Time’s Person of the Year Nominees: Ferguson Protesters, Vladimir Putin, Taylor Swift

Time Magazine has released its short list for the annual Person of the Year award.

Among the group of this year’s candidates are best-selling pop artist Taylor Swift; the first openly gay fortune 500 CEO, Tim Cook; Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin; and the protesters of Ferguson, Missouri.

Last year’s Person of the Year, Pope Francis, replaced 2012’s Vladimir Putin, who is now up for the “honor” once again. 

In no particular order, the strange list contains Roger Goodell, Vladimir Putin, Taylor Swift, Tim Cook, Masoud Barzani, Jack Ma, the Ferguson protesters, and the Ebola caregivers.

Time‘s Person of the Year, according to the magazine, is “an individual or group who, for better or worse, has had the biggest impact on the world and news over the course of the past year.”

The award, previously titled Man of the Year, was changed in 1999 to include women.

Osama Bin Laden was almost named Person of the Year by the publication in 2001 after 9/11, but lost to New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. 

Time‘s editors have narrowed their list down to the eight people, or groups, and plan to reveal the 2014 Person of the Year on Today on Wednesday night.