2009 Year in Review

Mass cyber communication through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the continuing rise of the iPod and BlackBerry and initiatives for a greener world – these are just a handful of trends that have marked the last 12 months. Here’s a look back on 2009, a year also defined by historic moments and the loss of a few legends.

Headlines this year have been largely dominated by Barack Obama, who on January 20th assumed office as the first African-American US President. Ever since, the pressure’s been on him to address compounding issues like the recession and – especially of late – the H1N1 flu virus. On our side of the border, H1N1 continues to be front-page news.

Presidents and viruses aside, one of the most shocking stories of 2009 was undoubtedly the sudden death of pop icon Michael Jackson. Fans worldwide mourned the loss of this groundbreaking superstar.

The music industry was also transfixed by country-pop royalty Taylor Swift, who reaped endless awards and whose album Fearless has topped the charts for months... even if Kanye West did scorn her at the MVAs.

Elsewhere in entertainment, we flocked to the theatres for Transformers 2, the sixth Harry Potter movie and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (a shirtless Taylor Lautner in the movie trailer has helped sway more than a few Twilight nay-sayers).

Vampires became a common occurrence in popular culture this year. Besides reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels, we were also tuning into the new Vampire Diaries TV series (while still making time in our couch schedules for hits like The Hills and new musical-comedy hit Glee).

Although 2009 is coming to a close with plenty more headlines yet to be written, and with the Olympics coming up in February in Vancouver, 2010 is looking like another eventful year!

Read on for your picks on the biggest and best of everything in 2009!

Your favourite website:

1. Facebook
2. Youtube
3. Youthink.ca
4. My Life is Average
5. Twitter

Your favourite album:

1. Taylor Swift: Fearless
2. Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3
3. Three Days Grace: Life Starts Now
4. Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D.
5. Jonas Brothers: Lines, Vines and Trying Times

Your favourite gadget/fad:

1. iPod/iPod Touch
2. iPhone
3. BlackBerry
4. Cellphone
5. Twitter

Your favourite video game:

1. The Beatles: Rock Band
2. Wii Fit
3. Guitar Hero 4
4. Grand Theft Auto IV
5. Gears of War 2

Your favourite book:

1. Twilight series by
Stephenie Meyer
2. Vampire Academy Book 4, Blood Promise
by Richelle Mead
3. The Dresden Files series
by Jim Butcher
4. Where the Wild Things Are: 25th Anniversary by Maurice Sendak
5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Your fave fashion trend:

1. Skinny/tight jeans
2. High-waisted skirts, pants
3. Cardigans
4. Boots
5. Scarves

Your favourite celebrity:

1. Taylor Swift
2. Taylor Lautner
3. Lauren Conrad
4. Robert Pattinson
5. Lady Gaga


Your fave celeb couple:

1. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
2. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens
3. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson
4. Beyoncé and Jay-Z
5. Penn Badgley and Blake Lively

Honourable mention: Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt

Your fave musician/band:

1. Taylor Swift
2. Jonas Brothers
3. Jason Mraz
4. Coldplay
5. Lady Gaga

Your favourite local band (Alberta):

1. Seventh Rain
2. Starewell
3. Emerson Drive
4. Random Task Collective
5. Ricca Razor Sharp

Your favourite local band (B.C.):

1. Said the Whale
2. Marianas Trench
3. Hey Ocean (plays the Vogue Theatre Dec. 18, 2009)
4. The Beauties
5. Dan Mangan

Your favourite sports team (Alberta):

1. Calgary Stampeders (pictured: Henry Burris)
2. Edmonton Oilers
3. Calgary Flames
4. Edmonton Eskimos
5. New York Yankees


Your favourite sports team (B.C.):

1. Vancouver Canucks (pictured: Mason Raymond)
2. Vancouver Whitecaps
3. BC Lions
4. Vancouver Giants
5. New York Yankees

Your favourite TV show:

1. Glee
2. The Vampire Diaries (pictured: Nina Dobrev from Vampire Diaries)
3. Gossip Girl
4. One Tree Hill
5. Grey’s Anatomy

Your fave reality TV show:

1. The Hills
2. So You Think You Can Dance
3. America’s Next Top Model
4. Big Brother
5. American Idol

Your fave radio station (Alberta):

1. The Vibe 98.5, Calgary
2. Amp 90.3, Calgary
3. CJAY 92, Calgary
4. 91.7 The Bounce, Edm.
5. X92.9, Calgary

Your fave radio station (B.C.):

1. The Beat 94.5, Vancouver
2. The Peak 100.5, Vancouver
3. Virgin Radio 95.3, Vancouver
4. The Fox 99.3, Vancouver
5. The Zone 91.3, Victoria

Your fave eco-initiative:

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle
2. Less driving, going green
3. Reusable (not plastic) bags
4. Reusable water bottles
5. Eco-friendly products

Your favourite movie:

1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
2. Transformers 2
3. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
4. The Proposal
5. Star Trek

Biggest entertainment story:

1. Michael Jackson’s death
2. Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the MVAs
3. Jon and Kate + 8 breakup
4. Balloon boy
5. Twilight: New Moon

Biggest news story:

1. Obama becomes first African-American and 44th President (Obamarama)
2. H1N1
3. Obama calling Kanye a bad name
4. Iranian election
5. Afghanistan election