Celebs in the News: Justin Bieber Is MTV News' #3 Man Of The Year

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Justin Bieber Is MTV News' #3 Man Of The Year

In 2010, the pop star cleans up at awards shows, causes worldwide pandemonium — and turns 16.
By Jocelyn Vena

Justin Bieber
Photo: Michael Caulfield/AMA2010/Getty/DCP

Justin Bieber seemingly did it all in 2010. He sold out concerts, filmed a movie, released two albums and set girls hearts aflutter — all in the span of 12 months. Not only is he arguably the biggest pop star in the world, he's also pals with some of hip-hop's biggest names (just ask Drake, Ludacris and Kanye West if you don't believe us), and he chills with some of the prettiest girls in the game thanks to friendships with ladies like Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez.

(They're more than just pretty faces, but you can still check out photos of our Men and Women of 2010!)

This really is Justin Bieber's world, and we're all just living in it. For a kid from a small town in Canada, Bieber's meteoric rise to fame from Internet sensation to bona fide musical superstar may have seemed fast, but let's face it: Bieber is the real deal.

2010 Highlights: Justin Bieber kicked off 2010 with his smash single "Baby." He also showed his charitable side appearing on BET's "SOS: Help for Haiti" telethon and lending his voice to the "We Are the World" remake. He was also a presenter at the Grammy Awards alongside Ke$ha.

Bieber then went bowling with Drake and Ludacris in his "Baby" video and would later date the clip's leading lady, Jasmine Villegas. In February, Justin caused hysteria in Paris during a trip to Europe, and then in March, he turned sweet 16, collaborated with Sean Kingston on the track "Eeenie Meenie" and had Aziz Ansari mock him in a Funny or Die clip he thought was "hilarious." He also released his sophomore album, My World 2.0, which he promised would be "a lot of fun."

Bieber became the subject of his own "Diary" special in late March, released his video for "Never Let You Go" and made an appearance at the Teen Choice Awards. He kicked off April by taking over Funny or Die, where he joked, "I'm a star. I do what stars do. I ride on yachts. I autograph lady lumps."

That same month, Bieber once again showed his funny side on "Saturday Night Live," where he was the night's musical guest. He sat down with MTV News and thanked his fans for making him a constant Twitter trend.

He shook up New Zealand and Australia, causing more fan hysteria, and by May, his fans were threatening the life of Kim Kardashian just for taking a Twitpic with him! In June, he hooked up with Jaden Smith for the "Karate Kid" track "Never Say Never." He was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards and hung out with his mentor Usher in the "Somebody to Love" video. That same month, Bieber was a big winner at the Much Music Awards and kicked off his first-ever headlining tour.

The second half of 2010 was just as busy for the star. In July, he and Lady Gaga battled it out for YouTube supremacy and announced he'd be on "CSI" and releasing a book. (He followed through on all those promises by year's end.) By the end of August, Kanye West's remix of "Runaway Love" hit the world, and it was announced that Bieber would be performing at the VMAs. He also filmed the concert portions of his 3-D movie at Madison Square Garden.

JB hit the stage at the VMAs in September and even took home his first-ever Moonman. At the show, he shared with MTV News that "girlfriends are trouble." He made his cameo on "CSI" and premiered his video for "U Smile," and then in October, he revealed the name of his 3-D flick — "Never Say Never" — as well as the first trailer for the movie.

In November, he released his book and his My Worlds Acoustic album and took home a few American Music Awards. And that brings us to December, when he sat down with Barbara Walters, made Google's Zeitgeist list and went out for pancakes with Selena Gomez.

If doing all that in 12 months isn't reason enough to make Justin Bieber our #3 Man of the Year, then we're not sure what can.

We'll be rolling out our Top Five Men and Women of 2010 all week, until we unveil MTV News' Man and Woman of the Year on Friday. As always, we want to know what you think, so share your picks in the comments below!

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