Celebrity Women & Models

These are the ladies who have dominated the 2008 headlines — with more to come in the next few days.
By James Montgomery

Beyoncé
Photo: Getty Images

Who was the biggest star of 2008? Who had the most impact on the year that was, who inspired the most headlines or generated the biggest amount of buzz? It's really tough to say ... yet, for decades now, plenty of magazines have been doing just that (we're looking at you, Time). And so, after years of sitting on the sidelines, we here at MTV News have decided to get in on the act too.

Over the next few days, we'll be unveiling our list of the most fascinating, controversial and, well, BRITNEY!!! women of the year. These are the artists, actors and pop-culture heavyweights who dominated the headlines here at MTVNews.com (and no, Sarah Palin didn't make the cut ... we'll leave that to the folks at Time).

Today, we present picks 10 to 6. On Tuesday, we'll reveal numbers 5 to 2. And then, on Thursday, we'll unveil our 2008 MTV News Woman of the Year. And, of course, we'd love to hear what you've got to say — we'll even publish some of the best comments later this week — so if you agree with us (or if you don't), let us know in the comments below.

(For our first list of picks for the Top 10 Men of the Year, click here.)

And now, let the debate begin ...

10. Beyoncé

2008 Highlights: Spent the majority of the year putting the finishing touches on her much-discussed double-album, I Am ... Sasha Fierce ... Played legendary blues singer Etta James in "Cadillac Records" ... Married longtime beau Jay-Z ... Applauded by PETA for her fur-free outfits ... Released a pair of singles, "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," the latter of which ended up being our second-best song of 2008 ... Donated $100,000 to victims of Hurricane Ike ... Volunteered her services for Barack Obama's inauguration ... Snagged her third-consecutive #1 album, selling more than 482,000 copies of I Am in one week ... Parodied the "Single Ladies" video to hilarious effect on "Saturday Night Live" ... Landed a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. To anyone else, this is a lifetime's worth of résumé fodder. To B, it was just another year.

9. Hayley Williams

2008 Highlights: Penned a cryptic blog post that kicked off rumors that she and her band, Paramore, were calling it quits ... Addressed those rumors (and whispers that she was pregnant) in an equally cryptic blog post that used the phrase "My Eggo is not preggo" less than 24 hours later ... Sat down with MTV News for an "everything's fine" interview in Austin, Texas, during South by Southwest ... Defended "family friend" Miley Cyrus ... Played the Warped Tour ... Battled her stepfather over unscrupulous eBaying ... Got (then later removed) bull-ring piercing in septum ... Admired by John Mayer ... Performed in a virtual Whisky A Go Go during the MTV Video Music Awards ... Contributed a pair of songs to the "Twilight" soundtrack ... Copped to being a huge "Twilight" fan and a member of Team Jacob ... Began work on new Paramore album ... Is seriously, like, 4 feet tall.

8. Rihanna

2008 Highlights: Won her first-ever Grammy in early February ... Followed up on that momentum by landing an opening slot on Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour ... Re-released her hugely successful Good Girl Gone Bad album with the hugely successful single "Take a Bow" ... Denied reports that she and Chris Brown were an item (despite mounting evidence to the contrary) ... Performed a freaky version of "Disturbia" (another one of her hugely successful singles) at the Video Music Awards ... Collapsed onstage in Australia while performing a duet with Brown, sparking rumors she was pregnant ... Inspired a fan revolt when none of the aforementioned "hugely successful singles" are named in James Montgomery's Best Songs of 2008 list ... Did, at some juncture during the year, get a fairly awesome neck tattoo.

7. Aubrey O'Day

2008 Highlights: Rolled into the year fresh off reports that she was leaving Danity Kane to join the Pussycat Dolls ... Appeared to put all the drama behind her when DK's Welcome to the Dollhouse debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts ... Launched DK/Day26 tour in May ... Landed the role of Amber Von Tussle in the Broadway version of "Hairspray," which causes her to miss Danity Kane's appearance on "FNMTV" ... Boasted about her breasts during an interview with former WWE announcer Paul Heyman ... Shot a rather eye-opening photo spread for Complex magazine ... Booted from Danity Kane during live finale of MTV's "Making the Band" due to concerns over her "image" and despite the fact she was one of only two interesting members in the group ... Reportedly posed for Playboy ... May have had the most turbulent 12 months of anyone not named " Britney Spears" or "Amy Winehouse."

6: Sasha Fierce

2008 Highlights: Created by Beyoncé as a marketing tool/ psychological id for her I Am ... Sasha Fierce album ... Despite being completely fictional, may actually be more interesting than the actual Beyoncé ... Starred in the "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" video, which managed to "out-crazy even 'Ring the Alarm' " ... Definitive proof that Beyoncé is nuts ... Signified by a futuristic metallic glove worn on the left hand ... Is probably steampunk ... Quite possibly the most interesting alter-ego ever created by a musical superstar (sorry, Chris Gaines).

We'll be rolling out our Top 10 Men and Women of the Year all week! Today you've got 10 through 6, tomorrow you'll see 5 through 2, on Wednesday we'll be recapping your reactions and opinions, and on Thursday the winners will be revealed! Who do you think the Man and Woman of the Year should be? Tell us now!

Related Videos

• MTV News' Women And Men Of The Year

Related Photos

• MTV News' 2008 Men And Women Of The Year

Related Artists

• Britney Spears
• Beyoncé

Tags: amy winehouse, barack, Britney Spears, chris brown, drama, fiction, hurricane, john mayer, Love, married, miley cyrus, Music, music awards, obama, photos, pregnant, Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, sarah palin

Apparently Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer are giving their romance another go. You’re likely to read multiple versions of this rekindling and the tales will get crazier by the day, again! For now the pair reportedly first met up Friday in Boston to attend a Ray LaMontagne concert, a rather public date

Tags: jennifer aniston, john mayer

Talk about bad luck in relationships!

According to several sources, Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer have called off their relationship.  Sources were quoted as saying “They had a great time together but they are just in different places in their lives right now.”

And I had such high hopes for them.

Although, there may be hope after all - we all know that John Mayer tends to go back time and again to his women.  Maybe, just maybe he’ll go back to Jen and stay put.

(image: newscom)

Share This

Tags: jennifer aniston, john mayer, Pictures

John Mayer did an intimate performance at Spotlight Live in Times Square, New York City last night for z100’s Lounge. Performances included “Say,” “Belief,” “Waiting on the World to Change,” as well as a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” Here’s his acoustic version of “Free Fallin’”. It’s actually pretty good:

Tags: Free Fallin', John Mayer, John Mayer Live, John Mayer Music, NYC, Say, Spotlight Live, Times Square, Tom Petty, Tom Petty Covers, Waiting On the World To Change, z100

Share This

Tags: john mayer, Music

John Mayer did an intimate performance at Spotlight Live in Times Square, New York City last night for z100’s Lounge. Performances included “Say,” “Belief,” “Waiting on the World to Change,” as well as a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” Here’s “Say”:

Tags: Free Fallin', John Mayer, John Mayer Live, John Mayer Music, NYC, Say, Spotlight Live, Times Square, Tom Petty, Waiting On the World To Change, z100

Share This

Tags: john mayer, Music

I’m sure this little news story:

didn’t make Jessica Simpson too happy. It’s difficult enough when your relationship (on again or off again as it may be) is uncertain, but when your ex is living the high life with a new tartlet? Ouch.

Tags: celebrity couples, celebrity hook ups, dated, ex boyfriend, gossip, jennifer aniston, jessica simpson's ex, john mayer, kissing, video

Share This

Tags: boyfriend, jennifer aniston, Jessica Simpson, john mayer

Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer continued to fly under the Hollywood Hookup radar when the actress reportedly slipped unnoticed  into the musician’s backstage area at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London’s Hyde Park, Aniston stood quietly in the wings while the “Georgia Calling” singer completed a 45-minute set in front thousands of fans.

People has the scoop and the pics!

Share This

Tags: hollywood, jennifer aniston, john mayer, Music

Jessica Simpson has had her share of ups and downs lately when it comes to love. She got divorced from her first love Nick, got her heart broken from John, and still doesn’t know what’s going on with her man Tony.

But every person we date teaches us something. The more we learn, the better able we are to find the right person.

Here are a few lessons Jessica Simpson has learned (at least we hope she has.)

Image details: MET Costume Institute Benefit Gala Presents "Poiret: King Of Fashion" served by picapp.com

1.) Don’t change who you are to get a guy to like you more.
All we need to do is see Jessica with dark hair to understand how badly she wanted to change for John Mayer. He wanted a less dramatic babe who he could have a great conversation with, and yet would not take ten hours getting ready to go out. Trouble is, that’s not Jess. When John asked, “I wonder what you’d look like as a brunette” Jessica should have said, “Like your ex-girlfriend.”

Image details: MTV TRL: Jessica Simpson served by picapp.com

2.) Getting back with someone out of lonliness will never lead to a happy ending.
When Nick and Jess first dated she was very young and felt like she needed to see the world and date more people before she could commit fully to Nick. The problem is, she got lonely, called up Nick and said she wanted to get back together because - gosh - being single was no fun. If she’d have stuck it out, she might have learned a thing or two about herself and saw the differences between her and Nick. Instead, her lonliness lead to a marriage that probably should have never happened.

Image used with permission from Newscom.

3.) Remaining humble will help you appreciate the things that are real in your life.

When Jess was in Dukes of Hazzard she thought she was going to be a big time star. She starred in more commercials, she had a sleezy hit video, and she was in a movie with a couple of hunky guys. One of those guys, it was rumored, she dallied with while doing the movie. Everything in her life was netting more money and more attention. Perhaps that’s why she suddenly wanted out of her marriage to Nick. She forgot that Nick was genuine, and fame is fleeting.

Image used with permission from Newscom.

4.) Leave and cleave.
That means the next time you get married no reality TV cameras, not butt-insky dad, and no putting hubby behind career.

Image from splashnewsonline.com.

5.) Don’t stalk your man and just “hang around.”
No guy likes a girlfriend who is always there. Have a life. Balance the time you spend with your man versus what you do elsewhere. Sing. Act. Do something besides push hair products and go out for dinner. No matter how beautiful you are, you’ll hold a man’s interest if you aren’t an interesting person.

Tags: break ups, celebrity couples, celebrity love life, ex's, how to date, how to find a long term relationship, Jessica Simpson, john mayer, nick lachey, tony romo

Share This

Tags: commercial, divorce, drama, fashion, Girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, john mayer, Love, marriage, married

It’s rumored that Jessica Simpson was drowning her sorrors over the fact that John Mayer is now dating Jennifer Aniston. Which personally, I can’t believe. John’s a catch, no doubt about it, but is he really the guy for Jess? No way. And Jess has to know that.

Wonder if Jessica knew John was a photographer. I sure didn’t. Here he is earlier this week coming out of Samy’s Camera in West Hollywood with two Canon camera lenses in his bag. Buzzfoto also says he charged a fan ten dollars to take a picture with him.

What a schmuck!

Image from buzzfoto.

Tags: celebrity couples, celebrity sightings, charging for an autograph, crabby celebrities, ex's, former couples, Jessica Simpson, john mayer

Share This

Tags: dating, dj, hollywood, jennifer aniston, Jessica Simpson, john mayer, rap

Image details: Jessica Simpson Visits Macy’s Herald Square served by picapp.com

Jessica Simpson has had happier times. Lately her sister is getting all the attention while Jess can’t seem to keep her love life or career together.

Here are just a few reasons why it sucks to be Jessica Simpson right now.

1) Ashlee Simpson has a new album and new marriage while Jess sits on the sidelines.

Image details: Cond? Nast Traveler Celebrates Its 8th Annual Hot List Party - Arrivals served by picapp.com

Like every pair of sisters, the Simpsons have a bit of sibling rivalry. But unlike most sisters, Jessica was always the one that got most of the attention from her parents. Now, suddenly Ashlee is front and center, making headlines with her music and personal life, while Jess has to struggle to get her on and off boyfriend to even take her to Ashlee’s wedding.

.

2.) Jessica has been labeled a jinx and a bad influence for Tony Romo.

Image details: Dallas Cowboys v Washington Redskins served by picapp.com

It’s bad enough when your boyfriend’s friends don’t like you, but when thousands of fans have it out for you? When your mere presence at the game makes fans groan with disgust? That’s not fun.

.

3.) Ashlee Simpson has beat out Jess in a hotness poll.

For years Ashlee was the cute little sister, while Jessica was the babe. No matter what was happening in Jessica’s life, she could always rely on the fact that at least she got more attention for her looks. And she worked it. This year, however, Ashlee ranked much higher in Maxim’s Hot 100 list than Jessica. When you’ve depended on your looks your whole life, as Jessica has, that’s got to hurt.
Image from splashnewsonline.com

.

4.) Jessica’s ex has moved on.

Getting over someone you cared about is hard enough, but when your ex has moved on? That’s especially hard. It’s no wonder Jessica was rumored to be drowning her sorrows with booze after hearing John Mayer had found love again with Jen Aniston.
Image from splashnewsonline.com

.

5.) Jessica’s love life is in the crapper.

Image details: Just Cavalli Flagship Launch Party served by picapp.com

Her romance with Tony Romo has been on again/off again for months. They break up for a short time and then immediately get back together. But even if they reconcile after this latest argument, it’s bound to only be for a short time. Tony is obviously not the one for Jess. But who is? Jessica has been struggling with love since she divorced Nick Lachey. She’s probably wondering the same thing we all are. When will cupid find her again?

Tags: Ashlee Simpson, celebrity break ups, celebrity couples, come back, Jessica Simpson, john mayer, rivalry, tony romo, turning your life around

Share This

Tags: boyfriend, divorce, football, Girlfriend, Jessica Simpson, john mayer, Love, marriage, Music, parents, rap, sports