Love him or hate him, little Elian Gonzales won't go away. This week he vaults past the powerful World Wrestling Federation (#5) to move to #4 on the Lycos 50.
Elian himself is far and away the most-searched figure in the whole affair; his cousin Marisleysis got about 5% of Elian's total, and Janet Reno had 10%. Fidel Castro searches have risen about 500% in the last six weeks, but the dictator still got only about 8% of the searches of Elian this week.
The real surprise: about 10% of all Elian searchers were looking for the tv commercial parody that's making the rounds on the Web, variously titled "Elian Wassup," "Elian True," and "Budweiser Stormtrooper." Guess we should have expected that.
Other key points from this week's list:
STRATUS STATUS: Pro wrassling did have one big win this week: new WWF dame Trish Stratus jumps all the way up to #19, nearly pinning Web fave Jennifer Lopez (#18). Stratus doesn't actually wrestle, it seems -- she just accompanies the burly behemoths to the ring. Welcome to 21st century entertainment!
COLUMBINE TAPE: 1999's Columbine High shootings remain a controversial topic online this week, mostly due to the hubbub over the release of videotapes of the shooting scene. The topic is #15 this week, up from #47 one week ago.
RAP DOMINANCE CONTINUES: Eminem, the punky pale rapper, hits our list at #17 this week in anticipation of his upcoming album, "The Marshall Mathers LP." (Due May 30.) A single from the new LP, "The Real Slim Shady," is getting a lot of search interest, too, apparently due to the naughty lyrics that take a slap at teen singer Christina Aguilera. Perhaps not coincidentally, Aguilera is up 5 spots to #21.
X-MANIA: Yow! Last week we mentioned that upcoming movie The Gladiator is a hot topic. Now this week The X-Men actually jump into the Lycos 50 at #42. The X-Men is a classic comic, of course, but the upcoming X-Men movie (starring Patrick Stewart and Halle Berry, among others) is what's driving the searches. The flick's still nearly three months away: the official release date is July 14th.
SHORT SUBJECTS: Easter drops only 9 spots in the post-holiday week, sticking at #11... The IRS also stays in the top 50, but drops 29 spots... baseball (#12) finally outpolls marijuana (#13) as America's Pastime... video game Final Fantasy (#16) doesn't get enough credit -- it's a lock to be between #11 and #20 every week... we're down to the last-minute details on proms: prom dresses (#48) are down but prom hairstyles (#39) are up... NASA (#37) has a big rise this week due to the postponed Atlantis launch... Holocaust (#40) searches may be due to Israel's annual remembrance of those killed... virtual newscaster Ana Nova was a one-week wonder, with 70% fewer searches for her this week.
NEW THIS WEEK: Eminem, NASA, prom hairstyles, the Holocaust, the X-Men, actress Alyssa Milano, rap lyrics, the Vietnam War.
DROPOUTS: Area 51 photos, Martha Stewart, World War II, taxes, the NFL, Passover, the Boston Marathon, Ana Nova.
BIGGEST RISE: Columbine High, up 32 spots.
BIGGEST DROP: The IRS, down 29.
FINAL FACTOID: Last week World War II made it into the Lycos 50. This week the Vietnam War slips in at #50 -- due, we presume, to coverage of the 25th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.
