10. Stephen Colbert and Friends' ''Get Lucky'' Routine
The Colbert Report's character-in-chief took the cancellation of a Daft Punk appearance and did what he does best: both tweak and honor the duo by staging an ecstatic ''Get Lucky'' dance-athon featuring everyone from Henry Kissinger to Nick Cannon. Even the Punks would have to tip their helmets to that. —Nick Catucci
9. Miley Cyrus at the AMAs
Cyrus' performance of ''Wrecking Ball'' was a pure manifestation of millennial id made flesh. But beneath the kitty-GIF theatrics, there was also her disarmingly powerful voice, and the innate power that put her everywhere in 2013: her ability to toy with us like a tabby whose yarn ball was the pop game itself. —Kyle Anderson
8. Arcade Fire at the YouTube Music Awards
When creative director Spike Jonze, actress Greta Gerwig, and Arcade Fire — a.k.a. the co-op board of cool — got together, what else could happen but a surreal live video experience? AF's rousing ''Afterlife'' provided the soundtrack for Jonze's wild vision and Gerwig's inspired choreography. —Ray Rahman
7. Pharrell Williams' Interactive ''Happy'' Video
In a year overrun with viral crumbs of ''inspiration,'' Williams launched a remarkable stunt: a 24-hour music video for his effervescently funky Despicable Me 2 contribution. The 336 people joyfully shaking it on the streets of L.A. (including Pharrell and a few celebs, Magic Johnson and Steve Carell among them) formed a rarefied tribe that somehow still felt utterly inclusive. —Nick Catucci
6. Phoenix feat. R. Kelly at the Coachella Festival
We already knew Kells was into some weird stuff. But no one expected to see him join Phoenix (at the soigné French indie-poppers' request) for their headlining set at Coachella in April. Now that we've heard his ''Ignition'' seamlessly mashed up with their ''1901,'' we can never go back. —Ray Rahman
5. Justin Timberlake at the VMAs
To millions at home (and the thousands who witnessed it live at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn), Timberlake's 15-minute careerography solidified his status as this generation's 360 entertainer — and breezily justified his current ubiquity. The 32-year-old slid between personas, nailed the climaxes of every hit, and danced the crowd into a stunned silence that gave way, finally, to rapturous applause. —Kyle Anderson
4. Taylor Swift's Red Tour
Like another culture-dominating blonde from once upon a time, Swift may still be not a girl, not yet a woman. But her latest tour showcased a giant leap forward, both in mastery of the stage and of genres far beyond her country-Kewpie beginnings. Watching her captivate a stadium with the **** of an eyebrow, you get the feeling we just might be calling her POTUS one day. —Leah Greenblatt
3. Nine Inch Nails' Tension Tour
Early Trent Reznor appearances were *******s of catharsis — but as his music has evolved over the past two-plus decades, the NIN mastermind has learned that proper release is a rare thing. On the tour to support NIN's immersive 2013 return, Hesitation Marks, the epic, churning light show was Reznor's psyche made physical; only when he bellowed the final note of ''Hurt'' could audiences exhale. —Kyle Anderson
2. Bruno Mars' Moonshine Jungle Tour
Get the funk out! No, really: Bruno's joyful, brassy, gloriously sweaty revue taught us that a mainstream artist in 2013 can be both utterly new-school cool and rushing-home-from-school-to-watch-Soul Train classic. Showmanship, thy middle name is Mars. —Leah Greenblatt
1. Beyoncé Runs the World (SuperBowl)
There are pop stars, and then there are the supernovas: performers so powerful they create their own force fields, leaving a trail of crackling kilowatts in their wake. Exhibit A: Sure, the blackout that plunged New Orleans' Superdome into darkness after her Super Bowl XLVII halftime show may have been a coincidence, but we know better; her utter command of one of TV's biggest audiences ever — some 110 million — was the takeaway story of the night. (The Ravens won, you say?) Exhibit B: Her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, which raked in more than $100 million despite the absence of a promised fifth studio album because... Exhibit C: Oh yeah, she was just going to drop that (excellent) self-titled album on Dec. 13 with zero warning and own the pop culture conversation all over again. —Leah Greenblatt
