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 applicants² from some 200 countries hoping to become "caretaker" of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in a tourism promotion³ run by the Queensland state government.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars ($100,000) for six months and includes airfares from the successful candidate's home country to the island. In return, the winner will be expected to have as much fun as possible - soaking up the sun, swimming, snorkeling, sailing - and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

"Yesterday, a team of Tourism Queensland 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 top 50 videos can be viewed online at www.islandreefjob.com.

"There's everything from action and adventure, comedy, animation⁴ and a choreographed⁵ 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' applicant¹ 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.

"It's captured the imagination of the world," said Boyle.

The Top 50 includes three Chinese.

（澳洲海岛管理员）招聘主办方昨日宣布，“世界最好的工作”50人初选名单出炉，来自22个国家的50名候选人入围——最终胜出者将享受高薪待遇，在澳大利亚的一个热带岛屿工作6个月。

入围的候选人来自美国、英国、俄罗斯、印度、中国、日本、韩国、印尼、新加坡、马来西亚和肯尼亚等国，其中包括舞蹈演员、科学家、厨师和学生等。

这些候选人从200个国家的34684名应聘者中选出。澳洲大堡礁汉密尔顿岛护岛人招聘活动是昆士兰州政府旅游宣传项目的一部分。

这份为期半年的工作总报酬达15万澳元（合10万美元），其中包括从护岛人所在国飞往该岛的机票费用。而被录用者需要做的只是尽情享受岛屿乐趣，如沐日光浴、游泳、潜水、划船，并每周更新博客，上传图片和视频，向全世界展示这里的无限风光。

昆士兰旅游局局长德西里•波义尔说：“昨天，旅游局工作小组和一家专业招聘公司共同做出了十分艰难的选择，从众多应聘者中选出了50名候选人。”

这50名候选人的视频可以登录www.islandreefjob.com网站在线观看。

波义尔说：“在这些视频中，可以看到动作片、冒险片、喜剧片以及生活片等各种元素，还有精心编排的音乐剧表演。”

据介绍，下一轮选举将产生11人，其中10人由昆士兰旅游局选出，第11名“外卡”选手则将由公众投票产生。之后，11名候选人将于5月初飞往汉密尔顿岛参加最终角逐，最后的胜利者将于5月6日揭晓。

波义尔说：“这里汇聚了全世界的想象。”

入围的50人中有三名中国人。