As it turned out, “train wreck” was not only the perfect expression to describe Ms. Spears’s listless lip-synching, but a recurring theme for 2007, a year when many prominent figures from every arena of public life did harm to their reputations and livelihoods in devastating fashion.

This year celebrities seemed incapable of limiting their misdeeds to isolated bad choices: a flop movie, a regrettable interview quote, an on-air feud with Rosie O’Donnell. At times, their behavior was flat-out abnormal. If you were hoping to see your least favorite Hollywood princess fall on her crown, 2007 provided a parade of tempestuous starlets shaving heads (Ms. Spears), crashing sports cars (Lindsay Lohan) and checking into rehab (Ms. Spears and Ms. Lohan) or prison (Paris Hilton).

-"A One-Way Ticket to Disaster," Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times, on why we're excited to get hell out of 2007.

[Photo Credit: DitMartian via Flickr]