This year was quite the year for pop culture. In 2013, we loved, we hated, we watched celebrities make comebacks, our favourite bands of the early 2000s reunited, and all kinds of weirdness went down. So much happened, it's hard to remember it all!
I sifted through all the major pop culture moments of 2013 and found the top five that made this year so memorable.
5. Kimye
"Kimye?" you ask. "They are so 2012." You might be right, but Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were the pop culture power couple of 2013. Kim started the year off pregnant and made headlines through the first part of the year with her interesting choices of maternity attire (remember the horrific Met Gala dress?). Then, she gave birth to a baby girl and she and Kanye decided to name the baby North. Yup, North West is her actual name. Later in the year, Kanye rented out a stadium and proposed to Kim in front of a 50-piece orchestra. Oh yeah, and Yeezus was a thing too.
4. Batfleck
It was announced in September that Ben Affleck will be the next Batman. He'll be taking over the role of the Caped Crusader from Christian Bale in a reboot of the series. Needless to say, the world had some pretty intense feelings about this announcement. Social media blew up in a rage over Ben's new role, but Ben himself seemed to let it all roll off his shoulders. Shall I remind you all of how the world reacted when it was announced Health Ledger would play the Joker in The Dark Knight? Let's just pretend that Daredevil never happened and give the guy a chance.
3. *NSync Reunited
Number three on this list, but number one in our hearts. Justin Timberlake received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards this year. He celebrated with a 15-minute long performance of some of his biggest hits. To help him out, his former *NSync bandmates Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass and JC Chasez joined him for a long-awaited (albeit short) reunion. They performed a medley of their hits "Girlfriend" and "Bye Bye Bye." It was the best two minutes (I'm rounding up here) of all our lives.
Honorable Mention: Justin Timberlake surprised fans early in the year when he announced that he would be releasing a new album, his first in almost seven years. JT fans everywhere went into a frenzy. In March he released The 20/20 Experience and co-headlined a summer stadium tour with Jay Z. In September he released The 20/20 Experience Part 2 and later in the year embarked on a world tour. Yup, JT is back.
2. Beyonce Released a Surprise Album
No one does it quite like Beyonce. Fans of the singer waited all year for an album that seemed to just be getting postponed over and over again. At the end of the year, she did something only a gal like Beyonce can. She released a surprise self-titled album that includes 14 tracks and (because she's Beyonce) the album was accompanied by music videos for each of her songs. That's right, she not only released a surprise album, it was also a visual album. Needless to say, Beyonce will continue ruling the world in 2014.
Honorable Mention: Beyonce performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which is perhaps one of the best televised live performances any of us had seen in a very long time. Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams joined her on the field for a surprise Destiny's Child reunion, performing "Bootylicious," "Independent Women," and "Single Ladies."
1. Miley Cyrus
There wasn't just one defining moment for Miley Cyrus in 2013, there were many. So, I'm considering Miley Cyrus's life as one giant moment of 2013. She's made it to No. 1 on this list because she completely reinvented herself this year. A new haircut, new style, and new musical tastes, Miley basically showed the world that Hannah Montana is dead and won't be rising from her grave anytime soon. In June, she released the music video for the first single off her album Bangerz. In "We Won't Stop" Miley is seen doing all kinds of weird things, including making out with a doll version of herself and a whole lot of twerking. In August, she took the stage with Robin Thicke at the MTV VMAs, where she wore a weird onesie, twerked on her co-performer, and licked a foam finger. Some loved it, some hated it, but we all watched agog to see what she would do next. In September, Miley released the video for her second single "Wrecking Ball." In the video, she gets pretty emotional while riding an actual wrecking ball completely naked. It made for some entertaining gag videos toward the end of the year. Oh, and she got naked a bunch of times, lit up a joint on stage at an awards show, broke up with her super hot fiance Liam Hemsworth, and became the most talked about celebrity of the year. Whether you love her, or love to hate her, you can't deny that Miley won 2013.
MORE: THE TOP CELEBRITY SCANDALS OF 2013
