For an incredible fourth year in a row, Britney Spears reigns as the most popular female of the Internet according to searches by Lycos users.

Like Britney, many of the other top women online have been in our Web's Most Wanted every year since 1999. But this year, the regulars are joined by an international star arriving in America, a couple of young singers who go against the teen queen grain, and a strange Asian scandal.

Here are the Top 20, with last year's rank in parentheses:

1. Britney Spears (1)
2. Pamela Anderson (2)
3. Anna Kournikova (4)
4. Chu Mei-Feng (-)
5. Jennifer Lopez (3)
6. Shakira (-)
7. Brooke Burke (10)
8. Martha Stewart (9)
9. Christina Aguilera (8)
10. Oprah Winfrey (11)

11. Aaliyah (12)
12. Halle Berry (-)
13. Avril Lavigne (-)
14. Pink (-)
15. Carmen Electra (6)
16. Kylie Minogue (-)
17. Ashanti (-)
18. Anna Nicole Smith (16)
19. Madonna (5)
20. Angelina Jolie (7)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: If you haven't been reading since January, you are probably wondering who Chu Mei-Feng is. The answer: a young, comely Taiwanese politician whose adulterous liaisons showed up online thanks to secretly shot videotapes.

Despite the fact that the scandal was invisible in the English-speaking world, a ridiculously abnormal number of searches from Asia kept Mei-Feng on our list for 14 weeks. On our third anniversary, we called her the strangest topic in the history of the Lycos 50.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, NON-ABSURD DIVISION: We tagged Avril Lavigne as One to Watch in May, and within a month the Canadian teenager shocked the music business when her debut album Let Go showed up at #2 on the charts. Lavigne peaked at #6 on the Lycos 50 in August and led a wave of female singer-songwriters, including Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch, who jousted with dance divas for MTV supremacy.

ALSO BIG IN 2002: Rappers Trina and Missy Elliot (up 200% each), wrestling babe Stacy Keibler (up 350%), tennis star Serena Williams (up 115%), and the previously unsearched Elin Nordegren, a.k.a. Tiger Woods' girlfriend.

HOT IN 2001, NOT SO HOT IN 2002: Actresses Jessica Alba, Nikki Cox, and Katie Holmes, and especially singer Dido (down more than 80%).

IN MOURNING: The death of R&B star Lisa Lopes made it to #1 on the Lycos 50 in May; Lopes finishes #24 among women.

FUN FACT: Despite the fact that she hasn't done anything since the Eisenhower administration, Jenny McCarthy got more searches in 2002 than Heidi Klum, Sarah Michelle Gellar, or Kirsten Dunst.

ONES TO WATCH 2003: From the ashes of Destiny's Child, singer Beyonce Knowles releases her solo debut in March... Actress Jennifer Garner is already popular thanks to Alias, but searches are sure to explode when she plays the sexy ninja Elektra in February's Daredevil... Norwegian actress Kristanna Loken will be Ah-nold's nemesis as the female cyborg T-X in July's Terminator 3.

MONDAY: We'll be announcing the Web's Most Wanted Top 100 for 2002, from A to Z (well, Aaliyah to Yu-Gi-Oh!). Come check out our most eagerly anticipated article of the year.