Beside arousing curiosity among the readers (mostly interested in finding out who ranks last rather than first), charts also have the unarguably aseptic quality of numbers and figures. Everything and everybody is quantified, categorized and eventually measured up against a scale of values. At Vogue.it, we have decided to leave this sterile pastime to the guys at Forbes and went straight to the core of the matter by voting her woman of the year. Who is the lucky one? There is no point in beating about the bush: it’s her, Rihanna, once a rising star of the r’n’b scene, she is currently the undisputed best contender to the role of queen of pop. You might wonder – wasn’t that supposed to be Lady Gaga’s title? Not, quite
In terms of popularity and fame, as of now Rihanna has stolen Lady Gaga’s Facebook fan-collector crown outsmarting the blond rival by a staggering one hundred-thousand fans (to be completely honest, on Twitter Gaga is still the winner with 11 millions fan, but we are sure Rihanna can catch up).
Independent, energetic, the jewel in the crown of Jay-Z’s stable who helped her become such a huge success, the young Robyn Rihanna Fenty (only 23) is our woman of the year and not just by virtue of numbers and figures but also, and foremost, for her kind and fighting spirit. The same spirit that brought her from Barbados to the top of the music charts achieving a career which she has forged and mastered completely by herself (whose last move was to become the new ambassador for Armani).
Per aspera ad astra – read a Latin saying: nothing could fit Rihanna’s rise to success more perfectly. She has managed to cultivate her career despite the many tragedies affecting her private life: from her father’s addiction to crack (her manager until recently when she fired him in relation to the release of some unbecoming statements about her) to the violence caused to her in 2009 by the then boyfriend, Chris Brown.
Her career has always been based on the cunning use of sexiness and provocation: from the silver-nude number sported on the video of the hit single Umbrella to the “scandalous” video for S&M. Although her career has also been marked by her involvement in numerous charity projects: she has joined and supported campaigns for the fight against breast cancer as well as the fight against world famine but also offered her help to ill or less fortunate people such as the very young Jasmina Anema who saw the pop star on the frontline in the search for a bone marrow donor to save her from leukaemia – unfortunately in vain.
May Rihanna enjoy her well-deserved title as for us; we can’t but wait -impatiently – for her next brilliant music hit.
