Watching New Celebs

This is the third Breakout Star List we’ve come across. The other two are from Forbes Magazine and Entertainment Weekly. There are several names that appear in all of the lists, which proves how much one particularly celebrity has indeed made 2008 his or her year.

This latest list is from Newsday and they picked 14 new personalities as this year’s Breakout Stars beginning with:

1 - Kate Perry
2 - Demi Lovato
3 - Russell Brand

• He was already a star in Britain, but comedian Russell Brand rocked America in 2008. After a scene-stealing role in Judd Apatow’s “ Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” Brand went on to host the Video Music Awards. Even though he incensed some audience members by mocking the Jonas Brothers’ purity rings, critics applauded Brand’s hosting skills, and rumor has it he will host the show again next year.

4 - David Archuleta and David Cook

5 - Leona Lewis

6 - M.I.A.

• The globe-trotting political activism of electronic artist M.I.A. has been a cult fave for years. Both her albums — 2005’s “Arular” and 2007’s “Kala” — reached the Top 200 on the U.S. pop charts. But the operative word is “cult.” It wasn’t until comedy “Pineapple Express” used her tune of revolution “Paper Planes” in its commercial that M.I.A. became a mainstream entity – one who scored a Grammy nom for record of the year. And her momentum isn’t slowing. Her new label, N.E.E.T, recently released the soundtrack to “Slumdog Millionaire,” in which she has a song.

7 - Duffy

8 - Ashley Alexandra Dupre

• Ashley Alexandra Dupre was at the center of one of the most salacious politcal sex scandals since Bill and Monica. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s career was cut short when it was discovered that he had procured a professional escort. Dupre said she didn’t know who he was when she met him, in a widely publicized interview with Diane Sawyer, but their meeting(s) caused a political firestorm. Dupre has been offered roles in porn films, reality TV shows and more, but she’s turned them down in hopes of starting a music career.

9 - Vampire Weekend

10 - Robert Pattinson

11 - Elizabeth Banks

12 - Christian Siriano

13 - Danny McBride

14 - Sarah Palin