The Lycos 50 Blog: News from the Pop Culture Fast Lane
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Grammy Notes
The Grammys received their highest ratings since 2004 this year, which is quite encouraging to see since it was an enjoyable show. It was also encouraging to see the Dixie Chicks emerge as the big winners of the evening. Not only do I enjoy their music, but without getting too political, I felt that they received a bit too much flack for simply expressing an opinion a few years back.
The highlight of the show for me was Justin Timberlake. Oh, how I love JT. I admit to having a sort of ironic appreciation for N Sync back in the day, but now there is no irony or shame attached to loving Justin. He has, indeed, brought sexy back.
Today Lycos is launching Lycos MIX, a new tool that allows you to upload and watch videos from a variety of video sites. You can allow others to add videos to your MIX or keep it private.
Check it out at http://mix.lycos.com, create a MIX of your own, and link to it in the comments.
The Office - The funniest TV show on the air today. And I love the American version so much that I often forget how hilarious the original UK version was. "Hi. How are you? Come in. I've poured you a glass of your favorite wine, Cabernet Sauvignon."
In the past few years, actor Hugh Laurie has become a household name in America. Having recently won both SAG and Golden Globe Awards for his performance as Dr. Gregory House on "House," Laurie's career is on a definite upswing.
Though "House" is one of the most popular shows on television, many people may not know that Laurie is actually more well-known in Britain for his comic, rather than dramatic talents. (Actually, many fans of "House" may not even know that Laurie is British, given his pitch-perfect portrayal of the acerbic American doctor.) In the 80s and 90s, Hugh worked with Stephen Fry on the BBC sketch comedy series, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie." (And seriously, check out some of their bits on YouTube. Funny stuff.)
It is hard to imagine anyone else as Dr. House (though I've heard a rumor that Tom Green was up for the role). Laurie has transformed the cranky, insensitive doctor into a multi-layered character for whom audiences can actually root. (Although maybe we all just wish we could say some of the cutting things Dr. House says...)
I have to say, though, I'm glad this Tritter plot is over. Freezing Dr. Wilson's accounts? As if.
I always find it somewhat heartwarming to witness actor's success stories along the lines of Leonardo DiCaprio, who is currently nominated for an Academy Award for his role in "Blood Diamond." Remember when Leo was the homeless kid on "Growing Pains" and Mike Seaver took him under his wing? Or when he was the heartthrob du jour in "Titanic" and girls across the country had his photo taped in their lockers? Now, he is one of the top actors working today.
Another fantastic success story is that of Hilary Swank. I will always remember Hilary as Carly, Steve Sanders' girlfrend on "90210." Rumor has it that Hilary actually got fired from the series, and that she dejectedly figured that her career would go nowhere if she was not a good enough actor to be on "90210." CUT TO: Years later, Hilary has an Academy Award and is one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood.
It always makes me like an actor more if I remember a time when they were sort of embarassing.
The Golden Globe Awards are coming up this Monday, with nominees representing the best in film and television this year. The poor celebrities are being denied their extravagant gift bags this year - doesn't your heart ache for them? My predictions are:
January sort of a depressing time of year; the holidays are over and long months of winter loom ahead. However, there is one incredibly exciting thing about the month of January.
POKER IS THE MOST-SEARCHED TERM OF 2006…LYCOSAnnounces the Most Popular Internet Search Terms of 2006 and the
Ones to Watch in 2007
IRAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM, Most-Searched News Event;
PEREZ HILTON, Most-Searched Blog Site
CLAY AIKEN, Web’s Most Wanted Man;
PAMELA ANDERSON, Most-Searched Woman
"AMERICAN IDOL," Top TV Show; "HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL," Top Movie;
GREEN DAY, Top Band
WALTHAM, Mass.– December 13, 2006 – LYCOS, Inc. (www.lycos.com), a leading community destination for high-quality broadband entertainment content, today announced The LYCOS 50’s annual list of top 50 search terms for the year 2006. The LYCOS 50™ is a weekly list of the most popular people, places and things LYCOS users search for every day. The LYCOS 50 2006 year-end list is based on LYCOS user searches from Jan. 1, 2006 through Nov. 25, 2006. For a complete list of The LYCOS 50 top 50 search terms of 2006, and for in-depth commentary of The LYCOS 50 2006 Report, go to http://50.lycos.com.
Poker generated more online interest than any other search term with LYCOS users in 2006. Search activity for poker has been steadily climbing since it made its first appearance on the 2004 year-end list at number 10. Last year, it was the fourth most popular search term of 2005. Search activity for poker jumped 434 percent over the past year, trumping both Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton, to claim the top spot in 2006. MySpace saw the biggest jump in search interest in 2006, up 568 percent since this time in 2005. Another newcomer to this year’s top search list is Spyware, edging out long-time web darlings like Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Dragonball, which all dropped significantly in 2006.
While Hurricane Katrina was the most-searched news event of 2005, the news story resonating most with web users in 2006 is the Iran Conflict. This also marks the second year in a row that the War in Iraq failed to generate enough search interest to make it the number one news event with web users. Search activity for the Iraq War dropped 30 percent over the past year, with searches for President George W. Bush continuing to decrease, dropping 17 percent since this same time in 2005. Based on search activity, web users appeared much more interested in the World Cup than in the Iraq War, as the World Cup generated 40 percent more searches than the Iraq War in 2006.
Clay Aiken takes over as the most-searched man of 2006, pushing the top man of 2005 Eminem to number three on this year’s list. Aiken generated consistent search interest throughout the year, due in part to the release of a new album, and questions surrounding his sexuality, as well as his recent on-air run-in with Kelly Ripa while co-hosting "Regis and Kelly" last month. Making his debut on the 2006 list of top men is Disney’s "High School Musical" star Zac Efron, who was 182 percent more popular than Howard Stern in 2006, based on web search activity.
Several new faces appear on this year’s top men list, including rapper Daddy Yankee, who was predicted to be "one to watch" in 2006 in last year’s Lycos 50 Year-End report. The untimely death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin sent web users scouring the internet in search of video depicting the stingray attack which subsequently killed him, pushing Irwin onto this year’s most-searched men list. Dropping off the list of most-searched men for the first time in 6 years is Tupac Shakur, while new faces like Chris Brown and Jesse McCartney emerge on this year’s list of most-searched men. Chris Brown saw a huge increase in 2006, up 66 percent. Notably absent from this year’s list of top men is rapper 50 Cent, whose search interest also dipped in 2006, down 98 percent.
Topping the list of this year’s most-searched women is Pamela Anderson who continues to find ways of staying top of mind with web users. Helping propel Anderson in 2006 were her over-hyped marriage(s) to Kid Rock and then subsequent divorce, as well as her many news-driven PETA appearances. Making her first-ever appearance on this year’s list of most-searched women is Jessica Simpson, while this marks the first year since 2000 that Brooke Burke did not make the list of top women. This also marks the 7th consecutive year that Britney Spears has appeared on the list of most-searched women, from 1999 through 2006.
"American Idol" retakes the top spot as the most-searched TV show of 2006, as "The Simpsons" drops 59 percent since this time last year. Search interest in American Idol jumped 300 percent in 2006, while former American Idol contestant Elliot Yamin sees the biggest jump in search interest over the past year, making the list of most-searched men of 2006. Reality shows and primetime cartoons continue to dominate the list of most-searched TV shows in 2006. Meanwhile, Green Day is the most-searched band of 2006, for the second consecutive year.
And from the blogosphere, Perez Hilton is the most-searched blog site of 2006, generating 91 percent more search interest than the second most popular blog site with web searchers, Huffington Post. While Huffington Post provides news and opinions, three of the top five most-searched blog sites this year cater to celebrity gossip news, including Perez Hilton, a.k.a. Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., TMZ, a.k.a. "Thirty Mile Zone" around Hollywood, and Pink is the New Blog. The fifth most popular blog site in 2006 is PostSecret, an ongoing community art project where people anonymously email their secrets on postcards.
Top 10 Women of 2006:
1) Pamela Anderson 6) Jessica Simpson
2) Paris Hilton 7) Hilary Duff
3) Britney Spears 8) Anna Kournikova
4) Lindsay Lohan 9) Carmen Electra
5) Jennifer Lopez 10) Angelina Jolie
Top 10 Men of 2006:
1) Clay Aiken 6) Howard Stern
2) Zac Efron 7) Daddy Yankee
3) Eminem 8) Jesse McCartney
4) Nelly 9) Elliot Yamin
5) Chris Brown 10) Steve Irwin
Top 10 Bands of 2006:
1) Green Day 6) Nickelback
2) Pussycat Dolls 7) Evanescence
3) Fall Out Boy 8) Black Eyes Peas
4) Guns N Roses 9) All American Rejects
5) Rolling Stones 10) The Fray
Top 10 Films of 2006:
1) High School Musical 6) Scary Movie 4
2) The Da Vinci Code 7) Snakes on a Plane
3) Pirates of the Caribbean 3 8) Talladega Nights
4) X-Men 3 9) Saw 3
5) V for Vendetta 10) Nacho Libre
Top News Stories of 2006:
1) Iran Conflict 6) Global Warming
2) World Cup 7) Winter Olympics
3) War in Iraq 8) Debra LaFave Scandal
4) Heather Mills/Paul McCartney Divorce 9) Gas Prices
5) Israel/Palestine Conflict 10) Stem Cell Research
Top Fads of 2006:
1) Poker 6) Yoga
2) MySpace 7) Final Fantasy
3) RuneScape 8) Yu-Gi-Oh
4) iPod 9) Atkins Diet
5) YouTube 10) Pilates
Top Television Shows of 2006:
1) American Idol 6) CSI
2) Lost 7) The Simpsons
3) South Park 8) Scrubs
4) Smallville 9) Survivor
5) Family Guy 10) Dancing with the Stars
Top 10 Sports Stars of 2006:
1) Anna Kournikova 6) Michelle Wie
2) Maria Sharapova 7) Barry Bonds
3) Christiano Rinaldo 8) Lucas Neill
4) Tiger Woods 9) Lance Armstrong
5) Danica Patrick 10) Kirby Puckett
Top 5 Blog Sites of 2006:
1) Perez Hilton
2) Huffington Post
3) TMZ
4) Pink is the New Blog
5) PostSecret
The Ones to Watch in 2007:
The following terms had strong showings in 2006. Based on growing search queries, The Lycos 50 predicts these are the ones to watch in 2007: from the political stage, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and the topics of illegal immigration, global warming, bird flu and stem cell research…singer/actress Beyonce…rappers Nas and Jim Jones, and hip-hop artist Akon …the 2007 movies already generating buzz online are all sequels and one based on a famous primetime animated series including, "Spider Man 3," "Shrek the Third," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Land’s End," "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Saw 4," and "The Simpsons
Movie"…the TV shows "Heroes" and "Ugly Betty,"…from the literary world, the eagerly anticipated release of Harry Potter 7…and from the technology side, geotagging, Wii and GPS Tracking on cell phones.
Watching the "Today Show" as I am getting ready for work in the morning is often disgusting and/or terrifying. First of all, every morning seems to feature some sort of segment about germs. According to Matt Lauer, there are an exponential amount of germs that we encounter in our day-to-day lives about which we don't know. Today, I discovered that there are germs EVERYWHERE at the gym, which gives me yet another reason (in addition to "lazy" and "would rather watch TV") not to go to the gym.
There are also a large number of stories about obesity in America, and how ridiculously unhealthy we all are. Disney, which appears at #8 on this week's Lycos 50, has adopted a healthy food initiative for its theme parks. They plan to offer "appropriate kid-sized portions" at parks, with no more than 30% fat in main and side dishes, and 35% for snacks. In addition, saturated fat will be limited to 10% in all foods, and added sugar will be limited to 10% in main dishes and 25% in snacks.
I have mixed feelings about this intiative. A day at Disneyland is really a celebration of being a kid. As an adult, when I go to Disneyland, I always drop the diet and treat myself to one of those amazing chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. Must we worry about our weight everywhere? However, it is true that the unhealthiness of American kids is getting out of control. Kids need to learn proper nutrition, and it is responsible of Disneyland to provide healthy (if, I'm sure, still ridiculously overpriced) options. The sad thing is that it seems that enough kids are not adopting healthy habits at a young age. They simply gorge themselves on fast food and sweets, rather than treating themselves to a few cookies after a balanced meal containing vegetables. Perhaps preventing the intake of junk food at Disneyland is actually necessary, although I still don't really see why America seems to have lost the concept of "moderation."
On a related note, Britney Spears lost 26 pounds in a month!
I love gossip. Particularly about people I actually know, but celebrity gossip is pretty delicious, too. Remember this summer, when Mel Gibson was arrested? And, like, it was the same week that the CEO of Morgan Creek sent Lindsay Lohan a letter about how her partying was disrupting filming? That was such an awesome week. It was like a six month early Christmas for gossip fiends. For your edification, here are some of my favorite gossipy websites to help procrastinate your work day away:
Veronica Mars appeared on our Movers & Shakers with a 150% increase from last week. The season premiere aired Wednesday night on the new CW network. Any doubts that Veronica would experience growing pains with her transition to college, as Buffy did before her, were laid to rest. The first scene of the episode featured our heroine in a Criminology class where we could see that she's lost none of her edge. Three minutes into the show, Veronica had already solved a case and made an enemy (As Keith pointed out, "It is a day ending in Y.").
The new characters struck the right notes. Wallace's roommate, Piz, although maybe a bit dim to leave his car door unlocked, is laid-back and funny. Its refreshing to see Wallace with a guy friend. Though I expected to hate Mac's roommate, I found her eager-to-please and open personality likable, and the reveal of her rape at the end of the episode was certainly jarring.
The case-of-the-week, while maybe not the most riveting the show has produced, served as a excellent introduction into what college life will be like for the Neptune gang. I admit, I was relieved to find out that Logan and Veronica had not split over the summer. Whether playing lovers or antagonists, Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell have a fantastic chemistry, and Logan's obvious adoration of Veronica is one of this character's most endearing traits. Logan, who had always seemed so broken, appeared to have stabilized somewhat, probably due to Veronica's influence. It is Dick who ricocheted out of control after the death of his brother, and the end of the episode saw him collapsing into Logan's arms. (Clearly, Dick will be suspected as the rapist.)
The episode was not without its weaknesses. The Keith storyline seemed too confusing, and, really, Keith outsmarted by Vinnie Vanlowe? No. I suspect that Kendall is not dead, but hey, we never saw a body when Lynn Echolls jumped off of the bridge, either. My biggest issue was with the remix of "We Used to Be Friends." Why?
I am hopeful that the new format that has the show featuring three mystery arcs over the course of the season instead of just one will allow this season to be more streamlined than season two. The "Who killed Lilly Kane?" mystery arc was one of the most brilliant and emotionally resonant I've ever seen on television, and "Who caused the bus crash?" just didn't measure up.
Regardless of some weaknesses here and there, Veronica Mars is one of the best shows on TV. If you don't already, tune in on Wednesdays at 9 on the CW.
