Time Magazine Person of the Year 2013: Why Miley Cyrus Can Beat Pope Francis as POY?

It must be first made clear that the Person of the Year recognition "goes to the person who TIME's editors think most influenced the news this year, for good or bad," according to TIME magazine.

This definition implies that the POY is not necessarily an exemplary or heroic character. Rather, the awardee is identified as the biggest newsmaker of the year. And if Miley Cyrus continues to play her cards right, she might just beat her illustrious co-contenders, which includes the much-admired Pope Francis and even Amazon's innovative founder Jeff Bezos, as TIME's 2013 Person of the Year.

The other contenders in the final list are: Syria's President Bashar Assad, U.S. President Barack Obama, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Gay rights activist Edith Windsor, and N.S.A leaker Edward Snowden. The ultimate winner will be announced Wednesday morning, TIME announced.

A win by the notorious twerker is a very good possibility if you take her recent antics into consideration. Since being catapulted as official tabloid fodder and regular headline hogger in showbiz rags and entertainment columns, she has never ran out of scandal-making ideas that manage to land her in the news and in opinion pieces consistently. The backlash she received only propelled her to new infamous heights, even earning her a nod from TIME magazine's editors.

Although the leader of the Catholic Church has also proved to be a newsmaker with his off-the-cuff and candid speeches and quips, his revelations and gestures are relatively tame when set beside the garish antics of the child star. Apparently, people tend to direct their energies and attention more to people and scenarios that are most reviling, shocking, and scandalous - adjectives that could hardly be described of the Pontiff.

Should the Bangerz singer win the POY title, expect a round of backlash to rear its ugly head once more - which only serves to cement her reputation as a newsmaker all the more.