Will Mrs. Smith Go to Washington?

I just read that Angelina Jolie has dethroned Oprah Winfrey as the most powerful celebrity in the world. The good news for Winfrey is that she only fell one place, to No. 2. So she's still ahead of Madonna (No. 3), Beyonce (No. 4), and Tiger Woods (No. 5).

So that means that Oprah is still ahead of 98 of the others on the top 100 list. I don't think she has too much to worry about. She's still way ahead of Barack Obama (No. 49) and newcomer Taylor Swift (No. 69). Speaking of Taylor Swift, wouldn't it be fantastic if she and Oprah and Madonna and Beyonce and Angelina all got together to record a snappy No. 1 hit and video. And, what the hell, we might as well let Barack and Tiger make cameo appearances, as long as they promise not to sing or dance. (After watching Barack dance with Ellen last year and once hearing Tiger wreak havoc on "The Star Spangled Banner," I think that some fields are best left untilled.)

I gave some thought to why Ms. Jolie was able to achieve this meteoric rise and knock Ms. Winfrey out of the captain's chair. I ultimately decided that it was not just her ability to adopt one child after the other from Asia and Africa with virtually no problem (Madonna, I think you could learn a few lessons here), but to simultaneously pump out a few of her own, including twins. So the question is not simply how Angie Baby had time to build up a formidable challenge to the No. 1 spot in the midst of such a busy family life, but how she avoided getting all those fertility-treatment forms tangled up in all that adoption-agency red tape. (I guess having John Voight as a father must have left her with more than her fair share of good genes on making an unforgettable first impression no matter whether on film or in a Namibian hospital delivery room, which just happened to be near the town of Swakopmund. (I know, I know, that last tidbit of information is completely irrelevant, but I just could not pass up the chance to work it in here, no matter how far-fetched.)

Of course, once you become the winner of something, there is no place left to go but down. So how Ms. Jolie got to No. 1 will not be the thing that fascinates me the most: The most intriguing part of this story will be whether she is able to hold on to the position for years to come (like Oprah did) and how, if indeed, she is able to sustain such a formidable, er, act. Mr. Obama, your job may be in jeopardy!