Our readers have proven once again they are a passionate lot, by voting the Dallas skyline into first place in our USA TODAY Readers' Choice contest for Best International Skyline.  

The highly recognizable cityscape - regularly featured in the 1980s hit series   'Dallas' and other more recent reality shows - took a strong majority of votes, despite stiff competition from #2 finisher Chicago.   

In recent years, Dallas has added colorful interactive lighting to its skyline, giving it 8 extra hours per day to impress travelers.   Nighttime flights into DFW - one of the nation's busiest airports - often give passengers a memorable view of what has become an extravaganza.  (An early adapter to colorful nighttime lighting of a downtown was Albuquerque, New Mexico).  

All 20 nominations were made by a panel of practicing architects, and readers were given four weeks to vote.   This is not the first win for the Lone Star State.   Texas also took #1 for its 'Big Tex' statue in our Best Quirky Landmark contest.   

Readers ensured all but one of the American nominees made the winners' list, shutting out many respected overseas metros.  

The full list of winners in the 'Best International Skyline' contest category for 10Best Readers' Choice is as follows: