Memorial Day makes its first appearance on the Lycos 50 this week, debuting at #34.
And it's not alone. Memorial Day is really the crest of a wave of military interest we've seen building for some time. This week three wars -- Vietnam (#43), World War II (#39), and the Civil War (#33) all hit the Lycos 50, along with WWII-related topic the Holocaust (#46). All of these have been building for about two months, and it isn't clear whether the interest is directly connected to Memorial Day or not.
We suspect it is, since online interest for most holidays seems to start growing about two months before the actual holiday itself. The next few weeks -- as Memorial Day fades and as students get out of school -- should give us more information.
Other key points from this week's list:
CROWE vs. CRUISE: The big summer movies are here, but the big summer stars aren't who you might think. Russell Crowe, not previously known as a superstar, is now in his third week on the Lycos 50 thanks to his bare-chested role in the epic Gladiator (#32). But where is Tom Cruise, the star of new hit Mission Impossible 2 (#23)? Not on our list. Cruise flashes his burly biceps almost as much as Crowe, yet he got only about 40% as many searches.
And here's the kicker: an MI2 star DOES make our list: Cruise's co-star Thandie Newton. She lands at #49, one spot below Crowe, and she too got over twice as many searches as Cruise. (By comparison, Crowe's female lead, Connie Nielsen, is way out of the search picture.) The obvious question: are we seeing the end of Tom Cruise's status as Alpha Hunk?
STILL GROWING: Rapper Eminem powers past the mighty WWF to land at #4 this week. That's the highest ranking ever for any rapper. About 15% of all his searches were for "Eminem lyrics," which is an unusually high ratio. And about 20% of his queries were variations on the name Slim Shady, which is both his nickname and the name of his last album.
STOP ME BEFORE I LISTEN AGAIN: The blacklist on Napster (#7) seems to be working. (You may recall that Metallica is insisting that Napster block users who have been pirating their tunes.) Among popular new Napster queries we noticed this week: "Banned from Napster," "Napster hack," and "getting around the Napster ban."
SHORT SUBJECTS: Interest in Victoria's Secret (#17) continues two weeks after their big webcast from Cannes. If it was buzz they were after, they seem to have achieved it... six out of ten items in our top 10 remained in the exact same spot this week, a rare occurrence... NASA (#38) is back on our list thanks to the successes of the shuttle Atlantis... The IRS (#50) also returns, apparently due to people who haven't done their returns... Gnutella (#13), a sort of open-source Napster, should have been listed last week -- we just blew the call. Napster stays at #7 this week... Elian Gonzalez finally exits the Lycos 50 after a month and a half of brouhaha... Tattoos (#6) seem to have firmly settled into our top 10, a fact which still amazes us.
NEW THIS WEEK: Gnutella, Mission Impossible 2, Memorial Day, NASA, World War II, Thandie Newton, the IRS.
DROPOUTS: Nascar crash victim Adam Petty, Chrysler's PT Cruiser, former lady wrassler Sable, capital punishment, Elian Gonzalez, Mother's Day, flowers.
BIGGEST RISE: The NBA, up 23 places to #18 on heavy playoff action.
BIGGEST DROP: Shakespeare, down 13 to #45.
FINAL FACTOID: Speaking of summertime, we're wondering if Shakespeare will drop off our list entirely once schools go on summer break. He's been on our list for 21 weeks straight, an impressive achievement for someone who's had writer's block for nearly four centuries.
