'Idol' tops 2004 Yahoo search list
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-28 17:17

"American Idol," the Fox talent competition that crowned soulful R&B singer Fantasia as its third champion in May, reigned supreme online in 2004.

Women cling to William Hung after his performance of 'She Bangs' at a volleyball game at the University of California at Berkeley. [file photo]

The show ranked as Yahoo! Inc.'s most-searched term for the year, and also topped the Internet search engine's list of top TV reality show searches.

Singer Jessica Simpson was third on the overall list behind another Fox reality star, Paris Hilton. Britney Spears, who topped the Yahoo search for the past three years, finished in fourth place.

The only other recording artist, and the only non-fictional male, to make the top 10 was R&B singer Usher, who finished in seventh place.

The rest of the top 10 Yahoo searches were fictional wizard Harry Potter (No. 5), wrestling franchise WWE (No. 6) and three professional sports organizations: auto racing's NASCAR (No. 8), the NBA (No. 9) and the NFL (No. 10).

Only Spears topped any of Yahoo's monthly lists, with her wedding to Kevin Federline leading searches in September. Janet Jackson pictures ruled in February following her impromptu breast exposure at the end of the Super Bowl halftime show.

Other entertainment outlets, such as Oscar nominations, the MTV Movie Awards and the trailer to the upcoming "Star Wars" film, ruled most other months, but didn't make the final top 10. "Harry Potter" topped the list of most searched films, followed by "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings."

"The 2004 results illustrate that while people follow scandals and heartbreaks, they also have other interests," says Yahoo spokeswoman Nancy Evars.

"Controversy rocked several of this year's top search queries, but sports searches also made the list thanks to the increase in popularity of fantasy sports and the surging demand for pro-sports statistics."

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