Poll : Sexiest Woman of Eurovision 2010

So here we go again with the third running of our annual 'sexiest of Eurovision' poll! Will it be yet another close run thing, after razor-thin victories for Greece's Kalomira in 2008, and Turkey's Hadise in 2009? Here is the full list of contenders, in the order they will first perform in the contest -

Olia Tira (Moldova)
Kristína Peláková (Slovakia)
Susan Aho (Finland)
Johanna Virtanen (Finland)
Aisha (Latvia)
Thea Garrett (Malta)
Juliana Pasha (Albania)
Filipa Azevedo (Portugal)
Yulia Shisko (Belarus)
Alyona Karpovich (Belarus)
Ninel Karpovich (Belarus)
Hera Björk (Iceland)
Eva Rivas (Armenia)
Christina Chanée (Denmark)
Anna Henrietta Bergendahl (Sweden)
Safura Alizadeh (Azerbaijan)
Alyosha (Ukraine)
Sieneke Peeters (Netherlands)
Paula Seling (Romania)
Kalamari singer (Slovenia)
Niamh Kavanagh (Ireland)
Sylvia Strand (Cyprus)
Katherine Squire (Cyprus)
Neda Parmać (Croatia)
Pamela Ramljak (Croatia)
Nika Antolos (Croatia)
Sopho Nizharadze (Georgia)
Lena Meyer-Landrut (Germany)

Rather annoyingly, I couldn't track down the name of the Slovenian singer, but hopefully I'll work it out in time for the results. Multiple voting is permitted this time - hopefully this will dilute the effect of voting along national lines, which has been a problem in the past. As ever, vote wisely!

Eve Muirhead voted sexiest woman of 2010 World Curling Championships

She may have missed out on the chance of a first world title in agonising fashion, but Scottish skip Eve Muirhead was the clear winner of our poll to find the sexiest competitor of the Swift Current tournament. In second and third place were two Scandinavian skips - Linn Githmark of Norway and Cecilia Östlund of Sweden respectively. The winner of last year's poll, Canadian skip Jennifer Jones, was fourth, while Danish lead Camilla Jensen failed to repeat her strong showing in the Olympic poll a few weeks ago.

Here are the final results -

1 Eve Muirhead (Scotland) 23
2 Linn Githmark (Norway) 14
3 Cecilia Östlund (Sweden) 12
4 Jennifer Jones (Canada) 11
5 Lotta Lennartsson (Sweden) 8
6 Sarah Reid (Scotland) 6
7 Anna Sidorova (Russia) 5
= Ludmila Privivkova (Russia) 5
9 Camilla Jensen (Denmark) 4
= Madeleine Dupont (Denmark) 4
11 Melanie Robillard (Germany) 3
12 Kristin Skaslien (Norway) 2
= Erika Brown (USA) 2
14 Stella Heiß (Germany) 1
= Dawn Askin (Canada) 1
= Ekaterina Galkina (Russia) 1
= Sara Carlsson (Sweden) 1
= Ann Swisshelm (USA) 1
= Lorna Vevers (Scotland) 1
= Kelly Wood (Scotland) 1
= Wang Bingyu (China) 1

Poll : Sexiest Woman of 2010 World Curling Championships

The 2010 women's world curling championships are now well under way in Swift Current, and once again we're asking you to vote for the sexiest competitor. The winner of the Olympic poll, the USA's Natalie Nicholson, isn't present this time. However, three of the top five from that poll are competing - Denmark's Camilla Jensen and Madeleine Dupont, and Scotland's Eve Muirhead. Also back into the fray is the winner of last year's world championship poll, home skip Jennifer Jones of Canada. Another strong contender this time round may be a woman who did not feature in either poll, Norwegian skip Linn Githmark - one of several of this week's competitors to have appeared nude in Ana Arce's famous series of calendars.

Here is the full list to choose from -

Wang Bingyu (China)
Liu Yin (China)
Yue Qingshuang (China)
Zhou Yan (China)
Zhang Xindi (China)
Iveta Staša-Šaršūne (Latvia)
Una Grava-Germane (Latvia)
Ieva Krusta (Latvia)
Zanda Bikše (Latvia)
Dace Munča (Latvia)
Eve Muirhead (Scotland)
Kelly Wood (Scotland)
Lorna Vevers (Scotland)
Anne Laird (Scotland)
Sarah Reid (Scotland)
Erika Brown (USA)
Nina Spatola (USA)
Ann Swisshelm (USA)
Laura Hallisey (USA)
Jessica Schultz (USA)
Cecilia Östlund (Sweden)
Sara Carlsson (Sweden)
Anna Domeij (Sweden)
Lotta Lennartsson (Sweden)
Sabrina Kraupp (Sweden)
Linn Githmark (Norway)
Henriette Løvar (Norway)
Ingrid Stensrud (Norway)
Kristin Skaslien (Norway)
Kristin Tøsse-Løvseth (Norway)
Ludmila Privivkova (Russia)
Anna Sidorova (Russia)
Nkeiruka Ezekh (Russia)
Ekaterina Galkina (Russia)
Margarita Fomina (Russia)
Madeleine Dupont (Denmark)
Denise Dupont (Denmark)
Angelina Jensen (Denmark)
Camilla Jensen (Denmark)
Ivana Bratic (Denmark)
Binia Feltscher (Switzerland)
Corinne Bourquin (Switzerland)
Heike Schwaller (Switzerland)
Sandra Ramstein-Attinger (Switzerland)
Marisa Winkelhausen (Switzerland)
Moe Meguro (Japan)
Anna Ohmiya (Japan)
Mari Motohashi (Japan)
Kotomi Ishizaki (Japan)
Mayo Yamaura (Japan)
Jennifer Jones (Canada)
Cathy Overton-Clapham (Canada)
Jill Officer (Canada)
Dawn Askin (Canada)
Jennifer Clark-Rouire (Canada)
Andrea Schöpp (Germany)
Melanie Robillard (Germany)
Monika Wagner (Germany)
Stella Heiß (Germany)
Corinna Scholz (Germany)

As ever, vote wisely!

Natalie Nicholson voted sexiest woman of the 2010 Olympic curling tournament

Assisted by an apparent coordinated effort by supporters of Celtic football club in Scotland (!), American lead Natalie Nicholson is the surprise runaway winner of our Olympic curling poll. There were many twists and turns during the course of the voting, with Denmark's Madeleine Dupont taking an early lead, while Nicholson failed to secure a single vote in the early days. But once the Nicholson juggernaut got underway, Dupont started to fade quite badly, and her Danish team-mate Camilla Jensen began to look like the best bet to deny Nicholson the crown. Indeed, Jensen did briefly sneak into the lead, but then there was another huge influx of Celtic-fans-for-Nicholson (beats me), at which point the lead became unassailable. Jensen did however secure second place, holding on in spite of a late flurry of votes for Switzerland's Carmen Schäfer - probably a reflection of the fact that Switzerland reached the medal matches and Denmark did not. Scotland's Eve Muirhead (nominally representing Great Britain for the purposes of the Olympics) followed up her third place in last year's World Championships poll by pipping Madeleine Dupont for fourth place.

Hear are the full results. As the number of votes cast was so huge this time round, I've listed the actual number of votes for each woman, rather than percentages -

1 Natalie Nicholson (USA) 188
2 Camilla Jensen (Denmark) 151
3 Carmen Schäfer (Switzerland) 143
4 Eve Muirhead (Great Britain) 97
5 Madeleine Dupont (Denmark) 94
6 Cheryl Bernard (Canada) 37
7 Ludmila Privivkova (Russia) 36
= Melanie Robillard (Germany) 36
9 Nicole Joraanstad (USA) 34
10 Anna le Moine (Sweden) 28
11 Eva Lund (Sweden) 24
12 Anna Sidorova (Russia) 21
13 Janine Greiner (Switzerland) 20
14 Ekaterina Galkina (Russia) 17
15 Debbie McCormick (USA) 16
16 Denise Dupont (Denmark) 15
17 Margarita Fomina (Russia) 14
18 Jackie Lockhart (Great Britain) 12
19 Anna Ohmiya (Japan) 11
= Carmen Küng (Switzerland) 11
21 Stella Heiß (Germany) 10
22 Kajsa Bergström (Sweden) 9
= Angelina Jensen (Denmark) 9
24 Allison Pottinger (USA) 8
= Ane Hansen (Denmark) 8
26 Lorna Vevers (Great Britain) 7
27 Mirjam Ott (Switzerland) 6
= Mari Motohashi (Japan) 6
29 Anette Norberg (Sweden) 4
= Susan O'Connor (Canada) 4
31 Wang Bingyu (China) 3
= Kelly Wood (Great Britain) 3
33 Kotomi Ishizaki (Japan) 2
= Nkeiruka Ezekh (Russia) 2
35 Cathrine Lindahl (Sweden) 1
= Corinna Scholz (Germany) 1
= Mayo Yamaura (Japan) 1
= Moe Meguro (Japan) 1
= Irene Schori (Switzerland) 1
= Tracy Sachtjen (USA) 1

An astonishing 753 sets of votes were cast in total - but as multiple voting was permitted, the number of individual votes cast adds up to far more.

We also ran two other Winter Olympic-themed polls. Here are the results -

Sexiest woman of 2010 Olympic ice dance

1 Tessa Virtue (Canada) 16
2 Sinead Kerr (Great Britain) 13
3 Tanith Belbin (USA) 10
4 Nora Hoffmann (Hungary) 7
= Oksana Domnina (Russia) 7
6 Penny Coomes (Great Britain) 4
7 Isabelle Delobel (France) 2
= Vanessa Crone (Canada) 2
= Anna Cappellini (Italy) 2
= Emily Samuelson (USA) 2
11 Allison Reed (Georgia) 1
= Nathalie Pechalat (France) 1

35 sets of votes were cast in total.

Hottest woman of 2010 Olympic ladies' figure skating event

1 Kiira Korpi (Finland) 10
2 Sonia Lafuente (Spain) 7
3 Sarah Meier (Switzerland) 5
4 Joannie Rochette (Canada) 4
= Laura Lepisto (Finland) 4
6 Julia Sebestyen (Hungary) 3
7 Ksenia Makarova (Russia) 2
= Elene Gedevanishvili (Georgia) 2
= Isabelle Pieman (Belgium) 2
10 Cynthia Phaneuf (Canada) 1
= Miki Ando (Japan) 1
= Anna Jurkiewicz (Poland) 1
= Kim Yu-Na (South Korea) 1

25 sets of votes were cast in total.

Eurovision sexiest 2010 - the one that got away

Kristīna Zaharova of Latvia

Looking ahead to our annual 'sexiest woman of Eurovision' poll later in the year, it's such a pity that the song Snow in July didn't win the Latvian preselection on Saturday, as singer Kristīna Zaharova would have been sure to be a contender (for the poll rather than for the Eurovision itself!). Instead, Aisha and her song What For? goes forward to Oslo, and it'll be interesting to see how both she and her beautiful backing performers fare in the poll when it opens.

Poll : Hottest Woman of the 2010 Olympic Ladies' Figure Skating Competition

As promised, here is the third of our Winter Olympic-related polls. As with the curling and ice dance polls, all of the competitors in the ladies' singles event are included. Here is the full list -

Kiira Korpi (Finland)
Laura Lepisto (Finland)
Cynthia Phaneuf (Canada)
Joannie Rochette (Canada)
Elena Glebova (Estonia)
Julia Sebestyen (Hungary)
Mao Asada (Japan)
Akiko Suzuki (Japan)
Miki Ando (Japan)
Cheltzie Lee (Australia)
Isabelle Pieman (Belgium)
Miriam Ziegler (Austria)
Liu Yan (China)
Elene Gedevanishvili (Georgia)
Anastasia Gimazetdinova (Uzbekistan)
Sarah Meier (Switzerland)
Mirai Nagasu (USA)
Rachael Flatt (USA)
Tugba Karademir (Turkey)
Sonia Lafuente (Spain)
Teodora Postic (Slovenia)
Ivana Reitmayerova (Slovakia)
Ksenia Makarova (Russia)
Alena Leonova (Russia)
Anna Jurkiewicz (Poland)
Kwak Min-Jung (South Korea)
Kim Yu-Na (South Korea)
Carolina Kostner (Italy)
Jenna McCorkell (Great Britain)
Sarah Hecken (Germany)

As with the other Winter Olympic polls, you can vote for more than one favourite if you wish. Oh, and in case you're wondering, you can find the voting form by scrolling down the page!

Curling poll update (Monday afternoon) : Midway through the voting, an incredible 465 sets of votes have been cast - that's already about two-and-a-half times as many as we had for last year's world championship poll. Having not received a single vote in the early stages, American lead player Natalie Nicholson has stormed into first place, although she still has Danish counterpart Camilla Jensen on her tail. Early leader Madeleine Dupont is now trailing somewhat in third place, and is in danger of being overtaken by British skip Eve Muirhead (who finished third in last year's world championship poll). Switzerland's Carmen Schäfer (second last year) is in fifth place.

Poll : Sexiest Woman of 2010 Olympic Ice Dance Competition

As a complement to our curling poll, here is the first of a couple more Winter Olympic-themed polls. The ice dance competition gets underway tomorrow, and you can vote for any of the twenty-three female competitors. To find the voting form, scroll down to below the curling poll. Here is the full list of contenders -

Sinead Kerr (Great Britain)
Penny Coomes (Great Britain)
Nathalie Pechalat (France)
Isabelle Delobel (France)
Oksana Domnina (Russia)
Jana Khokhlova (Russia)
Ekaterina Bobrova (Russia)
Cathy Reed (Japan)
Tessa Virtue (Canada)
Vanessa Crone (Canada)
Huang Xintong (China)
Anna Zadorozhniuk (Ukraine)
Federica Faiella (Italy)
Anna Cappellini (Italy)
Nora Hoffmann (Hungary)
Christina Beier (Germany)
Allison Reed (Georgia)
Meryl Davis (USA)
Emily Samuelson (USA)
Tanith Belbin (USA)
Alexandra Zaretsky (Israel)
Irina Shtork (Estonia)
Kamila Hájková (Czech Republic)

As with the curling poll, you can vote for more than one favourite. Vote wisely!

Curling poll update (early Thursday morning) : In the early stages of voting, Danish team-mates Camilla Jensen and Madeleine Dupont hold a joint lead with twenty-nine votes apiece, with Switzerland's Carmen Schaefer in third with twenty votes. Doubtlessly all three have been assisted by their nude appearances in Ana Arce's series of curling calendars!