From landing a lucrative 'X Factor' judging gig to recording her eighth studio album, Britney Spears has had a good year.(Photo: Jason Merritt, Getty Images)
They've been knocked down in the past by breakups and meltdowns, but
for a handful of celebs, 2012 was their year to get up again.
Britney Spears
The
pop superstar has left her once-chaotic life of shaved heads and
umbrella attacks on paparazzi behind. Just this year, she joined The X Factor as a judge to the tune of $15 million. Forbes named
her 2012's top-earning woman in music after she pocketed an estimated
$58 million. She's at work on her eighth studio album, following the
success of last year's Femme Fatale. And she's still engaged to
her longtime boyfriend-cum-former agent, Jason Trawick, recent reports
of relationship rockiness notwithstanding. Spears doesn't seem to wanna
go back to the circus - phew.
Jennifer Aniston
After
seven years of garnering more pity than praise - after being bumped by
Brangelina, after a string of meh movies - the former Friend was
on a professional and personal high in 2012. She scored her star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in February. And after moving in with her new
sweetie, Justin Theroux, in January - into a $22 million house in L.A.'s
Bel-Air neighborhood - she and her Wanderlust co-star made their lust official, announcing their engagement in August. For 2013? Let the baby-bump watch commence.
Jennifer Lopez
J. Lo may have exited the Idol stage
in 2012, but she kept herself firmly in the spotlight, pouring herself
into spangled Zuhair Murad catsuits - wardrobe malfunctions be damned -
to perform in her first global concert gig, the commercially successful
Dance Again World Tour. (The Goin' In singer is going to start
recording her eighth studio album after the tour ends.) But what really
kept the world watching La Lopez was her cougar-grip hold on her new
beau, choreographer/dancer/actor Casper Smart, who is 18 years younger.
Will J. Lo finally be able to erase that question mark from Love?
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Sorry,
skeptic stepdad Bruce Jenner: Maybe old friends do make the best of
lovers. This year, the latest blended boyfriend-girlfriend duo, Kimye,
turned their long friendship into a hand-holding, FAO Schwarz-visiting,
camera-ready smooch- and hugfest. Kim's see-through skirt and Kanye's
dropped trou made Kris Humphries and Taylor Swift all but distant
memories. Once Kardashian is officially divorced from her 72-day
husband, will Kimye be altar-bound on E! for all the world to see?
USA Today