Jennifer Lopez (#5) has a new movie in theaters, but that's not why she's climbing back up the Lycos 50.
As we expected, Angel Eyes was somewhat of a disappointment at theatres, as well as online where it received fewer searches than the city of Edmonton. No, J. Lo is back in the news thanks to the latest wrinkle in the long-standing East Coast vs. West Coast rap war.
Death Row Records CEO Marion ''Suge'' Knight is about to be released from five years in prison and has decided to launch a new offensive against rival Sean Combs, a.k.a. Puff Daddy or P. Diddy or an unpronounceable symbol or whatever he is calling himself this week.
Knight is planning to release a tape entitled Suge Knight's Tha Real Story: Down Low With J. Lo and P. Diddy. What's on the tape? Well, Star Magazine has alleged that Knight has a tape of Lopez having sex with an old pre-Puffy boyfriend. Knight won't say but Death Row promises an uncensored ''reenactment" of the Puffy-J. Lo relationship. Knight may have misfired a bit, as the storm has centered on Lopez and missed the increasingly irrelevant Combs entirely.
Pointless re-enactment or grainy, unwatchable amateur sex tape: either would please the Internet wolves that feed on controversy. Searches for the tape have been strong for two weeks, and searches for Knight are up as well.
Where do you keep up on the latest about J. Lo and other kooky celebs? Try Lycos Entertainment's new feature, top stories from gossip magazines like National Enquirer and Star.
WE EXPECTED YOU: Two topics we've been discussing for months make their long awaited appearances on this week's list.
Last week's release of the album Lateralus gives art-metal band Tool (#20) that last needed boost into the Lycos 50. A few spots lower, summer blockbuster/historical event Pearl Harbor (#27) makes its first appearance since last Pearl Harbor Day. The movie received more pre-release searches than any other film so far this year.
While wars are always hot study topics for students in the spring, World War II (#19) has seen far more interest this year than last. Last year World War II spent three weeks on the list; this year, it has been on the list for 13 straight weeks. That interest in the Greatest Generation, combined with riveting action and a love story, could put Pearl Harbor in next week's top ten.
THE MOBIUS BAND: Like the famous geometric strip that has no end, the Star Trek (#33) franchise just keeps going and going. This week's appearance in the Lycos 50 is based on the series finale of Star Trek: Voyager and the announcement of next fall's premiere for a fifth Star Trek series, to be called Star Trek: Enterprise. Like Voyager, Enterprise will appear on UPN, and it will star Scott Bakula as the captain. Enterprise will be a prequel of sorts, based in the 23rd century before even the first Star Trek series.
Voyager was mentioned in roughly 23 percent of Star Trek queries, while Enterprise or new series was mentioned in roughly 12 percent.
LITTLE RASCAL: The Robert Blake (#10) murder mystery just gets stranger and stranger, and more and more Lycos users are interested. This week most of the searches were for Blake himself, with only 10 percent for murdered wife Bonnie Lee Bakley.
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE: Add up all the searches for related poems, songs, and gifts and graduation makes it to #32 on this week's Lycos 50. Later this week we'll take a deeper look at the most prevalent graduation-related searches.
BLATANT ROOMMATE PLUG: What causes blockbuster-in-waiting Lord of the Rings to nearly make the list at #51? Is it this article on Tolkien's literary significance (or lack thereof) by Chris Mooney of the American Prospect?
Actually, the reason behind the searches is the unveiling of the part of the film at the Cannes Film Festival by director Peter Jackson last week, along with rumors that a new Fellowship of the Ring trailer has been attached to Pearl Harbor. Don't tell Chris though.
STILL HERE: At this point, there are about seven kids left in America who still need to do their hair for the prom, but prom hairstyles (#35) are still on the Lycos 50. And what is with the IRS (#44)? Who hasn't paid their taxes yet? Yet people are still typing in queries like IRS E-File.
SHORT SUBJECTS: Mother's Day finishes #14; not bad considering that basically represents only searches from Sunday? For the first time in 16 weeks both Survivor and NASCAR leave the Lycos 50? The latest file-swapping program and Napster competitor to make the list is iMesh (#24), which saw searches double this week? Allen Iverson (#62) nearly becomes the first NBA player to make the Lycos 50.
NEW THIS WEEK: Tool, iMesh, Pearl Harbor, mortgage rates, graduation, Star Trek.
DROPOUTS: Reality twins Survivor and Big Brother Australia, plus CNN anchor-to-be Andrea Thompson, NASCAR, Korn, and Digimon.
BIGGEST RISE: The resurgent Gnutella, up 11 places to #16.
BIGGEST DROP: The Mummy Returns, down 20 places to #45.
ONE YEAR AGO: The much-ballyhooed Victoria's Secret fashion webcast launched the underwear retailer into the top ten.
FINALLY: In the battle of dead celebrities, science-fiction author and Web icon Douglas Adams beats classic crooner Perry Como 62 percent to 38 percent. Como barely tops the Monkey Man of New Dehli.
TOMORROW: Playstation 2, meet the competition.
