New 7 Wonders of the World

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From left to right, top to bottom: Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer, the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, the Taj Mahal, and the Colosseum New7Wonders.jpg
From left to right, top to bottom: Chichen Itza, Christ the Redeemer , the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Petra, the Taj Mahal, and the Colosseum

The New 7 Wonders of the World was a campaign started in 2001 to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. [1] The popularity poll via free web-based voting and telephone voting was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the New 7 Wonders Foundation (N7W) based in Zurich, Switzerland, with winners announced on 7 July 2007 at Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. [2] [3] [4] [5] The poll was considered unscientific partly because it was possible for people to cast multiple votes. [6] According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York–based polling organization Zogby International, New 7 Wonders Foundation drove "the largest poll on record". [4]

Contents

The program drew a wide range of official reactions. Some countries touted their finalist and tried to get more votes cast for it, while others downplayed or criticized the contest. [4] [6] After supporting the New 7 Wonders Foundation at the beginning of the campaign by providing advice on nominee selection, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), bound by its bylaws to record and give equal status to all World Heritage Sites, distanced itself from the undertaking in 2001 and again in 2007. [7] [8]

The 7 winners were chosen from 21 candidates, which had been whittled down from 77 choices by a panel in 2006.

The New 7 Wonders Foundation, established in 2001, relied on private donations and the sale of broadcast rights and received no public funding. [9] After the final announcement, New 7 Wonders said it did not earn anything from the exercise and barely recovered its investment. [10] Although N7W describes itself as a not-for-profit organization, the company behind it—the New Open World Corporation (NOWC)—is a commercial business. All licensing and sponsorship money is paid to NOWC.

The foundation ran two subsequent programs: New 7 Wonders of Nature, the subject of voting until 2011, and New7Wonders Cities, which ended in 2014.

Winners

Location of the New 7 Wonders winners New 7 Wonders Winners.svg
Location of the New 7 Wonders winners

The Great Pyramid of Giza, largest and oldest of the three pyramids at the Giza Necropolis in Egypt and the only surviving of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was granted honorary status. [11]

WonderLocationImageYear
Giza Pyramids
(honorary status)
Giza Necropolis, Egypt Pyramids of the Giza Necropolis.jpg 2560 BC
Great Wall of China China The Great Wall of China at Jinshanling.jpg 700 BC
Petra Ma'an, Jordan The Monastery, Petra, Jordan8.jpg 312 BC
Colosseum Rome, Italy Rome Colosseum exterior panorama.jpg 80 AD
Chichén Itzá Yucatán, Mexico Chichen-Itza-Castillo-Seen-From-East.JPG 600 AD
Machu Picchu Cuzco Region, Peru Machu Picchu, Peru.jpg 1450 AD
Taj Mahal Agra, India Taj Mahal in March 2004.jpg 1643 AD
Christ the Redeemer Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Unique Moment with the Moon and Christ the Redeemer 3.jpg 1931 AD

Reactions

United Nations

In 2007, the New 7 Wonders Foundation contracted a partnership with the United Nations in recognition of the efforts to promote the UN's Millennium Development Goals. [12] [ failed verification ]

However, 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 initiative. The press release concluded: [8]

There is no comparison between Mr. Weber's mediatized campaign and the scientific and educational work resulting from the inscription of sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The list of the 8 New Won cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public.

UNESCO

Brazil

In Brazil there was a campaign Vote no Cristo (Vote for the Christ) which had the support of private companies, namely telecommunications operators that stopped charging voters to make telephone calls and SMS messages to vote. [13] Additionally, leading corporate sponsors including Banco Bradesco and Rede Globo spent millions of reals in the effort to have the statue voted into the top seven. [4] Newsweek reports the campaign was so pervasive that: [4]

One morning in June, Rio de Janeiro residents awoke to a beeping text message on their cell phones: "Press 4916 and vote for Christ. It's free!" The same pitch had been popping up all over the city since late January—flashing across an electronic screen every time city-dwellers swiped their transit cards on city buses and echoing on TV infomercials that featured a reality-show celebrity posing next to the city's trademark Christ the Redeemer statue.

Elizabeth Dwoskin, Newsweek

According to an article in Newsweek, around 10 million Brazilians had voted in the contest by early July. [4] This number is estimated as the New 7 Wonders Foundation never released such details about the campaign. An airplane message, with a huge inscription "4916 VOTE FOR CHRIST" flew in Rio de Janeiro for a month.

Peru

An intensive campaign led by the Peruvian Ministry of Commerce and Tourism in Peru had a great impact in the media and consequently, Peruvian people voted massively for its national wonder. The announcement of the new World Wonders generated great expectations and the election of Machu Picchu was celebrated nationwide.

Chile

The Chilean representative for Easter Island's Moais, Alberto Hortus, said Weber gave him a letter saying that the Moais had finished eighth and were morally one of the New 7 Wonders. Hortus said he was the only participant to receive such an apology. [14]

India

A campaign to publicize the Taj Mahal in India gathered speed and it reached a climax in July 2007 with news channels, radio stations, and many celebrities asking people to vote for the Taj Mahal.

Jordan

Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan joined the campaign to back Petra, Jordan's national treasure. [4]

Mexico

There was a campaign on the news programs to encourage people to vote for Chichen Itzá.[ citation needed ]

Other finalists

The other 13 finalists, [15] chronologically were:

WonderLocationImageYear
Stonehenge Amesbury, United Kingdom Stonehenge Total.jpg 2400 BC
Acropolis of Athens Athens, Greece The Acropolis of Athens viewed from the Hill of the Muses (14220794964).jpg 447 BC
Hagia Sophia Istanbul, Turkey Turkey-3019 - Hagia Sophia (2216460729).jpg 537 AD
Angkor Wat Angkor, Cambodia 20171126 Angkor Wat 4712 DxO.jpg 1113 AD
Moai Statues Easter Island, Chile Ahu-Akivi-1.JPG 1250 AD
Timbuktu Timbuktu, Mali Timbuktu-107981.jpg 1327 AD
Alhambra Granada, Spain Patio de los Arrayanes Alhambra 02 2014.jpg 1333 AD
Kremlin and Red Square Moscow, Russia Saint Basil's Cathedral (Moscow, 2007).jpg 1561 AD
Kiyomizu-dera Kyoto, Japan Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, November 2016 -02.jpg 1633 AD
Neuschwanstein Füssen, Germany Schloss Neuschwanstein 2013.jpg 1869 AD
Statue of Liberty New York City, United States Estatua de La Libertad.jpg 1886 AD
Eiffel Tower Paris, France Tour Eiffel Wikimedia Commons.jpg 1887 AD
Sydney Opera House Sydney, Australia Sun on the Opera House (6619486199).jpg 1973 AD

See also

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References

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  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dwoskin, Elizabeth (2007-07-09). "Vote for Christ". Newsweek . ISSN   0028-9604. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. postscript was limited to one vote for seven monuments per person/identity, but multiple voting was possible through telephone.
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