The 2005 Top Searches is based on all the searches by UK web users using Yahoo! Search over the past 12 months. We have divided up the top searches across a range of different categories.
Natural and man-made disasters dominate the overall top ten most searched for terms with 5 hurricanes and the food scare about ‘Sudan 1’ contamination. Celebrity Big Brother contestant ‘Jackie Stallone’ was the only famous face to make the overall top 10 list.
The most searched for TV programme this year was ‘49 up’; it was the latest instalment of a documentary series which has followed a group people of the same age at regular intervals throughout their lives.
Busted may be no more, but their fame lives on as Charlie Simpson's 'Fightstar' beat all comers. R&B stars Kelis and Chingy also do well, narrowly pipping this year's surprise comeback star Tony Christie.
| 1 | Fightstar |
| 2 | Kelis |
| 3 | Chingy |
| 4 | Tony Christie |
| 5 | Jamelia |
| 6 | Sugababes |
| 7 | Red Hot Chili Peppers |
| 8 | Michael Jackson |
| 9 | Crazy Frog |
| 10 | Bob Marley |
Hollywood star ‘Russell Crowe’ was the most searched for male celebrity and the top British male celebrity was new James Bond star ‘Daniel Craig’.
Eurovision contestant ‘Javine’ was the highest placed Brit on the list of female celebrities and ‘Kinga’ from Big Brother was the sixth most searched for female celebrity.
| 1 | Jackie Stallone |
| 2 | Javine |
| 3 | Renee Zellweger |
| 4 | Caprice |
| 5 | Kelis |
| 6 | Kinga |
| 7 | Keira Knightley |
| 8 | Holly Valance |
| 9 | Jennifer Aniston |
| 10 | Natalie Portman |
The ‘Australian Open’ tennis tournament was the top sports -related search. ‘London 2012’ was also popular as the UK looked online for more information about the Olympic bid.
Long-distance champion ‘Paula Radcliffe’ was the most searched for athlete, ahead of Russian tennis stars ‘Anna Kournikova’ and ‘Maria Sharapova’. ‘Michael Owen’ was the most searched for football star.
Heath is everyone’s concern, and this year is no exception with our top 5 dominated by scares. The ‘Sudan 1’ news story and the accompanying Food Standards Agency site feature, as does bird ‘flu and advice on giving up smoking.
The ‘Sudan 1’ food contamination scare topped the news-related searches as consumers looked on line for information on the list of contaminated food stuffs, followed by the ‘We Are Not Afraid’ online campaign in reaction to the July 7th bombings in London.
‘Anakin Skywalker’ was the most searched for movie-related term alongside plasticine heroes ‘Wallace and Gromit’.
Warmer climates dominate our ‘Holidays’ list with ‘Cyprus,’ ‘Sri Lanka’ and ‘Tenerife’ all featuring. But who would have thought ‘Cheltenham’ would have beaten off such mighty holiday destinations to top our list?
| 1 | Cheltenham |
| 2 | Cyprus |
| 3 | Sri Lanka |
| 4 | Egypt |
| 5 | Tenerife |
We can not explain the apparent popularity of ‘canine newsletters’ or ‘candy bra’. Our bizarre top 5 also featured ‘The Onedin Line’, a costume drama TV series from the 1970s and its stars; ‘Peter Gilmore’ and ‘Anne Stallybrass’.
