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!

• MTV News' Women And Men Of The Year

• MTV News' 2008 Men And Women Of The Year

• Britney Spears
• Beyoncé

You may want to think twice before Googling Jessica Alba’s name again. According to a recent research conducted by Internet security company McAfee, Alba is ranked among “The 15 most dangerous celebrities to search for on the Web”.

Jessica ranked #6 with “Red-ranked risky sites were identified when searching for “Jessica Alba” and “Jessica Alba downloads.” The sites contained hundreds of malicious downloads, links to other bad sites, misleading offers to gather information, and a high number of spam emails when an email address was provided.”

The full list includes:

1 Brad Pitt
2 Beyoncé
3 Justin Timberlake
4 Heidi Montag
5 Mariah Carey
6 Jessica Alba
7 Lindsay Lohan
8 Cameron Diaz
9 George Clooney, Rihanna
11 Angelina Jolie
12 Fergie
13 David Beckham, Katie Holmes
15 Katherine Heigl

Looks like it is no longer only porn that can get there diseases into your computer so better beware.

Share This

The infamous Good Girl Gone Bad has been swooped up by Circuit City to star in its new back to school campaign.

Rihanna signed a deal with the electronics retail chain to be the face and sound of new ads that will begin running next week, reports Billboard.com. Commercials will include her latest single “Disturbia” along with clips from the music video, while her image will be featured in online ads for the Richmond Va.-based company.

In addition, a mobile offering, available on circuitcity.com, will let users download a free voice tone of the singer and exclusive wallpaper images. Rihanna will also participate in an online chat on Aug. 20.

“This time tends to be a stressful time for parents. The idea of leveraging technology to stay in touch with friends and family while away at school is in line with how Rihanna does things on her tours.”

-Troy Yenser, category marketing manager, Circuit City.

Image provided by NewsCom

Share This

Unfortunately B5Media as made a decision to close the operation of RihannaBuff.com. It was fun while it lasted following the pop star rise of Rihanna. To keep up with Rihanna, check out some of the other sites listed on the Blog Roll.

I’ll miss you all! 

Share This

Bid Now for Autographed Rihanna GRAMMY Memorabilia

This post card is one of a limited edition series to commemorate the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Each card features a black and white photo of a GRAMMY Award nominated or winning artist as well as information regarding their GRAMMY history. The card also features the official GRAMMY logo in gold. This particular card was autographed backstage during rehearsals and show day of the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards held on February 10, 2008 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The card has been framed so that both the front and back sides of the card can be seen. Bid now on this piece of GRAMMY history!

Bid now on an exclusive piece of GRAMMY® memorabilia autographed by Rihanna! It’s part of the GRAMMY Charity Online Auctions July sale benefiting The GRAMMY Foundation® and MusiCares®. Auction runs now through July 31, so place your bids today by entering the auction at www.ebay.com/grammy.

Share This

Check out a quick behind the scenes look of Rihanna’s newest video for ‘Disturbia.’ The ground breaking video for ‘Disturbia” debuted on MTV’s TRL and BET’s 106 and Park on Thursday, July 24th and on VH1 on Saturday, July 26th. She will have a Yahoo! Music Page Feature on July 24th and AOL Popeater main page feature on July 25th. In addition, Circuit City will kick off their national back to school campaign with the new single, “Disturbia.” Circuit City is marketing the partnership with TV spots, weekly Circuit City circulars, online and mobile interactivity. Source: Def Jam

Share This

Above: Rihanna at 2006 Fashion Rocks

Fergie must have never heard the old adage about not repeating the same fashion — because she’s set to perform at Condé Nast’s Fashion Rocks for the third year running this fall.

Fergie Ferg won’t be the only repeat offender. The Black Eyed Peas, who joined her on one song two years ago, will also headline along with Beyoncé, who headlined in 2006 too.

Also coming back to the Fashion Rocks stage are Mariah Carey (who headlined in 2005) and Rihanna (who performed with Elton John in 2006). But this year’s show will have some new energy from the likes of Justin Timberlake, Duffy, Chris Brown and Lil Wayne for the event’s fifth anniversary. Keith Urban and Kid Rock are also on the bill.

The concert will take place September 5 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and will be taped as a two-hour program to air four nights later, September 9, on CBS. Proceeds from the event will benefit Stand Up to Cancer.

Source: MTV

Image provided by SplashNewsOnline

Share This

It is disturbing! Dave LaChapelle is known for his ability to push the envelope and be daring so I’m not surprised at all. It works with the song, she looks damn disturbed with the blonde wig and white eyes. Freaky! 2 snap for you… I like it though, her videos have been very well done, so this adds to a nice collection of visuals for her album. Baby girl just can’t seem to do much wrong in the pop scene right now, she making that money, becoming a little modern day Madonna. At this point, all I can say ‘Girl, you betta work!’

Share This

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on madonna
• Katy Perry Does Madonna for the VMAs

• Related Blogs on premiere
• Who wore what at “The Women” Premiere

• Related Blogs on Rihanna
• New candids in New York - September 4
• How well does Rihanna know Chris Brown?
• Rihanna ‘Shut Up and Drive’ Video + Climate Change Pop-Ups
• Rihanna at Royal Music Hall in New York (September 2, 2008)

Thank goodness for technology! If you aren’t in Italy and were unable to watch Rihanna on MTV’s Mobile Bang, no fear Dailymotion is here. LOL. You can watch all four parts of her performance of her hits “Umbrella” to “Breaking Dishes.”

She was so energetic! You can catch parts three through four after the jump!

Share This

Rihanna, headlined the MTV Mobile Bang Concert which took place in Milan, Italy on Tuesday. The singer performed in a black zip-up jumpsuit as she entertained the Italian audience dancing on her hits “Umbrella” and “Breakin’ Dishes.”

Rihanna was also spotted in Milan shopping with the girls… The girl can shop can’t she?

Share This