Barbara Walters thinks this year's roster of fascinating people is a little edgier, more current and less obvious than usual.

Of course, the fact that she's compiling a new list is no surprise. Airing Dec. 9 at 10 p.m. EST on ABC, "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009" is her 17th edition.

But the choices this time, she says, "are hopefully more adventurous," in contrast to last year's, which (boasting the likes of Michael Phelps, Tom Cruise, Tina Fey, Barack Obama) seemed to come together naturally.

This year's choices were made later than usual, adds Walters _ in just the past few weeks.

All but one (whose name is under wraps until the program airs) have been announced. And most of them Walters (who knows nearly everyone) admits she had never met before.

Here's Lady Gaga, an explosive young pop star who many viewers may recognize, if at all, only for her kookie onstage outfits.

"Very intelligent, serious," Walters sums up. "She walked in for the interview in a black Chanel suit."

Here's glam rocker Adam Lambert, speaking with Walters on the heels of his racy performance at ABC's American Music Awards _ and getting dropped from an appearance on the same network's "Good Morning America."

"We said, 'Should we have done Adam Lambert or should we have done Taylor Swift?' And then he did this huge thing (on the awards show) and we said, 'Ah! We got the fascinating one!'"

Comedian-writer-entertainment mogul Tyler Perry is yet another one of Walter's fascinating people. But while wildly successful among black audiences, "most white people have never heard of him," she says.

She talks with mother of eight Kate Gosselin, who recently ended her TLC network reality series and is about to end her marriage to former co-star Jon Gosselin.

"Nobody hit the scales harder this year than Kate Gosselin," says Walters. "And this career is not over."

As a different way of noting Michael Jackson's impact this year, Walters' program will profile the late King of Pop's kids: Paris, Prince Michael and Prince Michael II (known as Blanket). Walters will also air excerpts from a vintage interview she conducted with Jackson.

She talks with South Carolina's first lady, Jenny Sanford, who this year suffered every married woman's nightmare: the scandalous disclosure that her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford, had cheated on her during a mysterious disappearance last summer to Argentina.

"Jenny Sanford has reacted with dignity and courage and integrity," says Walters, "and touched a chord in many women, with a little bit of a warning for men: 'Don't take me for granted.'"