Taylor Swift - Celebrity of the Year Finalist #7

As the calendar gets ready to flip over to 2010, The Hollywood Gossip staff is looking back on the year that was. We're excited to present out 10 finalists for our prestigious, Third Annual Celebrity of the Year award.

These A-listers have given us their best, their worst, their naked pics (sometimes) and their hysterical, off-the-wall antics (often). It's time for THG to pay tribute to their unique greatness.

Last week, we continued the 2009 countdown with Carrie Prejean at number-eight. (No, it wasn't that low because she's Christian.)

Today: Celebrity of the Year finalist #7 … Taylor Swift!

When the 2009 kicked off, Swift was a modestly successful singer on the rise. Her fan base was mostly comprised of the same tweens that screamed their lungs out for Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson and other celebs that were a notch below mainstream status.

Fast forward 12 months, however, and the numbers speak for themselves:

• Swift's "Fearless" was the best-selling album of 2009;
• She was named Artist of the Year by Billboard Magazine;
• She won four Country Music Awards;
• She won five BMI Awards;
• She's been nominated for eight 2010 Grammys.

Aside from her trophy haul, Swift also made headlines this year when she was rudely cut off by Kanye West at the MTV Video Music Awards. She handled the incident with maturity and grace, earning many new fans in the process.

Taylor concluded the best year of her life with a widely-praised Saturday Night Live hosting gig; and by entering into a rumored relationship with Taylor Lautner.

The only downside to 2009 for Swift? She's guaranteed that 2010 will be a let down in comparison!

Read More On: TheHollywoodGossip.com

Taylor Alison Swift - Actress cum Singer

Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American country pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress. In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", which peaked at number six on the Billboard country charts. Later in October 2006, she released her self-titled debut album, which produced five hit singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and was certified 3× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA. The New York Times described Swift as "one of pop's finest songwriters, country’s foremost pragmatist and more in touch with her inner life than most adults".
http://funnyhollywoodvideos.blogspot.com/2009/09/taylor-alison-swift-actress-cum-singer_17.html

According to Nielsen SoundScan, Swift was the biggest selling artist of 2008 in America with combined sales of more than four million albums. Swift's Fearless and her self-titled album finished 2008 at number three and number six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million.[4] She was the first artist in the history of Nielsen SoundScan to have two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart.

Fearless has topped the Billboard 200 in 11 non-consecutive weeks. No album has spent more time at number one since 1999-2000. It also was the first album by a female artist in country music history to log eight weeks at #1 on The Billboard 200. In mid-January 2009, Swift became the first country artist to top the 2 million mark in paid downloads with three different songs.

As of the week ending February 8, 2009, Swift's single "Love Story" became the country song with most paid downloads in history and the first country song to top the Mainstream Top 40 chart. According to the 2009 issue of Forbes, Swift is ranked as the 69th most powerful celebrity with over $18 million in earnings this year.

Swift was born in the city of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Scott, a stock broker, and Andrea Swift, a homemaker. She has a younger brother, Austin. When she was in fourth grade, Swift won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem entitled "Monster In My Closet". At the age of ten, Swift began writing songs and singing at karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs around her hometown.

During one summer, Swift devoted herself to writing a 350-page (unpublished) novel. She was a member of Kirk Cremer's SNL-inspired kid's sketch comedy group, TheatreKids Live!, where she was a natural comedic talent. After seeing her karaoke performance at one of the cast parties, it was Cremer's mother who first suggested that Swift seemed more of a natural to pursue a career in country music, rather than theatrical performing.

Cremer soon leased space at a local mall and began to showcase his young protégée in weeknight performances of country songs with karaoke backing tracks. Emboldened by her performances and growing audiences, she began to perform in other local open mike and karaoke nights. Her first major show was a well-received performance at the Bloomsburg Fair, arranged by local performer Pat Garrett.

Find More Information on : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift