The Best of: IN

In: Le club royale!

This was the year of not just one royal wedding but three! Kate Middleton set a record in April when more than 13 billion people worldwide tuned into see her wed Britain’s Prince William. Then Zara Philips (Prince William’s cousin) married her English rugby captain, Mike Tindall, in a more low-key ceremony held in Edinburgh. And finally, over in Monaco, South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock apparently attempted two desperate escapes before she sobbed her way down the aisle to wed the philandering Prince Albert. Not only is it unique to have three royal weddings in one year, it’s also interesting that all three royals broke with protocol and welcomed mere commoners into le club royale.

In: Ricky Gervais 

Publicists and movie stars would aggressively disagree when we say that Ricky Gervais, the British comedian with the lowest form of wit, is the best thing that happened to Hollywood in 2011. But then again, we have 6.8 million YouTube fans to back us up. Ricky became the talk of Tinseltown when, as the host of the Golden Globe Awards and in front of more than 200 million viewers, he bashed Hollywood royalty including Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen, Tom Cruise, John Travolta and even the head of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. After the awards the Washington Post asked: “Are we at war with England? If not, then why have we been subjected to two years of Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globe Awards?” Ironically, from all the attention his hosting commanded, Ricky has been asked to present the Golden Globes again in 2012.

In: Japanese spirit

On 11 March an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale brought a tsunami to the northeastern coast of Japan. The deadly wave destroyed thousands of homes, local factories, boats and cars. It also rocked a local nuclear power plant and thrust Japan into a possible nuclear disaster on a Chernobyl scale. Thousands of people died, but it was the post-tsunami spirit of the nation that truly captured the attention of the world. Desperate survivors supported each other and queued calmly for life-saving supplies – true examples of humanity. Now about those dolphins…