While we were compiling the Web's Most Wanted of 2000 we got curious: What were the top topics of 2000 that never made it onto the Lycos 50?
Some of these topics have been lurking under the Lycos 50 for months now. Others are recent risers and definite ones to watch for 2001.
We actually picked her as somebody to watch for 2000 late in December 1999. But despite high popularity all year long, teen pop starlet clubs never made the Lycos 50 despite finishing at #86 for the year.
Moore will have a new album out in either March or April and just wrapped up her first film role in the movie The Princess Diaries, due in July. If teen pop stays hot, Moore may be headed for Britney and Christina territory by summertime.
Another teen starlet with a sophomore album due in 2001 is Jessica Simpson, who finishes at #105 for 2000 despite never appearing in the Lycos 50. Moore and Simpson will both be releasing their albums at about the same time, which should lead to some interesting competition on the charts, on MTV, and on the Lycos 50.
Model Tyra Banks finishes at #87, but searches for her actually dropped steadily over the year. Joining the cast of Felicity hasn't boosted her much, and Banks probably won't make the Lycos 50 anytime soon unless she appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue or a particularly controversial cover of Maxim or Playboy.
The next-highest term to never appear on the Lycos 50 is Wicca, at #91. This neo-pagan religion is very popular online, particularly around Halloween.
Speaking of witches and other mystical characters, the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer finishes 2000 at #93, and star Sarah Michelle Gellar finishes at #97. Buffy searches have slumped this season, but Gellar's movie career seems poised for a 2001 take-off with roles in Harvard Man and the new movie version of Scooby-Doo.
R&B group Destiny's Child has weathered numerous personnel changes in 2000 to find huge end-of-year success. The single "Independent Women, Part I," from the soundtrack to Charlie's Angels, has now topped Billboard's singles chart for eight weeks. Searches for the group have jumped more than 700 percent since October and they finish at #95 for 2000
Destiny's Child has a new album, Survivors, coming out Februrary 13, as well as three solo albums, one for each group member, planned later in the year (shades of KISS!). They are poised to become the first girl group to make the Lycos 50.
Here are a few other terms that ranked high in 2000 but never made the Lycos 50:
Hard rock band Slipknot (#94)
Drug Viagra (#96)
Classic video game Tetris (#108)
Wrestler The Rock (#113)
Humor website Joe Cartoon (#116)
Rock bands Creed (#121) and Pearl Jam (#122)
The Lycos 50 staff is taking a few days off to explore strange monoliths on the moon and will return Wednesday, January 3, 2001.
