We had our fingers crossed for Print's lollipop-fronted consumption issue, but the American Society of Magazine Editors had other ideas when selecting their 2007 Best Cover Finalists. And those ideas, culled from 300 entries from 138 magazines, were eerily similar across categories.

Both the Best Celebrity Cover and the Best Fashion Cover nominees include shots of windswept celebrities in white evening gowns atop iconic Manhattan buildings: Naomi Watts astride the tippy-top of the Chrysler Building (Conde Nast Traveler, September 2006) and Drew Barrymore posing on the roof of Rockefeller Center (Harper's Bazaar, February 2007), respectively. Meanwhile, among the finalists for Best Celebrity Cover and Best Service Cover are tender shots of subjects--"Sexiest Dad Alive" Patrick Dempsey (Life, January 12, 2007) and an infant (BabyTalk, August 2006)--cozying up to pregnancy-swollen body parts.

One cover that's a surefire winner? Texas Monthly's January 2007 issue, a finalist for Best Coverline, which features a PhotoShopped, gun-toting Dick Cheney and the fightin' words: "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face." A footnote makes clear that "Yes, this is a photo illustration. If we don't say so, Dick Cheney will shoot us in the face."

The winners will be announced next Tuesday at the American Magazine Conference, which kicks off Sunday at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. Are you going? Send us your thoughts on the property's recent Blackstone Group-funded Thierry Despont/Alexandra Champalimaud/Andree Putman redesign!