Google billionaire co-founder Sergey Brin, U2 lead singer Bono and film director Steven Spielberg were picked as finalists for Mikhail Gorbachev's The Man Who Changed the World award.
Brin, Bono and Spielberg were among nine nominees announced late last week for the award created this year by organizations including the Gorbachev Foundation as part of the former Soviet leader's 80th birthday celebrations.
"Each of the award nominees already made a big personal contribution to the development and changing of the world we live in for the better," Gorbachev said in a statement distributed at a reception hosted by British Ambassador Anne Pringle.
The winners of the award in three categories — contribution to the development of global civilization, culture of an open world and modern science and technology ?€” will be announced March 30 in London during a charity concert at Royal Albert Hall dedicated to Gorbachev's March 2 birthday. The presentation will become an annual event, with the next ceremony to take place in Germany.
Other nominees include World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee; former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; engineer Martin Cooper, who made the world's first mobile phone call in 1973; and CNN founder Ted Turner.
The ceremony will be hosted by Hollywood actors Sharon Stone and Kevin Spacey and feature singer and songwriter Bryan Ferry, heavy metal band the Scorpions and Russian rock band Mashina Vremeni, or Time Machine.
Bono helped organize the concert with actors Hugh Grant and Catherine Deneuve. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli President Shimon Peres, London Mayor Boris Johnson and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be among the attendees of the event, where suites cost £100,000 ($160,000).
When asked about not including Russian citizens among the nominees, Gorbachev replied that Brin was from Russia. The Google founder immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1979, when he was 6.
"I think there will be Russians as the award lives on," Gorbachev said.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.