Ariana Grande

And indeed, we get some version of a pony right off the bat. This was, I believe, before she discovered hot pants, so she was still trotting around looking like a 14-year old girl in search of a ninth-grade dance.

Pony 1, Down 0.

Ariana Grande

HARK! She dared wear it down. Pony 1, Down 1.

Ariana Grande

I guess she's a go-go dancer now. Pony 2, Down 1.

Ariana Grande

This is one of those where I can't ever tell WHAT it is, because it LOOKS like a half-pony, but then she'll turn around and you see it's all scraped up high and right back there and her prodigious extensions are just spilling all over her shoulders. Regardless: Pony 3, Down 1.

Ariana Grande

Pony 4, Down 1, That Bodice -65.

Ariana Grande

Pony 5, Down 1, The Memory Of Madonna's Blonde Ambition Tour 100 (because she did it better).

Ariana Grande

Pony 5, Down 2, Whatever Shelf Is Back There, A+.

Ariana Grande

Pony 6, Down 2. Seriously, how much DOES her hair weigh?

Ariana Grande

A definite half-pony or at least, a half-updo. Shoot, do I have to make that its own category? Not Down, Not Quite A Pony? Sigh. Pony 6, Down 2, NDNQAP 1.

Ariana Grande

Much easier. Pony 7, Down 2, NDNQAP 1.

Ariana Grande

Pony 8, Down 2, NDNQAP 1, and also, I have NO IDEA why kitty ears are her thing but it's super creepy to me.

Ariana Grande

Pony 9, Down 2, NDNQAP 1.

Ariana Grande

Pony 9, Down 2, NDNQAP 1.

Ariana Grande

Thank you. We were getting REALLY lopsided here. Pony 9, Down 3, NDNQAP 1.

Ariana Grande

.... Executive decision: I think it's at LEAST a half-pony back there. Pony 10, Down 3, NDNQAP 1.

Ariana Grande

Yep, I'm calling it a half-pony. Pony 11, Down 3, NDNQAP 1.

Ariana Grande

I just wanted to look at this again. it's AMAZING. Full marks to her for tweeting "#bangbangintomyface" as a joke, because that's funny, but I'd bet money her brother Frankie (whom I know from Big Brother) thought of it.

Ariana Grande

She even brought the same-old-same-old on Marie Claire. Pony 12, Down 3, NDNQAP 1.

And that's our running total: In a sampling, I basically found the only three times she wore her hair down, and got a random array of other times she wore it up, so the actual ratio is probably bigger than three-out-of-every-four. Ariana, it's time to branch out. Find a pair of scissors and go to town.

Fug the Head-Suit: Ariana Grande's Year in Hair

The world complained a lot about Ariana Grande's single-minded obsession with the pony, or half-pony, or pony-with-so-many-extensions-that-it-LOOKS-like-a-half-pony (for this post's purposes, I'm lumping them all together). But how bad WAS it? I took a sampling of her appearances this year just to see whether she's really stuck in a rut, or we just THINK she is. What hair makeover would YOU give her? Personally, I'd go with a bob. Something a little angular to give her some edge. And I'd take out about four pounds of the fake stuff which would still leave half of it in there if she thinks she needs the volume. [Photos: Getty, Fame/Flynet, Splash]