Barbara Walters 10 Most Fascinating People List

Barbara Walters' annual list of the coolest and most provocative names in popular culture was unveiled today, and featured teeny boppers One Direction, young Olympian golden child Gabby Douglas, and the hopeful presidential candidate for 2016, the people's favorite, Hillary Clinton. Babs' list is often controversial for her regular inclusion of pop culture fixtures that may have been awesome for entertainment purposes, but did little to elevate society. Last year, she caught flak for including the Kardashian sisters and Kris Jenner, and the year before, it was the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore. For 2012 however, it seemed that Walters' was a bit more sensitive to the sense of triumph over tragedy as New Jersey's headstrong Governor Christie also made the notable cut. With small admissions of pandemonium fixtures like One Direction, this list will be one of many to overview as 2012 comes to an end.

Check out the full list below (minus the final three secret guests)! And the 90-minute TV special, featuring 1-one-1 interviews with all honoreees airs on December 12th.

Author of Fifth Shades of Grey, E.L. James
Ben Affleck
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
Olympic Gold medalist Gabby Douglas
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
British boy band One Direction
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane