Rap star Eminem is the most popular male of 2000, according to searches by Lycos users.
The Real Slim Shady can stand up at the top of a list dominated by hip-hop. Rap artists take the top four slots and seven spots in the Top 20. Eminem received more than twice as many searches as any other male.
THE TOP 20 (last year's rank in parentheses):
1. Eminem (11)
2. Tupac Shakur (2)
3. DMX (-)
4. Kid Rock (5)
5. Ricky Martin (1)
6. Sisqo (-)
7. George W. Bush (-)
8. Al Gore (-)
9. Justin Timberlake (4)
10. Howard Stern (3)
11. Elian Gonzalez (-)
12. The Rock (13)
13. Elvis Presley (9)
14. Rush Limbaugh (-)
15. Michael Jordan (12)
16. Nelly (-)
17. Dr. Dre (-)
18. Brad Pitt (10)
19. Bill Gates (18)
20. Jay-Z (-)
BIGGER AND DEADDER: Tupac Shakur finishes at #2 for the second straight year, making him the most popular dead guy online. Tupac's hold on hip-hop fans shows no sign of wavering; he's either on or close to the Lycos 50 every week, even four years after his murder.
ELECTION 2000: The endless election boosted both George W. Bush and Al Gore into the top ten. Bush is higher thanks to more interest during his protracted primary battle with John McCain.
Other politicians did not do as well as the two presidential candidates. President Bill Clinton, without an impeachment, is #24. Green Party candidate Ralph Nader is #42. Vice Presidential candidates Joe Lieberman and Dick Cheney only saw significant searches around the conventions and debates.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Sisqo. His "Thong Song" owned the summer.
COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Rush Limbaugh, and that's based almost entirely on searches from October and November after he introduced his new website.
CHILD OF THE YEAR: Elian Gonzalez. If we had told you a year ago that a six-year-old Cuban kid would get more searches in 2000 than Brad Pitt, you would have thought we were nuts.
HOT IN 1999, NOT SO HOT IN 2000: Now-retired radio host Art Bell, country star Garth Brooks, and won't somebody please tell Leonardo DiCaprio to make another movie?
STRANGELY ABSENT: He spent the summer of 2000 as the man you love to hate, and walked away with a million dollars as the winner of Survivor, which was itself in the top ten for seven weeks. Yet Richard Hatch is so far down on the search list for 2000 that he falls below '80s actor Corey Haim. Corey Haim!
ONES TO WATCH 2001: Jimmy Fallon is the breakout star of Saturday Night Live, but he needs a big movie role to boost his celebrity status? Xzibit and Ludacris are poised to be the next big names in gangsta rap? American Pie's Chris Klein gets his first blockbuster with the summer 2001 remake of Rollerball? Russell Crowe just misses the list at #21 but should make it next year.
ONES TO WATCH 2000: We were correct about Jay-Z, but we blew it with our call on the "bad boy" of the Backstreets, A.J. McLean. Interest in individual members of boy bands, including Backstreets McLean and Nick Carter (#8 in 1999), fell in 2000. Justin Timberlake remains the individual king of the boy bands, thanks to his relationship with Britney Spears.
Speaking of Britney, tomorrow we'll feature our third list, The Web's Top Women of 2000. She topped it in 1999; can she do it again this year?
Note: These rankings reflect all terms entered into the Lycos search engine by users between January 1 and November 30, 2000. Individuals who died prior to 1970 are excluded. All spellings and search variations are included in these totals: for instance, searches for Micheal Jordan and Michael Jordan pics are counted as searches for Michael Jordan. For more details about how we create these lists, please see our Lycos 50 FAQ.
