By SAMANTHA ETTUS
Scripps Howard News Service
29-DEC-05

Admittedly, it is all too easy to criticize the mistakes of our favorite celebrities each week.  In the spirit of ringing in the New Year on the right foot, let's take a look at ten celebrities who ended the year on an even higher note than they entered it.

1. Rachael Ray
Perhaps no celebrity had a more earth changing year than Ray.  After her series of bestselling books, the launch of her new magazine and four cooking television shows, she scored an even bigger coup when she was anointed Oprah's next talk show prot'g'e, earning a slot replacing Tony Danza each day next year, bringing her out of the kitchen and into mainstream talk land.

2. Isaac Mizrahi
Though the designer turned talk show host's flamboyant personality is anything but understated, his comeback has been just that.  The buzz behind his new nightly show on E is spectacular --he has been able to not only get great guests to appear with him, but also to connect with them on air, generating overwhelmingly positive reviews. Mizrahi is definitely one to tune into in 2006.

3. Martha Stewart
She started the year behind bars and ended with a hit daily talk show, a best selling book, and a large pool of new fans and admirers.  Stewart showed that with determination and self confidence, not even incarceration could hold her back.  If anything, we like the newer, humbled Martha more than ever before. 

4. Vince Vaughn
After stealing the show in this year's box office smash comedy, Wedding Crashers, Vaughn topped it off with an off screen romance with Brangelina victim, Jennifer Aniston, at once making him a savior and reorienting us to the idea that beyond funny guy, Vaughn can also play a leading man.

5. Kate Spade
The handbag designer with her self named line survived a tumultuous 2004 amid false rumors of marital strife to come out on top this year.  Early this year she and business partner and husband, Andy Spade, welcomed their first baby and she put her new know-how to work last month by launching her own line of baby clothing and bags, Kate Spade Baby.  Her continued innovation insures that she is always one step ahead of her own curve.

6. Rachel McAdams
Ubiquitous is perhaps the most salient adjective used to describe McAdams' on screen presence this year.  From Wedding Crashers to Red Eye and The Family Stone, she managed to appear in three box office hits in one year, milking last year's star turn in Mean Girls for all it was worth.  Though her name might not roll off your tongue today, it will be second nature to you by this time next year.
 
7. Jamie Foxx
He captured the Oscar for his performance in Ray putting him on the map as a full fledged movie star. Now he aims to top that with a Grammy nomination for his new career, singer and songwriter, making him, perhaps, the male Jennifer Lopez, without the personal drama that plagues her.

8. Lauren 'LC' Conrad
Unless you are one of the many obsessed Laguna Beach fans, who tune into MTV to watch high schoolers live out real life OC fantasies each week, you probably have never heard of Conrad but you soon will.  MTV granted this teen queen her own reality TV show, The Hills, capturing her life in LA ,which launches next spring on a TV set near you.

9. Giada De Laurentiis
Though her Food Network show, Everyday Italian, had already garnered a significant fan base, this year's same titled bestselling book, put her on the map as a top TV chef to watch.  De Laurentiis' approachable nature and captivating smile make her a star to bank on next year, especially with the upcoming release of her next sure-to-be-a-hit book, Giada's Family Dinners.

10. Donald Trump
Despite less than stellar ratings for The Apprentice, The Donald managed to win back some of the luster in his now four season series, making it a shoe in for next year's lineup With a self named line of clothing at Macy's and his burgeoning real estate empire, his name has never been bigger. Along the way he married his long time love, Melania, in a celebrity filled ceremony and the two are expecting their first child together next year.

Remember: the most dependable road to the top is to treat your brand as your greatest asset.
 
(Samantha Ettus' new book, "The Experts' Guide to Life at Home" (Random House) is now in bookstores. Contact her at Samantha@celebrityassets.com.)