50 canditates announced for world's "best job"

BEIJING, March 4 (Chinese medianet) -- A list of

50 candidates has been announced for "the best job in the world" -- being

well paid while enjoying the life on a tropical island in Australia, according to

media reports Wednesday.

From the United States, Britain, Russia, India,

China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia,and Kenya, they were

selected from a total of 34,684 applicants from some 200 countries and regions.

"Yesterday, a team of Tourism Queensland marketing

and international staff along with a professional recruitment company made the

very tough decisions necessary to cut the shortlist to the Top 50," said state

Tourism Minister Desley Boyle.

The tourism promotion campaign -- finding a caretaker

of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef was run by the Queensland state

government. The winner would get 150,000 Australian dollars (about 100,000 U.S.

dollars) for six months and includes free airfares from the successful

candidate's home country to the island.

"There's everything from action and adventure,

comedy, animation and a choreographed musical number that just stays with you,"

Boyle said.

The Top 50 will be narrowed down to a final 11, 10 of

whom will be chosen by Tourism Queensland with an 11th "wild card" applicant

chosen by popular vote.

They will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May to

take part in the final selection process with the successful candidate announced

on May 6.

(Agencies)