[James]

Top 10 searches of 2009

Jo Dimbleby

Tue 01 Dec 00:20 GMT
2009 has been an incredible year, but what has really intrigued us? Take a look at the top 10 most popular search terms of the year.

1. Big Brother

Unfortunately, Big Brother's big tenth birthday in the UK did not pass altogether happily. BB10 got the lowest audience ever for an individual episode and the second least watched launch night, spelling the end for the flagship series on Channel 4. Still, at least surgically enhanced Sophie didn't suffer the indignity of the ‘Dogface' name change for nothing - she came through to win a lucrative tabloid career with 74.4% of the final vote.

2. X Factor

All four series-five judges - Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole - returned for the latest series of X Factor. New formats and celebrity mentors have ratcheted up interest levels and viewing figures. Although voted out before the finals, the stars of this year's show have undoubtedly been Jedward.

3. Job centre

The long-heralded recession finally hit home in March 2009 as UK unemployment rose above two million for the first time since 1997. Plenty of searchers found themselves with unwanted time on their hands through company cutbacks and large scale layoffs. Many economists are gloomily predicting unemployment to go above the three million mark next year, so the search term 'job centre' looks set to remain firmly in the top 10.

4. Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's collapse at his rented mansion on 25th June 2009 set off an unprecedented outpouring of sentiment on a global scale. News of his death swept aside doubts regarding the more controversial aspects of his lifestyle, leaving the world to mourn the passing of an extraordinary performer and musician.

5. Jade Goody

Allegations of racist bullying in Celebrity Big Brother were a huge blow for Jade Goody's career as a professional celebrity, but her bravery in the face of terminal cervical cancer and determination to provide for her children captured the imagination of the nation. Tens of thousands of mourners followed the funeral service on big screens outside the church and live on Sky News.

6. Premier League

At the mid-point of the 2008/09 season, Liverpool were on course to take the title for the first time since 1990, but it was not to be. PFA Player of the Year Ryan Giggs and the supremely gifted Cristiano Ronaldo helped Manchester United claw back to equal Liverpool's haul of 18 league titles. In a gritty relegation battle at the other end of the table, thousands of Toon hearts broke as white knight Alan Shearer failed to keep the Magpies in the top flight.

7. Swine Flu

The initial spread of the H1N1 viral strain at the beginning of 2009 was greeted with widespread hype. 'Experts' queued to offer their doomsday predictions and journalists reported worst-case scenarios on the scale of the pandemic. Rationality has prevailed, with swine flu now commonly acknowledged as comparable to other similar types of flu virus in terms of mortality.

8. Katie Price

Katie Price, a.k.a. glamour model Jordan, has maintained her position in the search rankings this year, mainly due to a very public split with her husband of three-and-a-half-years, singer Peter Andre. Since July, her relationship with musclebound MMA fighter and occasional cross-dresser Alex Reid kept the paparazzi's lenses firmly focused in her direction. Her brief stint on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here typically ended in drama when she quit the show and dumped Reid live on air.

9. Cheryl Cole

Most improved celebrity? This has been very much Cheryl Cole's year. Doing the double in October with her single and album reaching number one in the charts, she is revered as a fashionista by no less than British Vogue, has consolidated her judging role on the wildly popular X Factor and was voted 'Sexiest Woman in the World' by the readers of FHM magazine - she's been unstoppable.

10. Train Times

Hundreds of thousands of commuters struggled to find a way to work in the worst series of strikes since the early nineties on Britain's railways. Last minute cancellations and bus replacement services became the norm as industrial action took place with monotonous regularity over the year.

Big Brother > X Factor

http://uk.yearinreview.yahoo.com/2009/blog/4