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Ellen dethrones Oprah as America's favorite TV star
2008-01-17
US comedian Ellen DeGeneres has dethroned chat-show icon and new political activist Oprah Winfrey as the television personality Americans love the most, a poll showed Tuesday. "DeGeneres vaulted to the top spot in the Harris Poll's annual favorite television star list after five years in the bottom five ... and, after five years as number one, Winfrey drops to second place this year," Harris said in a statement. Oprah hit the campaign trail last month alongside Democrat Barack Obama, drawing tens of thousands of people to rallies for the African-American senator from Illinois. Less than a month later, Obama went on to score a surprise win over former first lady Hillary Clinton in the first caucus vote in Iowa, a key part of the state nominating contests to choose who will run for the White House. DeGeneres propelled herself into the entertainment spotlight following her televised revelation that she is a lesbian and years later her tearful breakdown over the repossession by the Humane Society of a dog she had adopted and subsequently given away to her hairdresser's daughter. Both women host daytime talk shows. DeGeneres got more votes from single women and Winfrey from married women. Broken down by political affiliation, the two women tied for the top place among Democrats, with peak-hour conservative TV talk-show host Bill O'Reilly, who scored eighth overall, reaping the number one spot among Republicans. Late-night talk show host and comedian Jay Leno climbed from sixth place last year to third, ahead of British actor Hugh Laurie in fourth, according to the online poll, which surveyed 1,171 Americans around the United States last month. And for the first time in the survey's 15-year history, a cartoon character, made it into the top 10. Homer Simpson, "probably getting a boost from the summer release of The Simpsons Movie," the statement said, tied for ninth place with human comedian Ray Romano. Other TV stars in the top 10 were late-night talk-show hosts David Letterman and Stephen Colbert, who tied for sixth place.
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