2009 Vh1 Top 20 • Full HD

Because on that last Saturday of 2009, someone was. VH1 was. And that was enough.

“Tonight’s gonna be a good night…” Jim sang along on screen. Mia laughed. This song was everywhere —school dances, baseball games, her mom’s Zumba class. It was the anthem of a year that felt, in retrospect, like one last innocent exhale before everything got complicated. 2009 vh1 top 20

She cringed now, but in July? She’d danced to this in her room with a hairbrush microphone, pretending she wasn’t terrified of starting high school in the fall. Because on that last Saturday of 2009, someone was

Mia smiled. Of course. The song that started it all. The one that leaked into her friend’s iPod touch at a middle school lock-in, and suddenly everyone was jumping on a hotel bed, shouting “ Just dance! Gonna be okay! ” “Tonight’s gonna be a good night…” Jim sang

Now this. Mia sat up straighter. She remembered watching Gaga perform on an awards show in a dress made of Kermit the Frogs. Her dad had called it “ridiculous.” Mia called it brave . Gaga made being weird feel powerful. In October, Mia had cut her own bangs (disaster) and worn mismatched socks to school just because. She blamed Gaga. Thanked her, really.

As the credits rolled, Mia grabbed a blank CD-R and opened iTunes. She made a playlist: VH1 Top 20 of 2009 – My Life So Far.

It was the Saturday after Christmas. Snow fell outside, but inside, 16-year-old Mia sat cross-legged on her carpet, a bowl of popcorn in her lap, watching the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown —the year-end special. Host Jim Shearer was hyped, his signature energy bouncing off the screen.