I think we have to look at the currently under age actors as to who will become the next one. People could go for people like Kristen Bell but however lovely she might be, if she hasn’t made it to that status by now, I don’t think she’s going to make it. I think there are currently three main candidates we can look at; Dakota Fanning, AnnaSophia Robb and Sofia Vassilieva. Except for their first names ending in a the main thing they have in common is that their hair has the required hair color. Seeing they’re still minors I’m not going to judge them on their vavavoom factor quite yet. Besides, they’re in Hollywood and this might sound a bit harsh but you don’t really see ugly people in Hollywood.

© Summit Entertainment

Lets start with the most famous and youngest one; Dakota Fanning. I’m afraid she’s also the first one where I have to say she’s not going to be the one. She does have the acting talent for it, I think she has shown that in some of her most recent movies like the Secret life of Bees. However in this there is also the matter of perception by the general public. I know too many people who see her as the annoying girl from War of the Worlds and too much as a child star. I still think she’ll have a lengthy career in Hollywood, the public will just never see her as the one blonde superstar. In that sense I don’t think that being on the Twilight cast now will do her a lot of favors either. She now has two things to be stereotyped for, even though she joined Twilight at a later date.

So that leaves AnnaSophia and Sofia and they both share a major advantage in my eyes. If you were to mention either name to a random person on the street there would be some people who know them.

© Overture Films

There however would be a huge amount of people who would have no idea who they are or what they do. Both of them have already built a bit of a resume in Hollywood by now, not that they’re huge movies but it’s more about the people they’ve worked with. Between them they’ve worked with people like Charlize Theron, Helen Hunt, Anjelica Huston, Julie Andrews and that’s only mentioning some of the Oscar winners. There are plenty more Oscar nominated or otherwise well respected and experienced actors in the mix.

Now that itself doesn’t mean much when they don’t make use of it. They however have the chance to learn from some incredibly talented people. A privilige which isn’t there for everyone. Yes of course Dakota has also worked with people like that but AnnaSophia and Sofia don’t really have that child actor stigma stuck on them. Despite Sofia being on a show which is in its sixth season now she isn’t famous enough to get that. AnnaSophia has mostly done movies but again never the big block busters which had her as a main star.

© Warner Brothers

Neither AnnaSophia and Sofia seem to be scared to pick up more challenging roles. Of course Sofia did My Sister’s Keeper in which she had to play a cancer patient which to her own admission wasn’t easy on a personal level. Annasophia is currently filming the movie Soul Surfer which most likely will ask more of her as well. While it’s going to be removed with computers her character still lost an arm in a shark attack. No idea if the movie is going to be any good but I can’t imagine that it’s easy to portray the emotions of a character like that.

So for both of them goes that they are actually talented actresses which is a requirement in becoming the reigning blonde in Hollywood. If they weren’t they wouldn’t be able to make it in Hollywood anyway. So who do I pick? In all reality I don’t know, they both have the goods to become the reigning blonde in Hollywood, only time will tell.

Simple enough solution, here is the annual list of rising starlets so now the 2009 edition. So young actresses and musicians in Hollywood who I feel have done the most improvement in their career rated by projects, popularity etc. Yes, it is full of my opinion so no one can tell me I’m wrong. Here we go.

10. Victoria Justice – Is getting quite a bit of attention for someone who isn’t on TV all that much. Sure she has her guest spots on Nickelodeon shows her and there and she did the TV movie Spectacular! She is getting an own show on Nickelodeon though for some reason it went a bit quiet around that.

9. Demi Lovato – Personally I think she should be up higher on the list, however I also think that she won’t get the same chances as other people might get. People see her too much as just another Disney star while I think she has more potential than that. This year saw the premiere of her show Sonny With a Chance which gets good ratings, however it doesn’t quite match up with other shows on the same channel. Her second album outsold her first album so that is going in the right direction, she’s developing her own sound.

8. Dakota Fanning – Dakota just had success with Twilight: New Moon of course though that isn’t really down to her. She however is continuing to show that she has some acting talent, the coming year however will be in the shade of Kristen Stewart a bit as she co-stars her twice, in both cases Kristen has the bigger role.

7. Selena Gomez – Continues to do well with Wizards of Waverly Place ratings wise, also has a movie coming out next year. Not too confident in her music career honestly but the main public seems to like her and the media makes her out to be bigger than she actually is. The media however is also of major influence in entertainment so that’s why she ranks higher than for example Demi Lovato.

6. Taylor Swift – Basically one of the best selling artists of the year if not the best selling one. For 2010 I however am not to sure, right now she is still milking the success of Fearless which was released in 2008. Even though it had a re-release with new songs she has to do something bigger fairly soon. Though she is now broadening her horizon into acting as well, so career wise that probably is a good thing.

5. Miranda Cosgrove – iCarly is pretty much the highest rated show in its age category, simple as that. She seems fairly settled at Nickelodeon though maybe just a bit too settled. She’s also recording an album, I hope it won’t be what she has been producing so far. So far she’s only been doing soundtrack work so I’m still hopeful that she can develop her own sound.

4. Jennette McCurdy – I’m probably the only person who ranks Jennette above Miranda in a comparison like this. She is also a major part in the success of iCarly, so in that part of the success I actually rank them equally. I however see more promise in her music career, unlike what most people would expect she didn’t sign to a pop label. She’s going into country music, with her voice I think she has potential there (if you haven’t heard her sing, just youtube her).

3. Kristen Stewart – Twilight, that’s what sums her up right now at the moment. Though she’s also doing The Runaways but I don’t think that will be that big a box office hit, don’t think it’s really supposed to be either. Twilight is also her problem though, right now she’s nothing but Twilight. Even I can see what it did to her name in Hollywood, despite me not actually liking Twilight.

2. Sofia Vassilieva – Visitors to this site (even though there aren’t that many) will know that I have a soft spot for her. In the past year however she has starred in a well received movie (My Sister’s Keeper) and not just because she shaved her head and eyebrows for it. Her show Medium also moved channels and what did that do? It only made ratings for the show either, quite an achievement for a show that has been on the air for that much time already. Is it due to her? Not in particular but she turns eighteen next year, which means producers for the show will be able to do what I think they have been wanting to do for a while. Give her a bigger role as she can start to work more hours. Only flaw I see is that she doesn’t really have any new movie projects lined up at this time.

1. Miley Cyrus – Yes, yet again I put Miley on the top. Why? Well, think about it. Who was the person with the most blown out of proportion scandals in the past year that weren’t actually true scandals? That’s right it was Miley. Did it hurt her career? If it did, I don’t want to know what would have happened if she didn’t have any of those scandals. We’d most likely be visiting churches devoted to Miley by now. She managed to crash Twitter (though there is no real proof for that, just rather curious Twitter crashed right after she deleted her Twitter) and expanded her career to include that of successful clothing designer. She however managed to do one major thing which is the most important; she managed to be Miley Cyrus. People keep saying she’ll have Hannah Montana branded on her forehead the rest of her life (though maybe that’s due to the show itself going down in quality), I think she already passed that point though. Next year will also see a movie in which she isn’t Hannah Montana and another album release. Nothing to suggest that she will go downhill, even if that is what certain media are trying to make people believe.

Good news for her is of course that Medium was renewed for another season, though it is making the move to CBS. I really don’t understand NBC in letting go of Medium, looking at their ratings it was a steady thing for them. Most of their new shoes were no match for Medium yet they choose to let a steady stream of viewers go. I’m not a network exec but I just don’t understand that; CBS has a far better track record in having successful shows in recent years. For Sofia it means that she has a steady thing in her career, it’s a safe place to return to while doing other projects on the side. She won’t drop in a hole after one movie waiting for another project to come along.

Tomorrow is what could very well be a turning point in her career; My Sister’s Keeper will finally be released. In a week where Transformers 2 is being released it still manages to get quite a bit of attention as Cameron Diaz is a big enough star to draw a crowd. The movie however isn’t just about Cameron but just as much about Sofia and Abigail Breslin. In that sense it’s strange to me why the media are almost ignoring Sofia though. It is logical that the promotion is focusing on Cameron and Abigail, they could give Sofia a little more attention though. Reading reviews and hearing comments sort of show that Sofia can easily match their performances. Maybe their bothered by her name which doesn’t seem to be that easy to pronounce to some people. I have no problem with it but whatever.

As a role it can’t be easy for a sixteen year old though, as Sofia had to shave her hair for the role. People can say that there have been plenty of actresses who shaved their head for a role, be it Demi Moor or Natalie Portman (just shaving the hair doesn’t make someone a great actress though). Thing is that Sofia didn’t just shave the hair on top of her head, seeing a side effect of chemotherapy can be total hair loss she also had to shave off her eyebrows. It might seem like a little thing but looking at interviews with Sofia it wasn’t as easy as it seems. You can’t say that the girl isn’t committed as she had to sacrifice quite a lot of hair.

Though it wasn’t a total sacrifice as the hair was put to good use and they made a wig out of it. For Sofia on Medium strangely enough, so she’s wearing a wig made of her own hair. I can only imagine how weird that must have been. A very clever thing to do though, makes it a lot easier to make a good wig.

Right now I’m not aware of any other projects for Sofia outside of Medium but My Sister’s Keeper should change that. Even though the box office numbers will be overshadowed by Transformers 2 (who needs a quality movie anymore, Transformers 2 is getting horrible reviews, My Sister’s Keeper decent to good ones), it should get enough attention from people. Just wanted to point out once again that I saw potential in Sofia long before she was a major name. It’s easy to say it hindsight (and a lot of people do), I did it before. If I’m wrong there isn’t really anyone who will care and hold it against me.

Jailbait: a girl under the age of consent with whom sexual intercourse is unlawful and constitutes statutory rape.

So who’s worth it going to jail for? Here’s our top ten.

10. Miranda Cosgrove: She’s got a nice pair of legs on her but there’s not much else to her. Who knows, she’s only fifteen so who knows what the next couple of years will bring.

9. Emma Roberts: Another nice pair of legs and a cute smile. But she turns eighteen in February so she has no longevity on the list. So just being patient would remove the risks of jailtime.

8. Sofia Vassilieva: People might wonder why she is on this list; she’s not really a starlet that gets a lot of attention except for positive critical reviews. However she did a movie where she had to shave her head; no hair whatsoever. Makes you wonder, did she limit it to her head? It gets the imagination going.

7. AnnaSophia Robb: She’s a cute girl, no way around it. That combined with her latest movie where she smokes in a seductive way earns her a spot in our top ten.

6. Ali Lohan: Her boobs are big enough to spark a plastic surgery rumor and she’s only fourteen years old. That combined with her revealing way of dressing on her show Living Lohan shows a lot of promise for the future; especially seeing she already auditioned for a porn producer.

5. Dakota Fanning: Has been out of the picture for a while, she did a rape movie which didn’t get as much attention as she wanted. Now she’s coming back with a vengeance, in Push she’ll be wearing short skirts. What gets her up to number five however is that she joined her high schools cheerleading squad. Who hasn’t had fantasies about high school cheerleaders?

4. Emily Osment: She doesn’t get the attention she deserves, over the past year she has developed quite a bit in her bust area which sparks some interest from people. She gets a lot of screentime as well and seeing the new season of Hannah Montana promises to be more grown up we should be seeing some nicer outfits. The Hannah Montana movie will probably do the same.

3. Selena Gomez: Hot latina; that’s as much as you can say about her really. So why bother wasting words on it.

2. Miley Cyrus: with the leaked pictures of the past year a lot of the mystery has been taken away which is a pity. She still has an amazing pair of legs and is starting to develop in other areas and she’s only fifteen; she’ll be a forced to be reckoned with. Though a year ago she was dressing more revealing; she’s toned down a bit which is a pity and cost her the top spot.

1. Taylor Momsen: Hot leggy blonde; what else do you want? A seductive look in her eyes with dark eyeliner to increase the effect. Short dresses with straps almost sliding of her shoulders and that at an age of barely fifteen and that while she doesn’t even look her age, what else could you want? There’s just no one out there that can beat her right now.

And now seriously; do you really think we’re going to rank teen celebrities on how hot they are? Of course not but the problem is that a lot of people do, these girls are no wear the legal age and adult people wish they could be in their pants. I’ve pointed out before that some of these girls are dressing above their age. It’s mainly the media and the people that are sexualizing them though, it’s a normal fact that teenagers like to dress up sexy at some point. The thing with these Hollywood girls is just that when you have professionally style hair and make up; they don’t exactly look their age. Just show a person who doesn’t know Taylor Momsen a pic of her at an official event. Just see how many people will guess that she’s only fifteen years old.

There are image forums around the internet where pictures of celebrities are shared. Last year these forums had rules that stated that pictures of celebrities under the age of fourteen weren’t allowed. Then however Miley Cyrus came along and she wore short dresses a couple of times and got some attention. After the comments got out of hand and were far too inappropriate at least two of the bigger image forums actually changed their rules to no pictures of celebrities under the age of sixteen.

Then there is the pedobear thing. Most people won’t have heard about it probably but it’s a growing thing around the internet. When something is considered sexy and the person it is about is a minor the pedo bear is pulled into it. Though I have to admit that the pedobear thing is mostly used in good fun; nothing bad is meant by it. It does show a general tendency to sexualize minors though.

It’s just something that’s in our society though; it’s not like it can be changed though it might just be a phase. The image forums changing their rules is only a stopgap measure anyway; Miley turns sixteen in a month.

The hard thing about it is also that a lot of actresses and singers don’t have their breakthrough until at a later age, being a child or teen star isn’t a guarantee to being successful in the future. Someone who’s a complete nobody now can be the big thing in twenty years time, that really is something that is impossible to predict. That’s why I’m sticking to the teen stars that are the big thing right now, I’ll only name the people I’m really confident in that they will make it. From the people that are usually featured on this site I can only think of two though.

I addressed the same issue a little over a year ago, my main case back then was that Sofia Vassilieva would make it big. That hasn’t happened yet and now makes me believe even more that she’ll become a big thing one day. At the start of the last season of Medium I suspected that she would get a bigger part in the show. Looking at the end of season 3 and beginning of season 4 it really seemed to go that way but the further along they got in season 4 her role got smaller again. It might be a little setback for her career but it’s not that bad a thing.

Next year of course My Sisters Keeper will be released which will be her first major movie, even though she’s only in that movie because Dakota Fanning dropped out. Though it wouldn’t be for the first time that a change in actors is beneficial to a movie. It just is her biggest project to date though, so far it has only been TV and independent movies. I’m not saying that this will be her big breakthrough role but she continues to work with talented people and has a lot of opportunity to learn without being bothered by all the media attention. I would even say that her performance in Day Zero was one of the stronger ones in the movie, her interaction with Jon Bernthal in the movie was quite impressive.

So why will she make it? Yes she can already act at age fifteen and still has plenty of time to learn the skills of the trade. I just have a feeling about her (no, no inappropriate ones) though I’m hardly the only one. She’s been getting quite positive feedback as far as I can tell and she’s being tempted to leave Medium. I don’t think she should though, I think season five will be the last season of Medium and it’s a safe place to be. It’s not the kind of role that will stick to her the rest of the life, there are some experienced actors on that show and it also gets good guest stars at times. She can still learn a lot on that show, it doesn’t take up that much of her time that she can’t do any movies on the side.

In short she just strikes me as someone extremely talented and who isn’t rushing into things and doesn’t really care about the fame. I think she’ll slowly develop in a force to reckoned with and that in twenty years she’ll indeed be one of the big names in Hollywood.

Now to my second case for which certain people will mock me; I’m certain of it. I think that Miley Cyrus will have a long career ahead of her, I always had my doubts about her seeing the Hannah Montana character might get stuck to her forever. In recent months though I think she’ll actually manage to get rid of Hannah Montana once she leaves the show. I’m not sure whether she’ll be able to do this as far as acting is concerned but in music I am.

As far as her acting is concerned there’s still a much to do there, though right now all we have seen of her acting is thirty seconds in Big Fish and two seasons of Hannah Montana. Sitcoms aren’t exactly a good guide to whether someone is a good actor or not, that’s just something she’ll have to discover in the future. Maybe the Hannah Montana movie will be a first sign, her next movie coming out will be Bolt which is animated so not really a good indicator on whether she can really act or not.

In music it’s a different story, in the recent months leading up to her new album she has convinced me that she has a long time to go in the music business. Of course I haven’t heard the full album yet but the first songs are promising. That however is not what convinced me, it’s small things she says in interviews, things she does on stage. When you see Miley performing on stage you see someone who’s passionate about what she’s doing. She just loves to do music, with her it’s not just not a fun thing or just a way to make money like it is to a lot of the younger singers.

Miley even showed up at a small music festival in Franklin Tennessee this week and got on stage with Jeffrey Steele. You’ll have a hard time finding any multi-platinum singer getting on a stage that small. She’s just up there having fun singing Hollywood Girl, she’s just being herself and not the big star. People always say about Miley that she’s still a normal girl with a level head, despite her fame and success. Things like that just prove it though, she’s not letting the fame go to her head and isn’t torn down by negative press. Though she has stated in Billboard magazine the whole Vanity Fair thing did hurt her, she won’t let that stop her though.

Miley’s main strength in music of course is that she is involved in the entire process; no offense to her label but most artists on Hollywood Records aren’t musicians (the better known ones anyway, I won’t say anything negative about Breaking Benjamin or Evan’s Blue). They just show up at a recording studio and record the songs the label selected for them. Miley writes almost all of her songs (except for one or two covers on her albums) and also writes part of the music. There are very few people that age that can do that and actually do it. Miley has actually stated that she wants to learn at least one of every family of instruments. So far she’s at guitar, piano and drums but she doesn’t plan on stopping there. I don’t expect her to do an album where 90% of the music comes out of a computer.

Miley is just in it for the long run and people are starting to realize it. You can even tell by how she’s being announced when she goes on any talkshow, in the beginning she was always announced as the star of Hannah Montana. Now she’ s just being introduced as Miley Cyrus, people have already started to see that she isn’t Hannah Montana which is something I didn’t expect would happen so quickly. She’s also not satisfied with just doing what she is successful at, she is developing her music and constantly looking for new things. That’s the most important part for a musician to stay successful for a long period of time, not doing the same thing over and over again. That’s what makes me believe that Miley will still be around twenty years from now.

Of course there are other people which I could be discussing; AnnaSophia robb, Emily Osment and Abigail Breslin also have a good shot at being around for a while but I’m not convinced by them yet. It’s also impossible to predict what will really happen in the next twenty years, life can do funny things to people. We’ve seen people disappear from the spotlight without knowing why, even if they had a booming career. The great thing about an article like this is that no one can actually prove me wrong now. We won’t know if I’m right or not for another twenty years.

Image: NBC