3. Colosseum, Rome, Italy (feeling confident)
4. Easter Island statues, Chile (feeling so-so about this one)
5. Petra, Jordan (here’s hoping)
6. Pyramids of Giza+, Egypt (the only remaining ancient wonder...t’would be quite an insult if it didn’t make the list)
7. Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom (feeling pretty good about this)

and for the 8th? i still think it sucks that i have to choose from three that should be on the other list, but i guess i will go with macchu picchu, peru.