With all due respect to Sandra Bullock, Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Melissa McCarthy and many, many other fascinating women in the celebrity-news spotlight this past year, here at Us Weekly, four boldfaced ladies dominated the headlines throughout much of 2013 — and each of them for wildly different reasons.
Jennifer Lawrence began and ended 2013 with a bang. At just 23 years old, the unfailingly likable, wacky (and mega-talented!) actress kicked off the year grabbing nearly every single acting trophy of the film awards season for her work in the Silver Linings Playbook, even as she shrugged off a seeming wardrobe malfunction at the SAG Awards and a total face plant at the Academy Awards. She popped back up on everyone’s radar screens this fall to promote both the gargantuan Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire and smaller prestige project American Hustle — which, some predict, could earn her yet another Academy Award nomination, and perhaps even a win. Also in the stunning star’s favor? An on-again romance with love Nicholas Hoult, a talked-about pixie makeover and her LOL-worthy penchant to overshare (gastrointestinal issues and sex toys, anyone?).
Where in the twerkin’ world to begin with Miley Cyrus? Love or hate her (or both), the now-21-year-old was utterly unavoidable in 2013. After several years of aggressively shaking off (stripping off!) her sweet, Disney-made Hannah Montana persona, the former child star definitely fulfilled her threats to remake herself and steal the spotlight — and at the MTV Video Music Awards this past August, she made afterthoughts out of the likes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and her idol Britney Spears with a generation-defining, foam-finger-shaking performance with Robin Thicke. The obsessive Twitter devotee followed up her raunchy “We Can’t Stop” video with an emotional, totally naked “Wrecking Ball” video, more shocking photo shoots — not to mention a breakup with fiancé Liam Hemsworth and, oh yeah, rave reviews and blockbuster sales for her fourth studio album, Bangerz.
Well, duh. Reality TV’s biggest star, Kim Kardashian, threatened to break the internet multiple times over the past year — beginning on January 1, when her boyfriend Kanye West announced that she was pregnant with their first child together. What followed was one of the most talked-about and scrutinized celebrity pregnancies in recent memory (and there have been a lot!). Then came the June 2012 birth (five weeks premature) of their little one, North “Nori” West, who took a long, long time (by Kardashian-Jenner standards) to make her debut. Two kickers came in the fall: West’s over-the-top (of course) proposal at a baseball stadium in October — and Kardashian’s post-baby body reveals in a skimpy one-piece (biggest selfie ever) and in a two-piece bikini on the cover of Us Weekly.
Bow down. No, really, bow down! Now over two years into her royal role as the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton reached an exciting new phase: Motherhood! After announcing her pregnancy in late 2012, Prince William‘s wife, 31, overcame first-trimester morning sickness to enjoy a radiant pregnancy. She finally gave birth to Prince George Alexander Louis (England’s future king!) in July — and was back to her svelte, glamorous self in record time.
Tell Us: Which woman captivated you most in 2013?
