LonoMyth's Kid Actor Spotlight presents the...

Presenting... the results of the Media Boy 2000 Poll conducted by this site during the first 20 days of the year 2001. Visitors to the site and readers of alt.fan.teen.idols were asked to vote on their favorite young male performers based on their work during the year 2000 (qualifiers had to have been under 18 years of age.) Visitors were asked to e-mail in a ballot ranking their five favorite performers based on their work in the last year... their favorite got five points and the second favorite got four, and so on.

First... THANK YOU ALL for contributing to another record turnout. This year I received an all-time-high of 103 ballots (all of them complete!) This made for a total of 1,545 points that were spread out amongs 123 young actors, singers and other performers. (Once again, there were a couple of attempts made to "stuff the box" so 32 ballots had to be discarded. I hope that doesn't happen again next year.)

And now for the results...

In addition to being the largest turnout ever, this also shaped up to be the tightest race as well... nobody blew the doors off of everyone else this time. Even to the last ten minutes of the contest I wasn't sure who the top five slots were going to be held by (how exciting!) It was so close in fact that when the last ballot was received, both of the front runners had the same number of points! I almost called it a draw, but realized that there was an appropriate way to break the tie (it is something I should have been doing all along, but until this year it wouldn't have had such a major impact on the contest.) So, I decided that if any two actors have the same point totals, the one whose name was submitted the most times would rank higher. I've applied this rule all the way down the list this year and will continue to do so in the future. I rather felt like I was in Dade county - since the results were so close that I just HAD to recount them all until all the numbers reconciled, so I'm sure they are correct.

I think you'll agree, the results are full of surprises this year. I think I'll torture you all this time and list the Top Ten in reverse order:

Making it into the top ten for the first time this year is Aaron Carter. Yes, Germany knew all along what the rest of the world is now discovering, Nick's little brother is star material. His newest album, "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)" and accomanying video are his major achievements for the year. He came and got 51 points from 21 voters.

One of the most underappreciated young actors is Eli Marienthal who has been one of the busy elite of Hollywood's kid actor scene for years. We saw him in a very powerful episode of "Touched by an Angel" early in 2000 and later in the title role of the ill-fated prime-time sitcom "Tucker". He earns ninth place with 57 points!

Alex D. Linz turned lots of heads when he courageously donned a rackfull of dresses in "Bruno". His brilliant performance has won him a lot of fans and he zips up eight place in our poll with 63 points.

A true 'media boy' is Jesse McCartney who was spotted doing just about everything in 2000. Not only has he continued his long-running role in "All My Children", but he also found time for a guest spot on "Law and Order". Many are finding out, though, that the very good-looking Jesse is also a marvelously talented singer. Having graduated from the "Sugar Beats", he now is a member of the up-and-coming boy band "Dream Street". So far, he seems to be the strongest singer of the bunch. Jesse dances in and takes seventh place with an impressive 67 points!

The dashing David Gallagher has been a frequent winner of this poll... he drops out of the top five for the first time this year, but still grabs a hefty 82 points to take sixth place. David is still playing 'Simon Camden' on the FOX hit "7th Heaven" and also starred this year in Disney's "Spin & Marty: Suspect Behaviour".

And now the numbers really tighten up... only 14 points separate #5 from #1!

Wow! Where did this kid come from? Oh yeah... Rhode Island. Well, New Englander or not, the golden throated Billy Gilman has been setting and selling records in the Country Music scene since last May. His voice is simply stunning. The well-mannered and charming Billy is up for two Grammy's this year for his top-selling hit "One Voice". Gilman hits a high note with 30 of you voters who gave him 94 points and a spot in the top five.

Last year's winner Haley Joel Osment had a big year in 2000. He nearly won an Oscar, then we saw him in a fine performance in "Pay It Forward", which proved to many a critic that his work in "Sixth Sense" was no fluke (but we all knew that, didn't we?) This next year promises to be huge for Haley. He's sure to win even more fans with the upcoming films "Edges of the Lord" and the much-anticipated Speilberg film "A.I.". Haley takes fourth place after 30 votes awarded him 96 points!

Always poised to take over the top spot was Frankie Muniz, who raked in 101 points from 30 voters. Frankie was virtually everywhere this year, starring in "My Dog Skip", "Miracle in Lane 2" and the ground-breaking "Malcolm in the Middle" which has earned him and the show virtually every entertainment award there is. He gets 3rd place in our poll.

Probably the biggest surprise this year is our second place finisher who hardly anyone had heard of three months ago. The stunning Golden Globe nominated performance by Jamie Bell in the title role of "Billy Elliot" earned him kudos from 31 of you, giving him 108 points!!! Way to go, Jamie!

And so, without further hoola-hoops... the young entertainer chosen by you, the fans, to win this year's poll is... really? Can it be true??? Yes, it's:

Michael Angarano!!!

I have to admit I feel a certain sense of satisfaction... I knew when I first saw Michael in 1997 that he'd be a big star and it's coming true for him. For his virtually perfect gut-felt performances on "Cover Me", his memorable role in "Almost Famous" and his helming of the Disney movie "The Brainiacs.com", he was given the nod by more than any other contender... 33 of you for a total of 108 points! Congratz, Michael!

Here is the entire list for your perusing pleasure. Scroll down to the end to see some other interesting results.

   
2000 Rank/ Total  '99 rank/
 (points)  votes   (change)           Actor
=========--=====--=========--========================
  1 (108)   33    35 (+34)   Michael Angarano

  2 (108)   31       --      Jamie Bell

  3 (101)   30       --      Frankie Muniz

  4 (96)    30     1 (-3)    Haley Joel Osment

  5 (94)    30       --      Billy Gilman

  6 (82)    24     2 (-4)    David Gallagher 

  7 (67)    20   105 (+98)   Jesse McCartney

  8 (63)    16    14 (+6)    Alex D. Linz

  9 (57)    18    25 (+16)   Eli Marienthal

 10 (51)    21    12 (+2)    Aaron Carter

 11 (46)    14   105 (+94)   Spencer Treat Clark

 12 (44)    13     4 (-8)    Kevin Zegers

 13 (38)    14    29 (+16)   Justin Berfield 

 14 (25)     9    25 (+11)   John Francis Daley

 15 (22)    10    47 (+32)   Myles Jeffrey

 16 (20)     7     7 (-9)    Tyler Kyte

 17 (18)     4       --      Martin Spanjers

 18 (17)     6     5 (-13)   Joseph Cross

 19 (17)     4    63 (+44)   Liam Aiken

 20 (16)     6   105 (+85)   Andrew Lawrence

 21 (15)     5    29 (+8)    Christopher Marquette

 22 (15)     4    35 (+13)   Taylor Hanson

 23 (14)     5       --      Robert Clark

 24 (14)     3    11 (-15)   Eric Lloyd
                  20 (-4)    Shayn Solberg

 26 (12)     4    22 (-4)    Miko Hughes

 27 (12)     3       --      Alexander Michael Douglas
                     --      Gregory Smith

 28 (11)     5       --      Erik per Sullivan

 29 (11)     4       --      Bryan Chafin

 30 (10)     2       --      David Deveau
                  52 (+22)   Jeff Gulka

 32 (9)      4       --      Shia La Beouf

 33 (8)      3       --      Seth Adkins
                     --      Matt Ballinger
                     --      Michael Cuccione
                     --      Leandro   
                  22 (-11)   Jeremy Lelliott

 38 (8)      2       --      Ricky Mabe

 39 (7)      4    29 (-10)   Jacob Smith

 40 (7)      3    35 (-5)    Brendon Ryan Barrett

 41 (6)      2    16 (-25)   Lucas Black
                     --      Jacob Davis
                     --      Cameron Finley
                  47 (+6)    Tyler Hynes
                     --      Imanol

 46 (5)      2       --      Patrick Fugit
                     --      Cody Kasch

 48 (5)      1       --      Harris Allan
                     --      Michael Cera
                  94 (+46)   Blake Foster
                  63 (+15)   Jérôme Hardelay
                     --      David McGrady
                     --      Liam O'Kane

 54 (4)      3    15 (-39)   Andrew Ducote

 55 (4)      2       --      Jeremy Blackman
                     --      Thomas Dekker
                     --      Ryan Dennis
                  81 (+26)   Brendan Fletcher
                 105 (+50)   Frankie J. Galasso
                     --      Christian Maguire

 61 (4)      1       --      Joe Bowler
                     --      Reeve Carney
                  52 (-9)    Jesse Eisenberg
                  94 (+33)   Trevor Morgan
                  81 (+20)   Jim Redler
                     --      Matthew Waters
                  11 (-50)   Michael Welch

 68 (3)      2    63 (-5)    Marc Donato
                   6 (-62)   Mason Gamble
                   3 (-65)   Jake Lloyd
                  63 (-5)    Joey Zimmerman

 72 (3)      1       --      Todd Bosley
                     --      Rory Culkin
                  47 (-25)   Ryan DeBoer
                     --      Jake Dinwiddie
                     --      Max Dolbey
                     --      Bug Hall
                     --      Rory Jennings
                     --      Matt & Mikey MacGregor
                     --      Ryan Slater
                 105 (+33)   Scott Terra
                     --      Rollo Weeks
                     --      Cody Wetherill

 84 (2)      2       --      Jeremy James Kissner
                     --      Greg Raposo

 86 (2)      1       --      Joe Breen
                     --      Bryan Burke
                     --      Daniel Clark
                     --      David Dorfman
                     --      Devin Douglas Drewitz
                  39 (-47)   Noah Fleiss
                  94 (+8)    Jeremy Foley
                  21 (-65)   Jesse James
                     --      Michael Junior
                     --      Scotty Leavenworth
                  81 (-5)    Jonathan Lipnicki
                  63 (-23)   Courtland Mead
                     --      Fred Myers
                     --      Logan O'Brien
                     --      Hayden Tank
                     --      Christopher Trousdale
                     --      Andrew Van Hise
                 105 (+19)   Tyler Wilkinson

104 (1)      1       --      Jameson Baltes
                     --      Spencer Breslin
                  52 (-52)   Cory Buck
                     --      William Eadie
                     --      Jake Epstein
                  52 (-52)   Zac Hanson
                     --      Matt Helms
                     --      Daniel Henson
                     --      Dhani Lennevald
                     --      Bradley Pierce
                     --      Mohsen Ramezani
                  35 (-70)   Will Rothhaar
                   9 (-95)   Cole Sprouse 
                     --      Martin Starr
                  47 (-57)   Michal Suchánek 
                  52 (-52)   Bill Switzer
                     --      Jordan Blake Warkol
                     --      Brian Wild
                  81 (-24)   Michael Yarmush
                     --      Yvann

*Note: The column that shows change in rank from last year, while it seems to do a good job of indicating whether a person's popularity rose or fell, it can show wildly exaggerated results in the bottom half of the list.

But, what if...?

Okay, so would the results have been any different if each voter were asked only to vote for their favorite actor/singer? Well, I was curious, too, so I kept track of everyone's very favorites, here's what it would have looked like (1 point for each ballot):

Rank/Points   Actor
===========--====================
  1    10    Jamie Bell
  2     9    Michael Angarano, Haley Joel Osment
  4     8    David Gallagher
  5     6    Alex D. Linz, Frankie Muniz
  7     5    Billy Gilman, Jesse McCartney
  9     4    Spencer Treat Clark, Eli Marienthal
 11     3    Aaron Carter
 12     2    John Francis Daley, David Deveau, Jeff Gulka, Taylor Hanson, 
              Miko Hughes, Eric Lloyd, Gregory Smith, Shayn Solberg, 
              Martin Spanjers, Kevin Zegers
 22     1    Liam Aiken, Harris Allan, Justin Berfield, Lucas Black, 
              Michael Cera, Robert Clark, Joseph Cross, Blake Foster, 
              Jérôme Hardelay, Tyler Hynes, Christopher Marquette, 
              David McGrady, Liam O'Kane, Erik per Sullivan  

Again, thanks to all of you who took part and made this such a (in my estimation) big success. I had a blast doing this and hope you all will consider doing this again with me next January. --Cheers!