Issue Date: December 28, 2008

The year in review

Hoops, hockey and a fashionista to fear -- USA WEEKEND had it all this year! Here's an exclusive look back at our celeb-laden covers.

By Dennis McCafferty

Will Ferrell was really into his hoops action in February, talking with USA WEEKEND about his new film, "Semi-Pro," a comedy depicting the offbeat days of the American Basketball Association. Ferrell told us that he plays regularly in a celebrity b-ball league with Justin Timberlake, Sacha Baron Cohen and Adam Sandler. But in September, following that and other Ferrell jock roles lampooning NASCAR and figure skating, he swore off sports as a movie genre, saying, "I'm retired from the sports genre film. ... I think I filled my quota." Hmm. We're suspicious -- especially since Ferrell made a funny appearance at the ESPYs in July that's now a YouTube hit, accepting the male athlete award for Tiger Woods. ("Clearly, I am the best golfer alive today," he told the audience.) ... Taylor Swift was the cover gal in April as we launched a big-time partnership with Country Music Television to present the USA WEEKEND Breakthrough Video of the Year at the CMT Music Awards. Swift was the natural choice for our magazine cover because she had won the breakthrough award the year before. When she spoke to us, she mentioned that, in her spare time, she enjoyed taking in a Nashville Predators hockey game with pals, including Kellie Pickler. Just after our cover story, Swift and Pickler had something else in common, as Pickler won the breakthrough video award for "I Wonder." Swift also told us that she's happy to accept the responsibilityof being a role model for young girls. Then, in October, she announced that she would join Reba McEntire and Martina McBride in the campaign Every Woman Counts, which is intended to inspire women to vote and get involved in the political process. "The first thing I did this year on my 18th birthday was register to vote," Swift told an interviewer. "I was still in my pajamas, and I got on my computer and registered. It was so cool and empowering." (Awww!) ... Liv Tyler, Gwyneth Paltrow and Maggie Gyllenhaal were asked point-blank by our interviewer in April whether they were doing superhero movies for the money. The actresses didn't exactly deny it. ("I wondered, 'Hmm, what would that be like?' " Paltrow replied, with a laugh.) Well, they don't need to wonder anymore: Their respective comic-book movies were summer smashes, with "The Incredible Hulk" (starring Tyler) grossing more than $134 million in domestic sales; Iron Man (with Paltrow) earning more than $318 million; and "The Dark Knight" (with Gyllenhaal), which was the biggest of them all, with more than $530 million in ticket sales. ... Jack Black spoke to us in August about his own career as a musician, as the School of Rock star started out in an underground comedy/music act called Tenacious D. He even did a parody of the song "My Sharona" for his third-grade talent show, he recalled. But just a few days after he talked to us, Black's mind was focused on another genre: jazz. As it turns out, his father-in-law is the legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and Black even sang a song on a Haden CD this year. Black told an interviewer that he had put in exhaustive research before meeting his future father-in-law for the first time. "Are you kidding me?" he said. "I wanted to marry his daughter. I watched all 10 hours of that Ken Burns jazz documentary." ... We got up close and personal with Rascal Flatts in November, just as the fellas were up for Vocal Group of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards. Just days later, Flatts won the award -- for the sixth straight year! That's a tie for the all-time record, which Flatts now shares with the legendary Statler Brothers. ... Vanessa Williams -- the fashionista to fear on "Ugly Betty" in her role as Wilhelmina Slater -- showed us her bedroom closet for our March spring fashion report, and we were surprised by how relatively unglamorous and unorganized it was. But anyone would have to forgive her, considering that she splits time between homes in New York and Los Angeles, where she worked on the Betty set for 14 hours a day while still being a Brownie mom. "I have four kids," she told USA WEEKEND, "and I go back to New York as needed. I don't have time to be anything like Wilhelmina Slater." Her time will now be easier to manage because "Ugly Betty" is being shot in New York, which is where Williams is from. But she wasn't comforted when she received that news, having just settled in L.A. "I think everyone assumed I'd be jumping for joy to be back home in New York," she said in an interview. "But the first thing I thought about was [my daughter] Sasha, who'd just had her First Communion in our new church. I was numb, and then anxiety kicked in -- 'I have to get rid of the house, ship all my cars back to New York and move 10 rooms of furniture.' "

You can find more updates on these and other top celebrities who are featured each week in the pages of USA WEEKEND at our Who's News blog at http://blogs.usaweekend.com/ -- and have a GREAT 2009, readers!