Johnny Pips Brad As Powerful Celeb

On the list: Brad and JohnnyPower. Brad Pitt has it - but Johnny Depp has more. David Beckham has it too - but not as much as the Desperate Housewives.

This, according to a new poll of the world's most powerful 100 celebrities.

The survey was carried out by respected US business magazine Forbes, who calculated the earnings, internet presence, press clippings, magazine cover stories and mentions on TV and radio of each celebrity.

The survey found that chat show host Oprah Winfrey is the world's most powerful celebrity, followed by ace golfer Tiger Woods and actor-turned director Mel Gibson, who was last year's most powerful person.

Sir Elton John is the highest-ranking Briton on the list, in ninth place, with an estimated paycheck in the past 12 months of $44m (£25m).

The singer beats Hollywood star Tom Cruise - whose relationship with Batman Begins star Katie Holmes has put him back in the limelight.

Cruise is in tenth place, with earnings of $31m (£17.7m), followed by Brad Pitt, with $25m (£14.2m).

Oprah, whose talk show is watched by 30 million viewers each week in the US alone, and was third place last year, has estimated earnings of $225m (£128m).

David Beckham has fallen four places from 22 to 26 - his earnings last year are estimated to be $32.5m (£18m).

The list proves that, despite the last screening of Friends, Jennifer Aniston is still popular - she came 37th - but co-stars Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow, both of whom were on the 2004 list, are nowhere to be seen.

Instead, they've been replaced by a new batch of A-listers.

Desperate Housewives stars Teri Hatcher and Marcia Cross are new to the list, while others to make the cut include Paris Hilton, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson and Hollywood's best-known twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

But it's not such good news for some of Tinseltown's most famous faces.

Tom Hanks and Jim Carrey may be among the highest-paid stars in the business but that hasn't been enough to get them into this year.

But J.Lo's there - she comes 24th place, Julia Roberts makes 39th place, while Nicole Kidman is number 45.

Lindsay Lohan comes 52nd, Sandra Bullock 65th, Cameron Diaz is 66th, and supermodel Kate Moss comes 93rd.

The list is published in the forthcoming issue of Forbes out in the UK on June 27.

Here is the top 50: 

1. Oprah Winfrey
2. Tiger Woods
3. Mel Gibson
4. George Lucas
5. Shaquille O'Neal
6. Steven Spielberg
7. Johnny Depp
8. Madonna
9. Elton John
10. Tom Cruise
11. Brad Pitt
12. Dan Brown
13. Will Smith
14. David Letterman
15. Lance Armstrong
16. Michael Jordan
17. Michael Schumacher
18. Will Ferrell
19. Kobe Bryant
20. P Diddy
21. Jay Leno
22. JK Rowling
23. Metallica
24. Jennifer Lopez
25. Desperate Housewives
26. David Beckham
27. Howard Stern
28. Rush Limbaugh
29. Shania Twain
30. Denzel Washington
32. Rod Stewart
33. Michael Vick
34. Bette Midler
35. The Olsen Twins
36. Jerry Bruckheimer
37. Jennifer Aniston
38. Derek Jeter
39. Julia Roberts
40. Prince
41. David Copperfield
42. Tobey Maguire
43. The Eagles
44. Ray Romano
45. Nicole Kidman
46. Jeff Gordon
47. Phil Mickelson
48. Alex Rodriguez
49. Matt Damon
50. Adam Sandler