It’s almost 2014, so you know what that means – time to recap our favorite moments of 2013!  (We’re so original here).   As we mentioned before, 2013 was an awesome year for music, especially if you’re a secret fangirl.   Here are our favorite things that happened this year.

10.  78Violet
After what seemed like years of talk, 78Violet, aka Aly & AJ, announced an official reunion and a new single, “Hothouse.”  We are loving their new sound!   They are very interactive with their fans, and had some adorable sister moments on stage at their Grammercy Theater show, like mixing up their mic-pacs and swapping them back on stage.   We also love Aly’s story about their song “53rd Floor” – she realized only after the song was finished she had gotten the floor number wrong. Oops!

9.  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were everywhere in 2013, and we would put “Can’t Hold Us” and “Thrift Shop” on any Best of 2013 list.   Their live show is just incredible with freestyle rapping, a full horn section, confetti blasters, and some serious crowd surfing.  Not to mention one of the most energetic performers we’ve ever seen!  Oh, and have you heard how Macklemore (aka Ben Haggerty) met his now fiance Tricia Davis?  Take notes: She had heard one of his songs on the radio, and sent him a MySpace message offering to make him a picnic, or so the legend goes.  She did, and they’ve been together ever since.    Fangirling at its finest.  We love it!

8. Jesse McCartney’s Comeback
We’ve been fans of J Mac since his days on “Summerland” and his first album.  Okay, we admit we were fans of Dreamstreet too.  (Remember them?)  He’s been focusing on acting lately, so we were stoked when he announced he would be joining the Backstreet Boys on their 20th Anniversary Tour.   Jesse let us know he’d been in the studio too, and released an EP, In Technicolor Part I, in December. Our favorite song is “Back Together”.

7.  Austin Mahone!
We discovered Austin by actually clicking on an “Amazon MP3 suggests” selection, and boy are we glad we did.   Talent, style, sweet dance moves? Austin is the complete package.  We were counting down the days until his headlining MTV Artist to Watch Tour in the fall, which was sadly postponed, but now means we’re just counting the days until it now kicks off in March!

6.  Selena Gomez Makes the Stars Dance
Selena returned to music this year with her album, “Stars Dance.”  This also marked the first time she released music without her band, The Scene.   Her music and performances are a throwback to early Britney (chair dances!!) and we are loving her pop-dance sound.   Say what you want about her,  but there is no denying the girl can dance and put on a good show.

Stay tuned for Part 2!