Chins will wag, glass jaws will shatter and the only certainty is that no one will agree — and that’s the subjective beauty of the list.

Some people have fallen in ranking, not because they’ve lost power but because others on the list have made greater gains.

NUMBERS 100-81

NUMBERS 80-61

NUMBERS 60-41

NUMBERS 40-21

NUMBERS 20-11

There are 18 new faces on the list in 2017 as the Gold Coast continues to be rejuvenated by fresh ideas and young talent.

Twenty-one people on the list work in property or development, seven are from tourism, 13 are politicians or bureaucrats and, as we count down 110 days to the Commonwealth Games, 11 are athletes or sport administrators.

There are six entries each in entertainment and transport, as well as five each in health and education.

Many are from big business, however heavy hitters increasingly exist in the nation’s small business capital and are growing their influence in Australia and beyond.

Here’s the top 10!

10. CAM MCEVOY

A brilliant young leader, stellar sport star and great hope for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, McEvoy is also a dedicated physics student and a keen advocate for the sciences.

Likely to feature as a face of the Games in April, McEvoy has featured in fashion shoots with the likes of Jennifer Hawkins and a hefty social media following.

McEvoy is the ultimate team spokesman and a worthy GC2018 ambassador.

9. JOHN WITHERIFF

The chairman of the Coast’s light rail creator and operator GoldLinq also chairs Nexus Infrastructure, the company building the $1.6 billion Toowoomba Range Crossing. Mr Witheriff is also chairman of Plenary Schools and a director of the 2018 Commonwealth Games board.

8. TONY COCHRANE

It’s been a mixed year for straight-talking Mr Cochrane in his second year as chairman of the Gold Coast Suns.

The team had a lacklustre on-field season and shed Rodney Eade as coach.

The former long-time chairman of V8 Supercars has focused on attracting the very best people to the Suns, scoring highly respected AFL administrator Mark Evans as CEO and then new coach Stuart Dew, auguring well for a 2018 comeback.

7. PETER BEATTIE

THE irrepressible former Labor Premier has been busily spruiking the 2018 Commonwealth Games as chairman of organising committee Goldoc.

Although ticket sales and sponsorships have been slower than he’d have hoped, the Games remain “on time and on budget” — just ask him.

Mr Beattie, also a prominent media personality, was appointed a commissioner to the Australian Rugby League Commission in July, further cementing his transition from politician to sports administrator.

6. STEVEN CIOBO

THE Trade Minister, who last year topped this list, spent much of his time out of the Coast working, with mixed success, to broker a Trans Pacific Partnership to unlock trillions of dollars in trade for Australian businesses.

The citizenship crisis, same sex marriage postal vote and unrest on Manus Island have cruelled his government, which has lost significant ground against Labor in recent polls.

5. REBECCA FRIZELLE

WITH husband Brett, Ms Frizelle sold the controlling stake in the family’s successful business — James Frizelle’s Automotive Group in July.

Ms Frizelle stepped down as chairwoman of the Gold Coast Titans in September and was this week named new co-owner of the troubled NRL club.

This month, Ms Frizelle also joined the board of Sunland Group, adding development to her portfolio of business interests.

4. TOM TATE

THE Gold Coast Mayor endured a self-proclaimed “annus horribilis” in 2017.

The year began with the Crime and Corruption Commission investigating his council for not following the rules during the 2016 election, and the Mayor being given a dressing down for failing to keep a dedicated campaign bank account.

He was forced to perform CPR on his wife Ruth who had a near-fatal heart attack in June, and then faced his own mortality when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Plans he had championed for a multibillion-dollar casino resort at the Spit were scuttled by the State, while his ideas for an alternative location in Southport have also been widely opposed.

3. SOHEIL AND SAHBA ABEDIAN

THE chairman and the managing director of listed property company Sunland Group have already shaped the skyline with their projects including Q1 and Palazzo Versace but suffered a setback with the knock-back of their landmark Mariner’s Cove.

However, their $240 million Abian tower in Brisbane was a sellout, their prime Clear Island Waters development The Lakes is set to transform the central Gold Coast and they have promising projects on the central and southern Gold Coast awaiting approval.

2. BOB EAST

Since debuting on this list at number 39 in 2009, and climbing to second in the 2015 and 2016 lists, Mr East has not slowed down.

The CEO of Gold Coast-based Mantra Group was named Chairman of Tourism Australia in September and he is also deputy chairman of the Gold Coast Suns.

In October, Mantra Group brokered a $1.2 billion sale to Parisian hotel giant Accor group, which if approved by shareholders, will create the nation’s largest accommodation group and affirm the Gold Coast-based company’s place on the world map.

1. MARK PETERS

THE Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games CEO is charged with delivering the biggest event on the Australian calendar this decade.

With less than four months to go, Mr Peters will have his foot to the floor to ensure the city is at its peak in all the right ways while the world is watching.

In the past six months, his team at the headquarters at Ashmore has swollen to 1000, and is set to top 1500 by Games time.

He also has countless contractors and 15,000 volunteers also under his leadership.

Before he took on the Goldoc role, Adelaide-born Mr Peters spent almost 10 years as CEO of the Australian Sports Commission and he has also been President of the Australian Baseball Federation and Executive member of International Baseball Federation.

There are no second chances on this job and this is where Mr Peters’ five years of work will come to fruition.

As a CEO of definitive transience, Mr Peters is faced not just with an intimidating logistic, diplomatic and public accountability task, but with instilling relentless enthusiasm and purpose in his staff.

“Our challenge has been, not getting people, but making sure they’re enjoying themselves and having such a good time, so they’ll be here at the end,” he said.

“A lot of people in their journey look at what’s going to happen afterwards — they don’t want to leave the Gold Coast so we look at how to keep them enthusiastic — which hasn’t been that hard.

“I say to our staff: this will end, but in five or 10 years they can look back and see how great this city is going to continue to be and say `I had a bit to do with that’.”

Mr Peters’ experience makes him one of the nation’s greatest sport administrators, begging the question — what will he be doing this time next year?

“Lots of people want to chat, but my focus is on how to deliver a fantastic Games and all the benefits we’ve talked about since the bid stage,” he said, adding that he and wife Merilyn would stay on the Gold Coast, where their three adult children have also made their homes.

“We just want to be here to make sure it all happens, then wave goodbye.

“You don’t get a lot of time to think but I’m just continually in awe of the skilled people that we brought in early on and how we’ve seen them grow.”

Lying in bed, as the surfboard clock marks the shortening days until the opening ceremony, Mr Peters sometimes has time to contemplate the magnitude of what he’s done, and what he’s yet to do, in staging Australia’s largest event of at least a decade.

He’s “already planning for disillusionment”, and when he thinks of the end, it’s the people he’s worked with that stir his feelings.

“I’ve had such a good relationship with so many of our staff that there’s a bit of nostalgia knowing that it’s going to end and it’s been such a positive experience — so there’s a bit of that sometimes,” he said.

“I’m a bloke that does get emotional sometimes and I’m sure there’s going to be tears at the end.”

Key to successfully executing such a mammoth project are three things, Mr Peters says — tell the truth, then you don’t have to remember what you said; bring in people who are more talented than you; and have a bit of fun as well.

“At the moment, the word is we might be tired and busy but just enjoy it because this is going to be something special.”