Kat with a K

Tater Tops: Breakout Star

One of my favorite TV journalists, Kristin Dos Santos at E!, runs fan-voted Tater Tops awards each year. I figured I might as well link you to them and tell you my picks as they happen - I think she does a category or two a day. First up: Breakout Star. I don't watch Community or Modern Family (I know, I know) so that knocks out about half of each list of nominees.

Among the men, I am compelled (hah!) to vote for Ian Somerhalder whenever possible, although I'm not entirely convinced that he wasn't already more of a star than most of these actors, seeing as how he was on Lost and all. (Also, I swear Somerhalder wasn't on the list the first time I looked at it, last night. Huh.) I would not be sad if his vamp brother Paul Wesley got it, or either of the listed guys from Glee (Matthew Morrison or Cory Monteith), although I would have put Mark Salling on the list too - he certainly seems to be more of an unexpected star than Morrison or Monteith. I love Jesse Williams on Grey's, but I don't think he's quite at the level of the other guys as far as star power goes.

Among the women - in addition to the shows listed above, I don't watch The Office either, so I have no opinion there. Life Unexpected drove me nuts and I gave up on it, so Robertson doesn't get my vote either. This leaves Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries and three ladies from Glee, and among that group, Dobrev seems the clear winner. She plays two characters impeccably, and neither are exactly easy roles. Lea Michele is a close second, though. Jane Lynch was already a star, was she not? And, honestly, I like her Glee character exponentially less than everyone else in the universe seems to. Finally, I might be paying too much attention to semantics here, but while I'd definitely call Heather Morris a breakout something, "star" seems like a stretch for that role.

I'm trying to decide if there was anyone else I would have added to these lists . . . Mark Salling, as I'd mentioned. Maybe Malese Jow from Vampire Diaries. Maybe someone from Parenthood? (I've still only seen the pilot of that, but one of the teenage girls is getting a lot of buzz, right?)