34,684 down to 50 for 'best job in world'

A shortlist of 50 candidates from 22 countries has been selected for "the best job in the world" - being well paid to spend six months on a tropical Australian island, organizers said yesterday.

Ranging from dancers to scientists, chefs and students, the candidates are from countries including 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 hoping to become "caretaker" of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in a tourism promotion run by the Queensland state government.