Who's Gonna Be Huge—and Not—in 2010?

Predictions for the coming year include the fate of Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Diddy and M. Night

By Leslie Gornstein Dec 30, 2009 2:15 PMTags
Sean Combs, Lady GagaANG/Fame Pictures, David Tonnessan, PacificCoastNews.com

Next year, this time, who will we be talking about that we really hadn't been, and who won't we be talking about that we really have?
—John M., via Facebook

A mere prediction of the future? Sounds easy enough. Let's get started with the people who need to go away for a while, and who will next year.

Is your least favorite star on the list?

Lady Gaga. She has to; she put out like 4,000 singles this year, made just as many personal appearances and still managed to find time to remind us that pop stars are supposed to be about insane fashion, not high, A-list style. She needs a rest. The only story we might hear about her in 2010 is about some sort of exhausted collapse; let's hope it doesn't get that far and she gets a well-earned vacation.

And Michael Jackson.

Now that the officious Tribute Concert is canceled, maybe we can all go back to our lives without someone in the Jackson family constantly trying to shove the late-Michael-as-royalty angle down our throats. Jackson was a great pop star. But it was M.J. who declared himself the King of Pop. Let's remember that—and forget about the whole M.J. deification project for a while.

Now, you also asked who will rise to the surface next year.

Here are my picks for winners in 2010:

The Harry Potter kids: The penultimate entry in the kid wizard saga gets released. Just saying.

M. Night Shyamalan: Possibly for the last time in a long time. Two years after handing us a movie about mean plant life that wants to kill us, the onetime wunderkind is offering us a film called The Last Airbender, an adaptation of the animated TV series. He has two more movies coming up, according to IMDb, but neither of them involves him as a director, only a producer and writer. If Airbender soars, Shyamalan may get a second life as a director in this town. If not: bye.

The general return of the year 1999: Why? Both Diddy and Jennifer Lopez are scheduled to rise once again—Diddy with a new album with an unspecified 2010 release date, Lopez with a movie called The Back-Up Plan.

Lil Wayne: Aka the T.I. of 2010. T.I. just got out of the slammer after doing time for federal weapons charges. Lil Wayne is headed into jail for an expected year-long sentence in connection with weapons possession, part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

He heads in about a week after his latest album debuts, which should make for all kinds of interesting media. Expect him to get out early (because celebrities always do) followed by the big Oprah-slash-Katie Couric-slash-BET interview.

And speaking of rappers, a new car, possibly the new car for any rapper worth his entourage: Rappers like Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne and Timbaland all love the Rolls Royce Phantom. In 2010, look out for the eco-friendly electric model.

But what do you think?

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Peek into 2010 in our Movies From the Future gallery!