Who's 2015's most famous celebrity with kids? The winner is...

My Comic Art Masterclasses in 2015 have taken me further than ever before, with visits to Jordan and Switzerland as well as classes on the Mull Of Kintyre and the Isle Of Wight, in Nairn in the Highlands and Looe in Cornwall, in libraries all over Edinburgh, Intu shopping centres across the country, an unprecedented number of literary festivals, and two weeks in Barking and Lincoln producing special Magna Carta themed magazines.

And in all of these classes I do my "treads on a worm" demonstration strip, an example of which you can see above (in the American Community School of Amman's library, since you ask). I ask the kids to suggest a celebrity, the most famous person they can think of. They give me 4 names, then we choose the favourite from those to go into the strip. As well as being a bit of fun that gives me the chance to vary the content of what I draw,  and to demonstrate my enviable improvisation skills (he says ironically), this process also gives us some idea of who kids think are the most famous people in the world today. So, who did they suggest the most?

Mentioned in Dispatches - only chosen once:

Alan Carr
Albert Einstein
Bill Gates
Boris Johnson
Bruce Forsyth
Bruno Mars
Cheryl Cole
Daniel Craig
Danny Dyer
David Attenborough
David Tennant
Elvis Presley
Eminem
Gordon Ramsey
Harry Hill
Isaac Newton
Jack Whitehall
Jennifer Lawrence
Jeremy Kyle
Jesus
Joseph Stalin
Judge Rinder (TV judge)
Keith Lemon
Lady Gaga
Leonardo DiCaprio
Lewis Hamilton
Martin Luther King
Megan Fox
Meghan Trainor
Michael Bay
Mick Jagger
Nicholas Cage
Nigel Farage
Olly Murs
Pablo Picasso
Pixie Lott
Prince Charles
Rick Walker (wrestler)
Robert Downey Jr
Sabine Schmidt (racing car driver)
Samuel L Jackson
Steven Gerrard
Vladimir Putin
Warwick Davies
Will I Am
William Shakespeare
Zac Efron

Runners Up - chosen twice

Ant (out of Ant & Dec) - 2
Ariana Grande - 2
Benedict Cumberbatch - 2
David Cameron - 2
Dec (out of Ant & Dec) - 2
Donald Trump - 2
Dwayne The Rock Johnson - 2
Ed Sheeran - 2
Jackie Chan - 2
Kim Jong-Un - 2
Morgan Freeman - 2
Sam Smith - 2
Stephen Hawking - 2
Tom Jones - 2
Vin Diesel - 2
Will Smith - 2

Joint 9th Place - chosen 3 times
David Beckham - 3
James Bond - 3
Roald Dahl - 3

8th Place - chosen 4 times
Miley Cyrus - 4
Lionel Messi - 4
Barack Obama - 4

7th Place - chosen 5 times
Nicki Minaj - 5
Katy Perry - 5
Taylor Swift - 5
David Walliams - 5

6th Place - chosen 6 times
Johnny Depp - 6

5th Place - chosen 7 times
The Queen - 7
Beyonce - 7

4th Place - chosen 8 times
Cristiano Ronaldo - 8

3rd Place - chosen 10 times
Kim Kardashian - 10

2nd Place - chosen 12 times
Michael Jackson - 12

And the winner is..?

1st Place - chosen 31 times
Simon Cowell.

As anyone who's read any of my Comic Art Masterclass blogs will know, Simon Cowell is suggested in 75% of classes, and as you can see is finally chosen in an awful lot of them. Not, maybe, the 15% of classes that I've taken to saying is the case, but nearly three times as often as the next contender. As for why Michael Jackson remains so popular with the kids, your guess is as good as mine.

In 2014 Simon Cowell came 1st, being chosen 27 times. Michael Jackson was only 5th with 7 outings, 4th was Joey Essex (not suggested at all this year), 3rd was Miley Cyrus, and in joint 2nd were Katy Perry (this year down to 7th) and Keith Lemon (an also-ran this year) with 11 nominations apiece.

2013: 1st place Simon Cowell (chosen 25 times); joint 2nd Michael Jackson, Keith Lemon and Harry Styles (where he?) chosen 7 times each; 3rd place Harry Hill & The Queen (chosen 6 times); 4th place Johnny Depp, 5th place Cheryl Cole.



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here.