The Globe and Mail

ADELE: 80 watts

No singer is more popular right now than Adele, and no gesture is as guaranteed a newsmaker as the finger. So when Adele flipped the bird at the Brit Awards on Tuesday after her acceptance speech was cut off, it was sure to be a hot trending topic. It’s been talked about on Twitter, across the blogosphere, and even inspired The Guardian newspaper to publish a think-piece on whether the gesture has “lost its power to shock.” If Billy Crystal wants to be a hot name in the news again, he could flip off the Oscar crowd this Sunday.

SACHA BARON COHEN: 60 watts

Sacha Baron Cohen is a master of self-promotion – this is the guy who rode into a Toronto International Film Festival screening of "Borat" on a donkey-drawn wagon, after all. His rumoured plans for the Oscars could be his best stunt yet: To walk the red carpet dressed as his character from the upcoming comedy "The Dictator." The academy does not look kindly on stars using the night to promote their work, and online reports this week said the academy had banned Baron Cohen from Sunday’s show. But a spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the academy hasn’t banned him yet, instead saying, “We’re just waiting to hear what he’s going to do.” Too bad he won’t be allowed to do it, since it might be the one thing to enliven what’s become a boring and predictable affair.

JENNIFER ANISTON: 80 watts

Has there ever been a week when Jennifer Aniston wasn’t in the news? You can’t go through a grocery store checkout without seeing her face on the cover of one magazine or another – People probably has a whole wing of their building dedicated to covering the former "Friends" star. The 43-year-old actress, who appears in this week’s "Wanderlust," had her fame memorialized for the ages this week, receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday.