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Believe it or not it’s already time to say goodbye to another year.  2011 seemed to fly by but it certainly wasn’t with out show-stopping moments along the way.  Check out our list of the Top 20 moments that made our faces hit the floor.

20.  Oprah Finally Says Goodbye

It was no surprise that the queen of daytime talk was finally going to step down from her post this year, but what was a surprise was just how over-the-top-Oprah-ish the farewell ceremony would be. A double-episode spectacular taped in Chicago’s United Center, Tom Hanks, Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Jordan, Aretha Franklin, Madonna (and so many others we won’t name out of fear that this entry will dominate the entire list) showed up to bid Oprah goodbye.  But when the jaw-dropping spectacular two-day performance concluded, Oprah said her final tearful goodbyes solo on the set of the show that made her an unparalleled global icon.

19.  Kelly Rowland Got Her Sexy Back

For the last several years Kelly Rowland has flopped about the scene, spotted at various hang outs with her celebrity girlfriends, touring overseas and giving us a mediocre song or two. But in March 2011, Rowland dropped “Motivation” featuring Lil’ Wayne and motivated us all to give her a second look. Move over Beyonce! Well, at least slide down some; the second child of destiny is finally making the moves we want to see. In 2011, Rowland seemed to be everywhere looking better and sexier than ever.

18. Jennifer Hudson Is A Size 0?

Somehow Joy Behar “overheard” Jennifer Hudson while shopping (why were they in the same store again?) and said that the store clerk said she was a size 0. Behar thought it would be a good idea to retell this incident on “The View” setting ablaze a fire storm of speculation about Jennifer’s weight loss. Hudson never actually said what size she is but it doesn’t really matter, the before and after photos are TOTAL jaw-drop, gasp-worthy.

17.  Middle East Uprisings

In January, Tunisia sparked what may come to be known as the “year of the revolutions” in the Middle East with young people galvanizing their spirit and energy to topple established oppressive regimes in a quest for democracy. Social media played a particularly interesting role in the protests with many groups organizing their efforts via Facebook and sharing their stories around the world via Twitter. The success of these protests is yet to be determined as power continues to be shifting, but the spirit of 2011 in the Arab world will be remembered as one of determined optimism and civil unrest.

16.  Kanye West Premieres ‘DW’ Fashion Line

This doesn’t really require words.  As much as we LOVE Kanye, we just have absolutely no idea what he was going for here. See for yourself.

#blankstare.

15.  T.I. Gets Out-Goes Back-Gets Out of Jail

T.I., T.I.! Talk about someone who doesn’t want to be great. Our jaws hit the ground last year when T.I. and Tiny were caught driving around ATL with hard drugs in the car landing TIP another stint behind bars. But wait, just when we thought he couldn’t get any more jaw-droppingly dumb, T.I. decided to leave jail in August in a tricked out tour bus which was a violation of some random rule which landed him BACK in federal custody before he technically even got out. Mouths wide open at how good this guy is at staying in trouble. For sure, the G.O.A.T.

14. Amanda Knox Is Acquitted Of Murder In Italy

If you hadn’t been following the “Foxy Knoxy” scandal over the last several years, 2011 made it damn near impossible not to pay attention. When the American exchange student convicted of murdering her roommate went on trial to appeal her conviction late this summer, America was hooked. After serving four years in prison, Amanda pleaded her innocence in front of the Italian court resulting in her conviction being overturned on October 3, 2011.

13. Occupy Wall Street Becomes Occupy Any Street

America decided that it’s tired of corporate greed and the best way to make a statement in opposition is to camp out in parks all around the country. I don’t exactly understand why, if the organizers really wanted to effect the economy, no one decided to organize a relevant boycott, but hey, the movement caught on and people are excited about it.

READ: WHO ARE THE BLACK WOMEN OCCUPYING WALL STREET?

12.  Chris Brown Falls & Flies

Despite twitter beef, leaked pictures of his ‘johnson’, and a chair going through the “Good Morning America” windows earlier this year, Chris Brown’s 2011 is actually ending on a high-note. We didn’t think he was ever going to be forgiven for his past indiscretions, especially since he was running around with blond hair and getting new tattoos every other day, but somehow the powers-that-be let him back in the club to do what he does best…entertain. Check out his jaw-dropping performance at this year’s VMA’s where he literally flew above the rest. Talk about a redemption performance.

11. Charlie Sheen(in)

On March 1, 2011 ABC aired a 20/20 interview with Charlie Sheen that literally made our mouths hit the ground. After Sheen declared he had “tiger blood” and “Adonis DNA,” the bizarreness just kept going.  Sheen inspired the catch phrase “winning” and sparked thousands of spoofs, t-shirts and public speculation that he had completely lost his mind.  According to him, he wasn’t bi-polar, he was “bi-winning!”‘

10. Eddie Long’s Sex Scandal

“Prosperity-preaching, homosexual-loathing” Mega-Pastor Bishop Eddie Long wasn’t just dropping jaws this year when it came out that he had allegedly sexually molested several young men in his church this past September.  The pastor initially denied the allegations but over the past few months his reputation has been tarnished, his 25,000 member church has dwindled and just last week, his wife filed for divorce.  In a year that seems filled with sex scandals, we have to say this one really blew us.  No pun intended.

9. The Rise and Fall of Herman Cain

He came, he campaigned, he somehow gained some traction and then he got dropped off the side of a sexual harassment cliff. It happened quickly enough that if you missed the Herman Cain show, you won’t ever have to be bothered about knowing who he is. But in the fall of 2011 this Black republican Presidential hopeful did more than enough things to make us look on in shock and awe. Check out this jaw-dropping campaign commercial that we’re still trying to decipher the meaning of.

8.  Rihanna is a Good Girl Gone Wild

Oh Rih-Rih, what can we say? This year, the Bajan Diva has gone from good girl to “wild child” with her drinking, partying, stripper-groping and overall bad girl image turned reality (we’re fearing a Lindsay Lohan is on our hands).  Recently the singer has even been rumored to be on 24-hour surveillance after collapsing while on stage and cancelling several shows as she tours Europe. Even Queen Bouncy told Rihanna it may be time for a sit-down. Let’s hope she takes a listen.

7.  Ghadaffi’s Extremely Public Death Photos

Just wow.

6.  Kim Kardashian’s 72 Hour Day Long Marriage & Divorce

We can’t say we didn’t see this coming, especially since we are forced to watch almost every move the Kardashians make, but we were a bit shocked to find out newlyweds Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries called it quits after a mere 72 days of their “fairytale marriage.” It happened so quickly that we were actually watching the wedding special the night before the announcement was made on Halloween of this year.  The photo below is a shot of Kim & Kris at their “Welcome to New York Party.” As far as we can see it from the latest episodes of Kourtney & Kim Take New York, it seems the city wasn’t particularly kind to the couple.

READ TOP 5 CONTEDERS TO BE KIM KARDASHIAN’S NEXT HUSBAND

5.  Beyonce’s Pregnant!

Because there was still one record she hadn’t broken yet in her life, Beyonce decided to set Twitter ablaze with a record setting 8,868 tweets per second on August 28 of this year when she announced her pregnancy while on stage performing at the MTV VMA’s. Who knows what else happened at the VMA’s (which were actually really good this year) because the ‘Bey is preggers’ chatter completely dominated the media following the show and hasn’t stopped since.  We’ll be hearing about Baby Carter until he (or she) makes a full-out public debut.

4. Heavy D. Passes

The overweight lover, music mogul and friend to the everyone in the business fell ill with pneumonia and died suddenly on November 9, 2011. Celebs and friends took to twitter immediately with an outpouring of condolences and heartfelt tributes. His funeral was a literal who’s-who of everyone in the entertainment business.  Al Sharpton gave the eulogy and even President Obama sent regards. 

3.  Barack Obama Was “Born In The U.S.A.”

After what seemed like months of poking from the end of Draco Malfoy – I mean Donald Trump’s imaginary wand – a Harry Potter-esque Barack Obama rose in the face of ridiculousness to produce the most coveted treasure hidden in America: his birth certificate. With one flick of his wand, the POTUS had the State of Hawaii produce the much sought-after document, erasing any hope The Donald had at a bid for a presidential nomination.  To add further insult to injury, the always cool, calm and collected President even mocked the whole incident at the White House Correspondents dinner (where Trump was in attendance).  By the time Seth Myers got up to pour salt in the wound, we felt like we were just waiting for those two final words, “FINISH HIM!”

2.  The Death of Osama Bin Laden

On Sunday May 1, 2011, as the nation sat with bated breath awaiting the Nene Leakes vs. Star Jones showdown on one of the final episodes of “Celebrity Apprentice” (maybe that was just us), the major networks interrupted programming with news of a “special report.” For about 45 minutes, we sat puzzled waiting for President Barack Obama to appear before us to announce that Osama Bin Laden had finally been found and killed. We knew that it had to be something really big to interrupt “Celebrity Apprentice,” but it was certainly one of this year’s most shocking moments.

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Disagree with our list? Tell us about it on twitter @hellobeautiful. Follow me @Leighdav

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