After much public fanfare and 100 million votes, the world has seven new wonders to marvel at.
The Great Wall of China, Jordan's Petra and Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer were the first sites to be named in the international competition. The Taj Mahal in India, Peru's Machu Picchu, Rome's Colosseum and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid were named just a few hours later.
The winners were announced at a star-studded gala in Lisbon, Portugal. The sites emerged as winners from a shortlist of 21 man-made destinations. They beat out the Eiffel Tower, the Acropolis and Russia's Kremlin, among others.
Canadian adventurer Bernard Weber started the international competition. He launched the campaign in 1999 through his Swiss travel company.
Controversial campaign
The campaign was not without controversy.
At the start, the competition angered Egyptian officials, who said their Pyramids do not need reaffirmation of their status as one of the world's great wonders.
The Pyramids at Giza are the last of the ancient world's seven wonders. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Eqhesus and the Colossus of Rhodes have all been destroyed.
In response, organizers of the Seven Wonders campaign declared the public would not be able to vote for the Pyramids.
"The world will have eight wonders come July 8, one remaining wonder from the ancient world and seven new ones," Tia B. Viering, spokesperson for the New Seven Wonders campaign, said the day before the winners were announced. "Because they are the only remaining ancient wonder, we are honouring that and making them an honourary finalist."
But that wasn't their only problem.
There were several complaints around their voting system, where people were encouraged to vote online, through text message or by placing a phone call. Sending a text message through a cellphone or placing a phone call were both subject to long distance charges.
In addition, their website was so swamped with visitors, people had a tough time accessing the site to place their votes. According to Alexa, an online site that tracks the world's most-viewed websites, New7Wonders.com's traffic rating placed them at the 1,211th spot as of July 6.
However, the site disruption didn't stop people -- and companies -- from buying multiple votes. Viering said there was only so much the promoters could do to prevent irregularities from happening but that at the end, it doesn't affect the credibility of their campaign.
"Anytime you have this kind of technology, you can't prevent this from happening," she continued. "(The voting methods) are the only way to get people to participate in something like this."
A place for Canada?
Now that their campaign has ended, organizers are preparing for their next search, one for the world's top natural wonders.
Though Canada was not represented in the search for the seven new wonders, its natural beauty certainly has a chance to rank in the next phase of the international competition.
Ontario's Niagara Falls, long referred to as one of the world's top wonders, could be a nominee as well as the Bay of Fundy, adjoined by both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
A spokesperson for Parks Canada, the department in charge of promoting Canada's national historic sites, said so far, no plans are made to help promote the country for the contest. However, they will likely further discuss their role once the campaign is launched.
With files from The Associated Press
