Top Eight Women of 2008

When I set out to pick the Top 8 Women of 2008 I did it with a few guidelines in place. One, the person had to be a celebrity. Two, the person had to achieved something significant in the entertainment or sports industry in 2008. Well, that's actually about it. This list was compiled by me, with some input from my brother.

The Top 4:









Also, I would like to point out some honorable mentions. Factors beyond two competitors' control prevented them from making the list. Minka Kelly is only not on this list because you could only find her on DirectTV and Katherine Heigl is not on the list because the Grey's Anatomy writers decided she should have a relationship with a ghost. Other honorable mentions go out to: Michelle Monaghan, Vanessa Hudgens, Mandy Moore and Joanna Garcia.

#8: Maggie Gyllenhaal - When you star in a movie that is ranked in the Top 5 of both IMDB's top reviewed films and highest grossing films of all-time you deserve a spot on this list. I cannot personally speak to Gyllenhaal's work in "The Dark Knight" since I have not seen the film, but by all accounts it is worth seeing.

#7: Blake Lively - When the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" was originally released in 2005 Lively was just another member of the cast. Three years later the sequel was released and she was the star along with Alexis Bledel. Lively is also on the CW in "Gossip Girl" and did a "Saturday Night Live" telecast last year.

#6: Kaley Cuoco - "The Big Bang Theory" is taking off in the ratings and Cuoco is certainly part of the reason why. She is able to pull off anything the writers require, including pretending to be obsessed with World of Warcraft or attempting to converse with Sheldon. She's also darn attractive.

#5: Olga Kurylenko - The latest Bond girl handled her role very appropriately. I was a little frustrated with the latest Bond movie as a whole, but it had nothing to do with Kurylenko's acting or appearance.

#4: Rihanna - A music superstar Rihanna did not achieve quite the success of previous years, but she did put out "Rehab" and had songs featured in all sorts of things, including "The House Bunny." (What a funny credit!)

#3: Taylor Swift - It can be argued that no one achieved more, in any genre, than Swift in 2008. She finished the year with two albums in the Top 10, is a country music superstar with huge crossover appeal and is gorgeous. She had six Top 20 debuts in 2008. Her second album, "Fearless," is a great listen, even for the casual country fan. Swift also had four of the top six bestselling country songs on iTunes in 2008!

#2: Yvonna Strahovski - The female lead of NBC's "Chuck" Strahovski really does not get the credit she deserves. Sure, it is really easy to dress her up, or put nothing on her and let her look beautiful, but she can do so much more as an actress. I was really impressed with the character depth she gave Sarah Walker during the 2008 season of "Chuck." And for that brief moment when the writers decided to actually use he Australian accent, well watch out!

#1: Carrie Underwood - Underwood was not able to hold off the challenge of Swift in the music industry, but Swift is still working to achieve Underwood's status of international superstar. Her latest single, "Last Name," hit No. 1, her sixth consecutive song to do so, on the Hot Country Chart. Underwood had the other two songs in iTunes' bestselling country songs of 2008 with "Last Name" and "All-American Girl."

Who do you think was the Top Woman of 2008? Did I miss anyone?