The Build a Fort ‘Woman of the Year’.

This year, the award could have gone to many. Yes she might have been hyped out of control and there may have been critics of her album, but Nicki Minaj has to be up there. Since becoming a cult figure with guest appearances, mixtapes and that booty (one of the lines of the year goes to my friend Jake, who upon finding out she had had bum implants proclaimed “bitch faker than Nick Cannon”) she went onto release Pink Friday and forced me to unfollow her on Twitter due to her overtweeting promotion. With one of the greatest verses on Kanye’s masterpiece in ‘Monster’ and outdoing Eminem on ‘Roman’s Revenge’ she will hopefully go on and release another album more raw, less cheesy samples and insecurity, more bile then all the haters will shut up.

With Ninja gaining the crown of Man of the Year, it’s hard to overlook Yolandi Vi$$er. Stealing the hearts of hipsters around the world and somehow making that haircut attractive, even the mouse-suit worn in ‘Evil Boy’ did nothing the quell my love for her. A deserving nominee.

Rihanna has had another great year and seems to be cementing herself as one of the all-time popstars. A fantastic appearance on Eminem’s ‘Love The Way You Lie’ proved particularly apt given the content of the song and she sent hearts racing in anticipation as to what the video for ‘What’s My Name’ would bring. Unfortunately the song is better than the video, which is high praise for the song indeed as Riri is in short shorts, but with lines such as ‘square root of 69 is 8 summat’ and the increasing sexualisation of pop videos, I think more graphic realism was in order. Nevertheless, 2010 has been Rihanna’s year and with some fantastic songwriters behind her and that face/those thighs, she cannot fail to have another brilliant year in 2011.

The thing is, I would have gone for Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, but the truth is, I fucking hate cat’s more than I love lo-fi music and I would have given her the coveted prize of ‘Lyric of the Year’ if the lines ‘I lost my job, I miss my mom, I wish my cat could talk’ featured the word ‘pug’ instead of ‘cat’. The image of a fat pug talking is far superior than that of a scrawny feline.

In truth, these nominations have all been buying me time in coming up with my genuine woman of the year. Now, this is born out of a combination of talent and love. I think Chew Lips are amazing, but the couple of times I’ve seen them, even their outstanding music can’t match the stage presence of their front-woman, Tigs. She could have easily escaped my mind because the release of ‘Unicorn’ was way back in January but luckily, saw them at ‘The Great Escape’ festival in May and considering that the last time I saw her she was wearing black wetlook leggings and had a black bowl cut which pretty much meant she was my dream forever and a day, she managed to outdo herself in some sequin high waisted hot-pants and a knitted jumper. How this is possible I do not know, but I can tell you right now, I think for a few weeks after that, I was genuinely in love with her. I should also mention that she has a fucking stunning voice and Chew Lips are a band which you must see in 2011 on a musical level alone.

I do realise that was an entirely musical list and that women can actually do other things and average looking women should apply for this award next year because it’s pure coincidence that 4/5 of these girls are a dream.