Pop superstar Michael Jackson has been crowned America's most foolish person in 2006. He beat US Vice-President Dick Cheney for the title, according to a survey by a US public relations consultant.
The 47-year-old "King of Pop," who is living in exile in Bahrain following his acquittal last June on child sex charges, snatched the "title" for the fourth year running.
Sixty-nine per cent of the 1,045 people polled in a random telephone survey ahead of April Fool's day, said the singer had "done something foolish" in the past year that merited the title, the poll showed.
"Michael Jackson seems to have a lock on the number one spot for the foreseeable future," said the poll's organiser Jeff Barge. "If Mr Cheney's actions weren't enough to oust him, it's hard to imagine what could".
"And he hasn't even been in the country", Barge said, noting that Jackson was last spotted in Dubai shopping in a market wearing woman's clothing.
{{/usCountry}}"And he hasn't even been in the country", Barge said, noting that Jackson was last spotted in Dubai shopping in a market wearing woman's clothing.
{{/usCountry}}Cheney tied with US hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton for second place in Barge's seventh annual April Fool's poll, with 59 per cent of Americans saying that they had done "something foolish" in the past year.
The Vice President became the focus of a media firestorm and the butt of a barrage of jokes after he accidentally shot an elderly friend in the face and neck with a shotgun while quail hunting last month.
Cheney's boss, President George W Bush came in third in the 2006 survey, with 57 per cent of those polled saying he had done something foolish.