Will it be The Donald or Caitlyn Jenner? Time magazine releases the eight finalists for 2015 Person of the Year

Time magazine has released the shortlist for their annual Person of the Year issue and the contenders range from the leader of the Islamic State to transgender pioneer Caitlyn Jenner.

The eight finalists were announced on the Today show Monday morning, and the winner will be revealed on the NBC show and Time.com on Wednesday. 

The annual Person of the Year issue profiles a person, group or idea that 'for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year'. 

Donald Trump: The Republican presidential candidate has dominated the news this year as he surges in the polls

Vladimir Putin: The Russian president has been at odds with the U.S. government over the Ukrainian conflict

Caitlyn Jenner: The Olympian has become a face of the LGBT community after announcing this year that she was transgender 

Black Lives Matter activists: Protests have swept the country, drawing attention to lingering racial injustices in the U.S. 

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Millions of Syrians and Iraqis have been fleeing their homeland where al-Baghdadi hs instituted the tyrannical and Medieval Islamic State

Angela Merkel: As German chancellor, Merkel has been at the center of two crises this year - the Syrian migration and the Eurozone collapse

Hassan Rouhani: The Iranian president has been seeking to bring his country out of isolation and into international relations by brokering a deal to end their nuclear program

Travis Kalanick: As CEO of Uber, Kalanick has revolutionized the way Americans travel 

All but eight of the finalists this year are people and include Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Caitlyn Jenner, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. 

The remaining finalist is a group of people - the Black Lives Matter activists. 

While the Person of the Year will be decided by the Time magazine editors, readers are being asked their vote on NBC's website.  

Like in the presidential campaign polls, Donald Trump was the leader as of early Monday afternoon, followed by the Black Lives Matter movement, Merkel, Putin, Kalanick, Jenner (tied for sixth place), al-Baghdadi (tied for sixth place), and Rouhani. 

Trump has been a dominant force in the news this year, as he has surged forward in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination. 

Merkel, meanwhile, has helped the European Union tackle the Eurozone crisis and has led the way in opening her country for settlement to the Syrian refugees. 

Al-Baghdadi is one of the main reasons these millions of moderate Muslims have been fleeing Syria, which has been plunged back into the Middle Ages by the caliphate's extremist regime. 

But there is also a new hope in the Middle East as well, in the form of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. 

For the first time in decades, Iran is beginning to open up to the outside world thanks to Rouhani's work brokering a deal to end the country's nuclear program. 

Vladimir Putin makes the list again, after winning the cover in 2007. The Russian president has been at odds with the the United States over the Ukranian conflict, while also joining the coalition of nations bombing ISIS in Syria. 

Caitlyn Jenner makes it on the shortlist this year, after coming out as transgender in an emotional interview with Diane Sawyer. 

Meanwhile, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick gets a nomination for the way his company has revolutionized the way Americans travel. The ride-share app has swept the country, but not without controversy in some cities over the way it has overhauled the former taxi industries. 

The Black Lives Matter activists have started a new civil rights era in the U.S., refusing to let racial injustices be swept under the rug.  

Time magazine has published a Person of the Year issue every year since 1927, when aviator Charles Lindberg was made cover man. 

Throughout the years, figures both beloved and hated have made the cover from Adolf Hitler in 1938 to Martin Luther King Jr in 1963. 

Last year's award was given to the brave doctors and nurses treating Ebola patients in Africa.   

In recent years, Person of the Year has rarely gone to controversial figures, since covers featuring reviled persons such as Osama bin Laden sell poorly in the American news market. 

Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the editors explained that the al Qaeda leader was the dominant force making news of that year, but gave the award to then New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani instead as a symbol of America's response to the massacre.