The new beginnings of last year blossomed with hope for the best year ever. (We can only hope for that every year can’t we?) As it turned out, 2014 proved to be an amazing year with new experiences and developments globally. Pop culture headlines boomed from the worst to the very best. As with everything that comes to a close, I do believe it’s time to review some of the most important things that went down this year.

Pop culture news didn’t get off to the best start when teeny-bopper turned wannabe thuglet, Justin Bieber, was arrested for a DUI.  Near 4 a.m. on January 23, Bieber was arrested on a residential street in Miami, and later was charged with a DUI. Police caught onto his antics after seeing him drag racing a yellow Lamborghini on a suburban Miami street.  According to the arrest report, Bieber was extremely uncooperative and rude to the police officers. Apparently there were also two black SUVs stationed at the entrances to the street, allowing him and his buddies to drag race their cars up and down. After several choice words aimed at the officers and failing a sobriety test, Bieber was sent to a Miami jail. Later that afternoon, he was released on a $2,500 bail.

Am I the only one who wasn’t surprised at his “sudden” arrest? To me this isn’t sudden at all; it had all been coming on the horizon for months, and by January he was facing a jail sentence. The fresh faced singer of “Baby,” was here no more, and  now has become a lost-cause-celebrity similar to the kinds of Amanda Bynes and Lindsay Lohan. Nobody knew he’d go off the deep end like this but he’s been getting everything he wanted since the moment his singing videos went viral on YouTube. With a surplus fan base, and millions upon millions of dollars, he would’ve hit bottom sometime. But jail? I would have never thought.

But hey, Never Say Never.

In February, Jimmy Fallon took over Jay Leno’s position on NBC’s “Tonight Show.” Fallon’s debut on February 17 engaged 11.3 million viewers, making it the most-viewed late night show in years.  If that wasn’t enough for Fallon he also had several celebrities who came on stage to give him $100 each, due to bets he’d made with all of them that one day he would host the “Tonight Show.” These stars included  Robert De Niro, Tina Fey,  Mariah Carey, Tracy Morgan, Joan Rivers,  Kim Kardashian, Seth Rogen, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mike Tyson, Lady Gaga and more. Ever since, the new installment of the “Tonight Show” has been racking up views because Fallon’s hosting is truly unique. His hilarious sketches and skits paired with enticing celebrity interviews make for one of the best talk shows out there.

Moving forward in time, American award shows seem to have gone down the drain since Miley Cyrus rubbed her butt all over the 2013 MTV Music Awards stage, but this year on March 9, the Oscars were actually enjoyable to watch. There was nobody begging for attention with scandalous and less than flattering outfits or word choices, and the fashion reigned supreme with serious class.

The award show itself was hosted by the one and only, talk show extraordinaire, Ellen Degeneres. If Ellen didn’t have you laughing the entire time then you were probably not paying attention. Her humor and respect for the show came through the entire night.

The best segment of Ellen’s hosting is when she actually ordered pizza for the A-list celebs in attendance. When the pizza guy showed up, the shock was evident on his face. After serving pizza slices to celebrities to the likes of Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lawrence; Edgar Martirosyan became probably the most famous pizza delivery man in the world.

Also, Ellen broke twitter. She literally broke twitter. She took a selfie (the most epic selfie ever taken I might add) of her, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Brangelina, Julia Roberts, etc. She then challenged the world to make this selfie the most retweeted thing on twitter, and the world did just that. Because of the sudden excess of retweets, twitter’s system crashed momentarily but then was back up to speed in no time. A day later the selfie already had 3.2 million retweets.

Iggy Azalea, love her or hate her, is now a household name. Back in April, her song “Fancy” sent her straight to the top of the Billboard charts and paparazzi’s hit lists. If you don’t know most (if not all) of the lyrics to “Fancy,” then you’re lying to yourself. Also, if you’re an avid radio listener, then you obviously had the struggle of trying to find a radio station that wasn’t playing this song for the longest time. The atmosphere of the song that was stuck in our heads for months has some retro vibes to it, and her unique rapping voice is really apparent on the track. As if a cool retro vibe song wasn’t enough, the song also comes with a music video that’s ace, where Iggy reenacts the most classic 90’s chick flick, Clueless. The symbolism is spot on, even down to the outfits. Iggy became the first female artist to ever have two songs at number 1 and 2 on the billboard charts, ever. She achieved this with her song “Fancy” and also with “Problem,” an Ariana Grande song which features Azalea. (The other song the radio stations would be playing if “Fancy” wasn’t on.)

Also, April 30 marked the tenth anniversary of the most classic chick flick of our generation, “Mean Girls.” A whole decade earlier, “Fetch” was attempted but never happened, and everyone was personally victimized by Regina George. 520 Wednesdays of pink wardrobes later, people still have their Mean Girls DVD on a constant playback. There’s no doubt that the movie’s events would have been different if it would have taken place in 2014. For example, Regina’s Juicy Couture sweat suit probably would be swapped for a nice pair of Victoria’s Secret PINK yoga pants and hoodies. But putting time differences aside, Mean Girls still has its catty high school claws sunk deep in the modern teen/young adult.

The worst and most shocking news of the year came this summer, when Robin Williams died from suicide on August 11. The world took the news hard, especially the generation in today’s high schools and colleges who grew up watching his movies and being entertained with his goofy antics. The actor battled depression for decades and he sadly lost the battle with himself. After his death the world mourned with movie marathons of some of his greatest work. Including Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook and Aladdin.

November was  a crazy month in entertainment news. Kim Kardashian posed nude to “break the internet,” Taylor Swift literally went insane in her “Blank Space” music video and international mega-star boy band One Direction released their 4th studio album.

Now, we all are aware that the Kardashians have no talent and clearly rose to fame by being wealthy and having no concept of actual reality. It’s already bad enough that the name Kim Kardashian was first heard after her sex tape scandal in 2007. Before that surfaced, Kim was just a privileged California girl who grew up with money and carried Paris Hilton’s shopping bags. But now she set a new standard for our society when she posed for Paper Magazine… in the nude. The slogan was to “break the internet” and that’s certainly what happened. I’m pretty sure though that the response was vastly different from what they expected. People either took it as a joke and photoshopped her onto the backside of a horse, or became extremely offended, not for Kim, but for her daughter North. Whatever viewpoint you take on it, I just think it’s ridiculous. Why do people sit and idolize people who make millions without lifting a fingernail and millions more for standing nude for all to see.

Breakups are hard, just the realm of dating and relationships has varying ups and downs, and Taylor Swift has the words for almost any dating situation. In her most recent video, “Blank Space,” TayTay literally goes insane, stabbing a blood-filled cake, burning some dude’s clothes, then killing said dude. Rumors flew about the song being about the media’s perception of the mega-star’s dating life. If that’s the case, the insanity of the music video really turns out to be quite hilarious. Besides the humor, the video is classically full of sass. But who would expect any less?

If the story in “Blank Space” is true, then it’s a good thing Harry Styles from One Direction got out in time. Speaking of One Direction, their new album, “Four”, released in November and it is admittedly amazing. Even the biggest haters of the boy band would be surprised. I’m betting you could play this album without saying who it is and the person listening would be shocked when you told them who it was. It’s that different.  If you haven’t already, get your hands on this, its great.

Nothing too exciting in pop culture happened last December. But after a hectic year of heartbreak and records, it was nice to end so calmly. As 2015 begins I’m sure we aren’t even prepared for the scandalous headlines and paparazzi shenanigans that await. May we all hope that in this new year, the entertainment industry succeeds more than fails, and sticks to the main core of what entertainment is. But in reality we also can’t wait for Miley Cyrus to top off her already corrupted social status and we are ecstatic for new music to blow our minds and speakers. Get ready because it’s a new year and time for new gossip.