Now, why would Vita.mn hold a contest for the "hottest" people in the Twin Cities? Well, because we can. Because it's good, clean, dumb fun. Because last year, when we launched our Valentine's Day contest under the retro-sounding "Most Eligible Bachelor(ette)" banner, readers said, "Great, but all this 'bachelor' and 'eligibility' stuff is ambiguous, and favors straight single people. We just want to see who's hot!" (Seriously, some of you did say that.) So, fair enough: Give the people what they want.
But what is "hotness?" Isn't that...shallow? Well, yeah, and no. The 105 people nominated by the public on www.vita.mn encompassed a broad definition of "hot," and online voters gave their love to these 16 finalists, who projected an intangible blend of looks, personality, style and attitude. You know, hotness. For us, it wasn't enough that our male winner, Rex Njoku moonlights as a model: His obvious ambition and great life story pushed him over the top. And Alice "From Dallas" Sydow's Michelle Pfeifferian pulchritude would mean little had she not charmed judges with an endearing quirkiness and je ne sais quoi.
After all, hotness is a state of mind, and hotness is aspirational. These people seem to be living the dream, but in reality, each of them is one of us. Meet the 16 Hotness winners and finalists: the people we want to be -- or be with -- in 2009.
Intro | Winner: Alice | Winner: Rex | The Women | The Men
