Hot Britney Spears News : Oprah Most Powerful Celebrity

TALK show queen Oprah Winfrey has replaced Tom Cruise as the most world's most powerful celebrity and jailbird Paris Hilton has dropped off the annual Forbes magazine list of the 100 most influential stars.

Golfer Tiger Woods ranked second while singer Madonna was No. 3 on the list, which aggregates earnings and media presence to evaluate a celebrity's power.

Winfrey jumped two spots on the ninth annual list, released on Thursday, with earnings of US$260 million (S$400 million) from various media ventures. Woods moved up from No. 5 but made less than half Winfrey with US$100 million in the past 12 months.

Editor of the Forbes Celebrity 100 Power List, Lea Goldman said Winfrey's ranking was no surprise.

'She is pretty much a top five perennial, just based on her earnings alone she usually ranks up there,' Ms Goldman said.

The Rolling Stones, who Forbes said earned US$88 million this year, took the fourth spot.

After making the Forbes rankings for the past three years, hotel heiress Hilton was off the 2007 list. Also not making the cut were actress Lindsay Lohan, who has not made the list since 2005, and singer Nude Britney Spears, last ranked in 2002.

'We look at celebrities as brands and when you talk about those girls, you're talking about diminished brand value,' Ms Goldman said.

'It's not enough to just be a headline, and it's not enough to pocket a paycheck - you have to have both.'

Cruise dropped to No. 8 from top spot last year, yet still showed his power by securing a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to revive United Artists movie studio.

Two other actors broke in the top 10 this year and surpassed Cruise with Brad Pitt hitting No. 5 and Johnny Depp taking the sixth spot.

Singer Elton John moved up this year's list to No. 7 from the 16th position with US$53 million in earnings, while Jay Z, the rap star-turned-music executive and boyfriend of singer Beyonce, made his debut at No. 9, with US$83 million.

Director Steven Spielberg rounded out the top 10 with earnings of US$110 million. -- REUTERS