Dragonball falls to #2 this week, but the new Lycos search leader is not the topic you expect. While Spider-Man makes it to #3, it is dead R&B star Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes who is in our #1 spot this week.

Lopes moves up from #8, and her group TLC moves from #35 to #13. Since news of her death came late last week, it isn't surprising that searches for her continued into this week. What is surprising is the content of those searches.

When Dale Earnhardt passed away, we got a ton of searches for autopsy photos because of rumors those photos would appear on the Internet. Well, what do you know: autopsy photos of Lopes actually have appeared on the Internet. The gruesome photos show Lopes with her head bloodied and hair messed, with the morgue cleaning woman in the background.

This invasion of Lopes' post-mortem privacy even has race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressing solidarity, in one of the strangest stories we've seen this year.

One more odd note: the death of Lopes seems to have increased searches for that other recently deceased R&B star, Aaliyah (#46).

BUTT-HEAD: Speaking of photos, searches for Britney Spears (#5) this week included a number of searches for Britney Spears cigarette after the New York Post gossip page printed photos of the singer -- gasp! -- smoking. Britney fans don't seem to mind that their idol teaches little kids to dress up like eight year-old tramps, but they expressed outrage over this transgression.

SPIDEY CENTS: While it could not climb higher than #3, let us not ignore the colossal opening weekend for Spider-Man. The big picture brought in $114 million over three days, breaking the record set by Harry Potter (#33) by $23.7 million, and it broke Harry Potter's November 17 one-day record by $10 million with $43.7 million in box office sales on Saturday.

Next week we should have a better handle on this, but right now our prediction is that Star Wars Episode II (#8) will not beat Spidey's new record. We do predict, however, that Spider-Man costumes will be huge this Halloween. We never get searches for costumes this early, but the Spidey costume searches are already significant.

We are very surprised, by the way, that Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst does not make the Lycos 50 this week. She finishes #69, behind such topics as R&B group B2K and basketball star Allen Iverson. Perhaps Dunst needs another week of after-movie searching to crack our list.

And, on the topic of movie blockbusters, Lord of the Rings drops off our list after 25 weeks, but it should return in the fall when The Two Towers fights with the second Harry Potter film for Christmas blockbuster dominance.

BACK AND WHITE: Say it loud, he's back and proud. Eminem (#15) stormed back onto the Lycos 50 for the first time since September 11 thanks to release of the first single, "Without Me," from his new album The Eminem Show (due June 4). As the song says "We need a little controversy, 'cause it feels so empty without me."

Actually, Marshall, I was doing fine without you, but your fans are glad to have you back.

SHORT SUBJECTS: Well, interest in Robert Blake fizzled quickly; searches dropped by 78 percent from last week... If it is early May, it must be time for Kentucky Derby (#11, up from #23 in 2001) and Cinco de Mayo (#20, down from #8 in 2001)... People seem to still want to remember September 11 (#35), which was up again this week with World Trade Center (#45) returning to the list... Searches for deceased porn star Linda Lovelace (#7) stayed unexpectedly high... The Hubble Telescope (#28) got plenty of searches this week thanks to spectacular new pictures of space released by NASA (photos courtesy of the excellent blogger Steven Den Beste).

NEW THIS WEEK: Kentucky Derby, Eminem, Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Hubble Telescope, Adolf Hitler, World Trade Center, Aaliyah.

DROPOUTS: Lord of the Rings, Israeli-Palestinian War, Survivor, Playstation 2, Scorpion King star Kelly Hu, The Bachelor, Alice in Chains and their deceased frontman Layne Staley.

ONE YEAR AGO: Our greatest moment came May 3, 2001, our infamous prediction about The Fast and The Furious. This week, news that Vin Diesel will not be returning for the sequel bumped Furious searches up again -- it actually came in higher than 'N Sync, The Rock, or Michael Jordan.

TOMORROW: America's new reality obsession(s).