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Ryan Gosling

Tuesday night, we were busily preparing for Wednesday morning's announcement of PEOPLE magazine's annual choice for Sexiest Man Alive.

We were preparing for it to be Ryan Gosling. And judging by most of the chatter on the Interwebs today, so were a lot of other people. Except maybe Steve Martin.

No knock on Bradley Cooper -- he is a damn fine looking man who is in no danger of being kicked out of bed for eating crackers. He's also an accomplished actor. He was great in "The Hangover" and "Limitless." My personal favorite was his turn as Sack in "Wedding Crashers." And while his bilingual skills are quite impressive, it didn't melt everyone's heart, and this year that just shouldn't add up to Sexiest Man Alive.

Gosling, on the other hand, has enjoyed a breakout year. He played a troubled man falling in, then losing, love in "Blue Valentine"; the charming cad (my personal weakness) in "Crazy Stupid Love"; and he went head-to-head with perennial Sexiest Man Alive candidate George Clooney in "Ides of March." Oh, and he's, well, gorgeous.

In this share-all digital era, feelings are running high on his "slight." There is currently a petition online asking PEOPLE to admit its mistake. Buzzfeed.com is offering 63 reasons why Cooper is not the right choice. The site is also examining Sexiest's checkered past. #SexiestManAlive has been a trending topic on Twitter all day, but seriously folks, Justin Bieber -- ah, no.

But hey, it's all subjective. One person's sexy is another person's "what-the-frack!?" There are very few stars whose sex appeal alone will get this writer to the theater. Two to be exact -- last year's winner Ryan Reynolds and fellow actor Gerard Butler. Otherwise, I only go to the movies for the stories. And to laugh (hmmm, still Ryan Reynolds). And nobody has yet to match my all-time favorite cinematic hunk -- Ray Stevenson as Titus Pullo in the HBO series, "Rome."

Which begs the question -- which sexy star quickens your pulse enough to plunk down $10 at the box office? Is it Cooper? Gosling? Someone else? Share you choice in the comments below.

Related content:

•  Bradley Cooper named Sexiest Man Alive 

Bradley Cooper, the hunky "Hangover" star with the piercing blue eyes, is PEOPLE magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 2011.

Cooper, 36, heads a list of 123 "super hot guys" that includes actors Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Robert Pattinson and Justin Timberlake to name a few (more photos here.)

PEOPLE

"I think it's really cool that a guy who doesn't look like a model can have this [title]," Cooper told the mag. "I think I'm a decent-looking guy. Sometimes I can look great, and other times I look horrifying."

On TODAY: Watch the magazine's reveal

PEOPLE says the actor -- who has also starred in "Limitless" and "The A-Team" -- is especially close with his mom. "My mother is going to be so happy," Cooper says of his first thought upon learning he had been crowned Sexiest. He also thought he was being "Punk'd."

Cooper dated actress Renée Zellweger for two years until their split in March and has been linked to Jennifer Lopez in recent months, but says he's just a "single 36-year-old male." He takes the title from 2010 winner Ryan Reynolds.

Scoop's Courtney Hazlett wrote here in June that the revelation that Cooper was fluent in French made him even more attractive.

We've assembled a few video highlights below for those looking for more of a Cooper fix.

So what do you think? Did PEOPLE make the right choice? Share your thoughts in the comments if you agree ... or feel someone was robbed!

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