Celebrity of the Year Finalist #6: Ashley Dupre

As 2008 winds down, it's time to reflect upon those - from household names to relative unknowns, from A- to D-list - who made this year so memorable.

The Hollywood Gossip is unveiling 10 finalists for its 2nd Annual Celebrity of the Year award. They've given us their best, their worst, even their nude pictures in some cases. Now it is time for us to give something back with this moving tribute.

We previously profiled the seductive, attention-grabbing, pretend lesbians of 2008. Today, we present Celebrity of the Year finalist #6 … Ashley Dupre!

In our years in the celeb gossip biz, we've covered many a ho, but none like Ashley Dupre, a.k.a. Ashley DiPietro, a.k.a. Ashley Youmans, a.k.a. Kristen.

The reason? She was an actual ho, as in one who has sex for money. A lot of money. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, a.k.a. Client No. 9, can attest!

When Spitzer resigned in disgrace after being caught by the FBI arranging to pay to see Ashley Dupre nude at $4,300 per hour, she became a sensation.

Downloads of her crappy music soared. Celeb news mags and TV shows clamored for interviews. Joe Francis offered her seven figures to get naked for Girls Gone Wild - before realizing she already did that while underage years ago, natch.

The country's most famous "escort" (she hates the term prostitute) says she's a real straight arrow now. Her next step is uncertain, but there's been talk of Ashley Dupre getting her own reality show. What a great country this is.

We've tried to encompass the fairly sexy, extremely trashy magic that is Ashley Alexandra Dupre with the photo tribute below. Click to enlarge!