2011 was a great year for Hollywood’s finest—or at least, the people who love to watch them, which of course would be us. This year, we decided that our favorite celebs deserved a little recognition for excelling in their niches: music, acting, or acting ridiculous on reality TV. Check out our first ever ELLEgirl Award winners!

BEST ACTOR

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We just can’t get enough of the joking-cracking, obsessively-memed, People-Magazine-Sexiest-Man-Alive-robbed Ryan Gosling. Whether or not he takes home the Golden Globe for Best Actor this year, he’s won us over hands down. He’s starred in three critically acclaimed films this year: Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, and The Ides of March, and we absolutely cannot wait to see him in Gangster Squad, alongside Emma Stone in 2012.

BEST ACTRESS

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While she isn’t one of the famous twins, Elizabeth Olsen has more than held her own this year, being nominated for awards from the Chicago, Toronto, and Phoenix Film Critics Associations for her role as an escaped victim from a cult in Martha, Marcy, May, Marlene. She also received critical acclaim for her role in Peace, Love & Misunderstanding, solidifying her position as one more Olsen to keep an eye out for, and our Best Actress for 2011.

BIGGEST BREAKOUT STAR

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Although her role in Winter’s Bone won her major media recognition, Jennifer Lawrence didn’t get a chance to reap the benefits of that role until this year. In 2011 she wowed us in X-Men, First Class, and we can’t wait to see her in The Hunger Games, out next March. Besides playing the blue-scaled bad girl in X-men, she also stood out in Like Crazy, and The Beaver.

BIGGEST REALITY TV STAR

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We say “biggest” because we don’t quite think the word “best” applies to reality TV. Regardless of that, Kim Kardashian definitely takes the cake as the biggest reality TV star of 2011. Her brief time as a  newlywed (sea monkeys have a longer lifespan than her marriage) caused many people to question whether or not the whole thing was a stunt pulled to increase the Kardashain fortune, which gained an extra $18 million, according to Fox News, thanks to the way she worked the press with her marriage.

FAVORITE MUSICIAN

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Adele isn’t just our choice for Best Musician of 2011, she’s a world-record breaker. According to MTV.com, She’ll be featured in 2012 Guinness Book of World Records for being the first female (and second musician since The Beatles) to have two singles and two albums in the UK Top 5 at the same time, also breaking breaking records for having the most consecutive weeks with a #1 album. Her album 21, which came out this year is also the first album in UK History to sell 3 million copies in a single year. If that’s not enough, we’re not ashamed to admit that “Someone Like You,” is our go-to breakup misery song.

BIGGEST TRAINWRECK

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Teen bride Courtney Stodden is only seventeen but doesn’t look a day over forty…which is exactly why we, and most of the world, consider her the biggest trainwreck of 2011. Courtney has wowed us so often this year we can’t pinpoint her worst moment but if we had to pick, we would probably say that going on national television to prove she doesn’t have breast implants, only to have doctors say they found something that appeared to be “hard…but maybe a bone,” was pretty bad.

CUTEST COUPLE

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After Selena stuck with her guy after the Biebs’ baby scandal, she earned some major girlfriend points. As for Justin, he could have any screaming, teenage fan in the world (literally), but according to Hollywood Life, the pair is “on the phone talking for hours and hours. And each call ends with professions of love, need, and desire.” Cute? We think so.

FAVORITE FASHION ICON

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Whether you love her or hate her, you have to admit that Lady Gaga has left her mark on the fashion world this year. If we somehow forget everything else that happened in 2011, we will remember Gaga attending the Grammy’s in a giant egg, and her towering, slightly horrifying twenty-four inch heels.

WORST DRESSED

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When it comes to dressing for your body type, it’s probably not a good idea to take advice from Snooki, our worst dressed celeb of 2011. This Jersey Shore housemate is known for pairing too-tight tops with too short shirts, and for adding excessively furry, animal-printed or bedazzled accessories to her red carpet and everyday ensembles.

BEST DRESSED

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Maybe staying chic comes naturally to model-turned-actress Rosie Huntington, who keeps her looks close to the runway when attending red carpet premieres. The Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon star, face of the Burberry fragrance “Burberry Body” ad campaign, and Victoria Secret Angel has attended huge celeb events this year in ultra-current designer looks, earning her our Best Dressed of 2011 ELLEgirl Award.

Check out Rosie’s runway style at a Vertu phone launch in Milan, in a look straight from Richard Nicoll’s 2012 resort collection below, along with our other 2011 ELLEgirl Award winners.

Did we forget anyone important? Leave us a comment and let us know who else deserves a nomination!