Pete Wentz: 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. 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 Man 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 MEN 10. Pete Wentz 2008 Highlights: Threw a Barack Obama fundraiser in his hometown of Chicago, complete with PBR and free "Frogger" ... Insisted that much of the film "Cloverfield" was based on Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High album ... Boycotted the Grammy awards (and later reviewed them for MTV News) ... Marched on Washington ... Appeared in Jimmy Kimmel's "I'm F---ing Ben Affleck" video, alongside Huey Lewis and Brad Pitt ... Mocked the Amish in the film "Sex Drive" ... Attempted to set a world record by playing a gig at a research facility in Antarctica (an attempt that ultimately proved unsuccessful) ... Announced engagement to Ashlee Simpson via blog post ... Denied (then later admitted) that Simpson was pregnant ... Married Simpson in a private ceremony at her parents' house ... Hosted "FNMTV" ... Launched a viral campaign in support of new album Folie à Deux that was subsequently hijacked by rock act Copeland ... Revealed that he owes his creation to VP-elect Joe Biden ... Raged when Folie was pushed back to a December release by FOB's label ... Attempted to set another world record for doing the most interviews in a 24-hour span ... Named his son Bronx Mowgli Wentz ... Got back to the business of being in a band. Seriously, how is he not MTV News' Man of the Year? 9. T.I. 2008 Highlights: Entered the year on a down note, after being arrested on a variety of weapons charges ... Spent his house arrest working on his album Paper Trail, which he hoped to have in stores sometime in 2008 ... Addressed a crowd of 30,000 in an Atlanta Baptist church during Easter services ... Pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges as part of a deal that could send him to jail for a year ... Also sentenced to perform 1,000 hours of community service ... Released the incendiary first single from Paper Trail, "No Matter What," which called out his newest rival, rapper Shawty Lo, by name ... Named #10 on MTV News'"Hottest MCs in the Game" list ... Returned to the stage with a fiery 90-minute performance in Washington, D.C. ... Nabbed his third-straight #1 debut, when Paper Trail sold more than 568,000 copies ... Watched as members of his camp brawled with members of Shawty's at the Dirty Awards in Atlanta ... Simultaneously held the #1 and #2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart ... Closed 2008 with the specter of beginning his jail sentence in March. 8. T-Pain 2008 Highlights: Announced his desire to collaborate with, um, Toby Keith and Fred Durst on his upcoming Thr33 Ringz album ... Joined forces with Lil Wayne to record an album that will presumably never see the light of day ... Premiered Thr33 Ringz at a circus-themed listening party in NYC ... Never appeared in public without a Wonka-esque top hat on his head ... Turned a gospel song into a boozy ode to tequila ... Arrived at the Video Music Awards atop an elephant ... Filled in for Katt Williams as host of the BET Hip-Hop Awards after Williams goes missing ... Joined forces with Nelly, Akon and Pharrell to record another album that will presumably never see the light of day ... Maintained that he — and he alone — be allowed to use the Auto-Tune vocal effect in songs and called for his fellow artists to put an end to their Tune-filled madness, unless they are prepared to pay him royalties. Please read that last sentence again and tell us why Pain shouldn't be Man of the Year. 7. Nick Jonas 2008 Highlights: Dated — then split with — fellow pop star Miley Cyrus ... Inspired much of Cyrus' Breakout album, including venomous first single "7 Things" ... Also inspired Cyrus to give the following quote to Seventeen magazine: "When we were dating, Nick wanted me to get highlights — and so I did that, and I got myself looking great" ... Moved on to romancing another pop star, Selena Gomez ... Told "TRL" audience members that he likes girls who are "good to their moms" ... Encouraged kids to go outside and play during a trip to the White House ... Immortalized in wax ... Beefed (sort of) with Video Music Awards host Russell Brand ... Celebrated first-ever Grammy nom with "a big fist pump" ... Has diabetes ... Is by far the second-most interesting Jonas Brother. 6. Bill Kaulitz 2008 Highlights: Maintained his epically spiked plumage and remarkable, porcelain-like complexion for the entirety of the year ... Haunted our dreams and tricked fans into singing in German ... Took over Times Square and confessed his love for David Hasselhoff ... Released his band's first English-language album, Scream ... Gave an interview dressed in what appeared to be Michael Jackson's jacket from the "Thriller" video ... Arrived at the Video Music Awards atop a supercharged monster truck ... Immortalized in wax ... Professed his love for American Halloween candy (but not warheads) ... Got new tattoos ... Inspired a level of devotion from his fans that was both shocking and frightening. 5. Robert Downey Jr.2008 Highlights: Starred in a pair of movies you probably heard of this year — "Iron Man" and "Tropic Thunder" — and when we say "starred in," we really mean "totally, 100 percent outshone everything else to the point where it bordered on being ridiculous" ... Combined, "Iron Man" and "Thunder" grossed more than $420 million domestically ... Kicked Jack Black's ass in a viral video, something most of us have fantasized about doing for years now ... Was totally the coolest mofo backstage at the MTV Movie Awards ... Named "Actor We're Most Thankful For" by the MTV Movies brain trust ... Tapped to play Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's upcoming take on the literary detective ... Also onboard for "Iron Man 2" and "The Avengers" ... Landed a Golden Globe nom for his turn as "the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude" in "Thunder" ... Will probably also get an Oscar nod for the role ... Has seen (and probably done) sh-- that would turn your soul blue and is even more awesome because of this. 4. Robert Pattison2008 Highlights: Starred as Edward Cullen in a little movie by the name of "Twilight," which bowed in November to record receipts and mass hysteria ... Mobbed by fans at Comic-Con in San Diego ... Sang a pair of songs on the "Twilight" soundtrack ... Temporarily lost his hearing at the "Twilight" premiere in Hollywood ... Invited "Twilight" fans to hurl themselves at him ... Subject of innumerable bits of fan fiction too risqué and/or disturbing to reprint here ... Has amazing hair ... Quite possibly stole actress Camilla Belle away from Joe Jonas ... Will play artist Salvador Dalí in next year's "Little Ashes" ... Is so pale and brooding he might actually be a vampire. 3. Joe Jonas2008 Highlights: Established himself not just as the prettiest Jonas Brother, but also the de facto "Ladies Man" of the group ... Defended Miley Cyrus during the height of "Mileygate" ... Misled millions of Jonas fans during an episode of "FNMTV," when he denied owning a Care Bears pillow ... Immortalized in wax, met Derek Jeter, all in the same week ... Dated burgeoning teen queen Taylor Swift ... Met Britney Spears backstage at the 2008 Video Music Awards and copped to owning her album ... Wore an amazing captain's hat in public ... Reportedly broke up with Swift over the phone and moved on to actress (and star of the JBs'"Lovebug" video) Camilla Belle with the quickness ... Subjected to a media assault unlike any the world as seen by Swift in the months following their breakup ... Responded to Swift's salvos with an extremely polite blog entry that never actually mentioned her by name ... Possibly lost Belle to "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson ... Should probably be worried about this ... Has eyebrows that could unfurl and hurt bystanders at any moment, yet still Manages to get tons of girls ... Is an inspiration to us all. 2. Kanye West2008 Highlights: Kicked off the year by announcing that he would headline the Bonnaroo festival, alongside acts like Metallica and Pearl Jam. ... Collaborated with MTV News on "Homecoming," in which he heard veterans' stories, thanked them for their contributions to the country, and then help the vets confront their challenges, including resolving their debts and adjusting to civilian life. ... Released the philosophy book "Thank You and You're Welcome" (sample entry: "To most people, the saying 'to use someone' carries a negative connotation. But I don't see it that way. To 'mis,''over' or 'ab'-use someone is negative. To use is necessary. And if you can't be used, you're useless") ... Lost Album of the Year Grammy to Herbie Hancock, put on blast by country artist Vince Gill and seemed strangely unaffected by either of these things ... Launched ambitious (and costly) Glow in the Dark Tour ... Released bizarre "Flashing Lights" video, in which a lingerie-clad beauty kills him with a shovel ... Confirmed to headline Lollapalooza festival in hometown of Chicago ... Named "Hottest MC in the Game" by MTV News' Hip-Hop Brain Trust ... Booed at Bonnaroo after taking the stage at 4:30 a.m., blamed Pearl Jam for delay, destroyed computer's caps-lock key in the process ... Closed out Lollapalooza with triumphant headlining set ... Set to produce Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 ... Premiered new song, "Love Lockdown," at MTV Video Music Awards ... Arrested at LAX after scuffling with paparazzi ... Released 808s & Heartbreak, a somber and really excellent record that saw him ditching rapping altogether in favor of Auto-Tuned vocals and slinky synth lines ... Heartbreak debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart, beating Guns N' Roses' decade-in-the-making Chinese Democracy ... Appeared three times on MTV's "Best Songs of 2008" list ... Would normally be a shoo-in to be named "Man of the Year," except, as it turns out, there was one Man who had a bigger '08 than even Kanye. Can you guess who it is? The answer will be revealed Thursday. WOMENAnd 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). 5. Katy Perry 2008 Highlights: Went from being "that girl in the Gym Class Heroes video" to "that girl with the song about kissing girls" in a span of roughly one month ... Became the cause célèbre for blogger Perez Hilton ... Managed to offend both the Washington Blade and Christianity Today at the same time, a feat that was previously believed to be impossible ... Was disowned by her parents due to the lyrical content of "I Kissed a Girl" (or wasn't) ... Covered Madonna during the Video Music Awards (reading lyrics off her Sidekick) ... Became a doll ... Released "Hot N Cold," her second fantastic single of '08 ... Did a face-plant into a giant Quinceañera cake at Los Premios ... Hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards while dressed as a linebacker ... "Screamed at a very unreasonably high pitch" when she learned of her Grammy nomination ... Landed two tunes on our "Best Songs of 2008" list ... Was the year's most divisive pop star — love her or hate her, you certainly had an opinion either way. 4. Miley Cyrus2008 Highlights: Started the year being named one of Forbes' 20 richest under 25 ... Released a 3-D concert film that broke box-office records and has grossed more than $70 million to date ... Rocked the red carpets at the Grammys and the Oscars ... Won big at the Kids' Choice Awards ... Named the richest teen star by Parade magazine ... Exposed (sort of) on the Net, when photos of her in underwear are leaked ... Supported by The Jonas Brothers in the wake of the underwear scandal ... Caused a media firestorm after posing in a towel for Vanity Fair, later apologizing to fans ... Garnered support from stars like Nick Cannon, Madonna and Justin Timberlake ... Engaged in a fierce online dance battle with AC/DC (not that one) ... Broke up with boyfriend Nick Jonas and wrote best-selling album about it ... Inspired countless tween-pop imitators and then mocked them ... Debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart ... Threw her Sweet 16 party at Disneyland ... Reportedly started dating a 20-year-old underwear model ... Reportedly died ... Called death rumors "dumb" ... Related to the animated dog in the movie "Bolt" ... Nominated for Best Song at the Golden Globes ... Will probably end the year as the richest star under 25. 3. Taylor Swift2008 Highlights: Successfully crossed over from country to pop, as signified by her nominations at both the CMA Awards and the Video Music Awards ... Linked to Jonas Brothers heartthrob Joe ... Co-hosted the VMA preshow ... Released second album, Fearless, which has sold more than 1.3 million copies to date (nearly twice as Many as Beyoncé's I Am ... Sasha Fierce) ... Also sold another 3.5 million of her self-titled debut disc too ... Dumped by Joe Jonas (reportedly over the phone), wrote sad MySpace blog about it ... Voted for the first time, felt "completely American" as a result ... Addressed her breakup with Jonas in every Manner of media possible ... Continued the media assault on Jonas in the MTV Newsroom ... Blamed the breakup on actress Camilla Belle ... Elicited an online response from Jonas, who called her accusations "not true" ... Borrowed Miley Cyrus' boyfriend for her performance at the CMAs ... Planned her 19th birthday party, asking for stationery as a gift ... Insisted that she was over Jonas ... Will never be wronged by a boyfriend ever again, we hope. 2. Britney Spears2008 Highlights: Wow, where to begin ... Began 2008 as a troubled cautionary tale with a skeevy paparazzo boyfriend, an even skeevier "manager," an ongoing child-custody battle, a pair of bizarre trips to the hospital, a stint in the psych ward and a career that appeared — for all intents and purposes — to be over ... She ended the year with a mega-selling comeback album, a highly rated prime-time documentary, a pair of hit singles, huge videos, a sold-out tour, the most-watched clip of 2008 on MTV.com, and a career that seems to be bigger than ever ... There have probably been bigger comebacks in history (Lazarus springs to mind), but we can't think of any that have taken place over such a short period of time, with as much media coverage as Brit's did. Basically everything she did in 2008 was larger than life, paparazzi-soaked and analyzed ad infinitum — and she not only made it through with flying colors, she appears to have flourished. All of that means that Brit should probably be MTV News' Woman of the Year ... only she's not. Turns out, there's someone else out there who had a bigger '08. Who could it be? Check back Thursday to find out. Source1: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1601277/20081212/t_i_.jhtmlSource2: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1601276/20081212/spears_britney.jhtmlBeysus and Sasha should be higher on this list. I think #1 Man will be Obama and #1 Woman will be Sarah Palin