Justin Timberlake. Justin Timberlake is the sole winner of this title (and of life). He took a hiatus from music during which time he focused on his acting career and we listened to the scraps he threw out like "Dead and Gone", "Carry Out", and "Follow My Lead" and waited anxiously for him to get over his acting stint and come back to our radios (and our hearts).
"Suit and Tie" was the first song released from The 20/20 Experience in early 2013 and it was the first song about clothing that you accepted, without question, and gladly sang along to, since "Blue Suede Shoes". After that, singles began to tumble onto the radio; "Mirrors" stole our hearts, "Take Back the Night" proved that he would forever be the master of getting songs permanently lodged in your brain, and "TKO" set him as the king of pop (thenceforth and forever).
He wins for dancing like this, singing like this (and forever providing us with that song), growing up in the spotlight but somehow managing to come out the other side seeming decent, rising from 90's fashion to a good fitting suit [and tie] (I can't), and giving us this SNL performance followed by this one, showing us all his fantastic range as an artist and giving us the first Christmas presents we could all, gladly, sing along with.
Justin Timberlake wins comeback of the year for 2013 by not even allowing us to notice that he left the music scene, but then giving us two albums in one year to remind us all of why he should stay.
A lot of this was facetious, but Justin Timberlake did have the most seamlessly perfect comeback of 2013 (and possibly of all time) and he's ridiculously good-looking (he's been on television sets since the '90's and never has he appeared less than perfect to the at home audience; I'm both awed and jealous) and definitely deserves comeback of the year.
- E