Sorry, Martha! It's Santa by a (reindeer) nose.
Santa Claus elbows aside Martha Stewart in a battle of holiday icons on this week's Lycos 50. Though Ms. Stewart moved up strongly to #27, Santa goes her one better by debuting at #26. (And he hasn't even had his IPO.)
However: both were trampled in the stampede to actress Denise Richards (#8). The lastest Bond glamour gal (whose character happens to be named Christmas Jones) jumps into the top 10, giving even old-timer Pamela Anderson (#7) a run for her money. Richards got more searches this week than all other Bond-related terms combined.
Other highlights from the latest Lycos 50:
GOOD GOD, LET'S EAT: Folks are turning to the Web to learn how to pray. A surprising 4% of all Thanksgiving searches were prayer-related, including large numbers for "Thanksgiving blessing" and "Thanksgiving grace." Meanwhile, roughly 25% of all Thanksgiving searches were about cooking, with the emphasis (natch) on turkey.
POKEMON PERSEVERES: The Japanese pocket monsters retained the #1 spot despite a sturdy holiday challenge from Christmas (#2) and Thanksgiving (#3).
METAL MANIA: Geezer band Metallica (#35) makes its first appearance on the Lycos 50, thanks to its new album S&M and live appearances with (believe it or not) concert orchestras in New York and Berlin.
WHERE'S WOODY? Toy Story 2, despite its $80 million opening weekend, couldn't crack this week's Lycos 50. Not even close, in fact.
SOCCER UP: The rise of soccer (#28) is due to a convergence of NCAA tourneys for both men and women and the World Club Cup, just won by England's Manchester United.
SAY IT AIN'T SO, YODA: The two biggest movies of the year are hovering on the edge of Lycos 50 extinction. Star Wars slides all the way down to #49 -- its lowest rating ever -- and the Blair Witch Project is hanging by a fingernail (or claw) at #50.
NEW THIS WEEK: Santa Claus, soccer, rockers Metallica, actress Heather Graham.
RETURNING AFTER A SHORT ABSENCE: Famous doll Barbie, tennis doll Anna Kournikova.
DROPOUTS: Late rapper Tupac Shakur, very late bard William Shakespeare, wrestling, bonfire site Texas A&M, the IRS, and the Leonid meteor showers.
MYSTERY WOMAN: Actress Heather Graham (#43) makes a sudden move into the 50 this week, and we're not sure why. She was in two major comedies this summer, Austin Powers and Bowfinger. Why she's suddenly hot this late isn't quite clear.
NEXT WEEK! Don't miss our year-end roundups from December 6 - 17th, with eight big lists of the most-searched for people, bands and events of 1999. It all begins next Monday.
