The year didn't play out as it should have for poor Esperanza. The woman has genuine talent worthy of fame she's an incredible jazz singer and there were at least a few key people paying attention to that talent. In February, Spalding was awarded the Grammy for Best New Artist, which should have been her introduction to the mainstream. But as far as some of the Grammy audience was concerned, it wasn't a case of who won but of who didn't. Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber was nominated in the same category, and as any celebrity aficionado knows, unleashing the wrath of Bieber's fans, even unintentionally, is never a good idea. There was an immediate Twitter backlash, replete with death threats, and within minutes of the award's presentation, the Wikipedia page of Spalding was vandalized. Anyone innocently trying to Google more information about the Best New Artist was confronted with bio notes such as "Justin Bieber deserved it go die in a hole" and "Biber 4 Lyfe." While the page was fixed soon after, Spalding unfortunately became known as "the girl who stole Bieber's award." Luckily for her, she seemed rather nonplussed by the whole affair. A month after the Grammys, she shrugged it off to the Daily Telegraph, saying, "I didn't get into music to be a star."
The Top 10 Everything of 2011
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Business Blunders
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Comebacks
- Top 10 Consumer-Spending Trends
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Campaign-Debate Moments
- Top 10 Best Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Worst Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Food Trends
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Trends
- Top 10 Marriage Stories
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Memes
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Worst Movies
- Top 10 Best Movies
- Top 10 New Findings in Parenting
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Numbers
- Top 10 Oddball-News Stories
- Top 10 Overreported Stories
- Top 10 People Not Running for President
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Protest Signs
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Ridiculously Obvious Study Findings
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Smart-Phone Apps
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Space Moments
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 Toys
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Best Tweets
- Top 10 Worst Tweets
- Top 10 U.S.-News Stories
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Creative Videos
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 World-News Stories
- Top 10 Photos of the Year
In 54 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months