The Buzz Week in Review
by Mike Krumboltz
Angry tea parties! A presidential puppy! A new singing sensation! It was a heckuva week on the Web. Join us for a look back at those stories and more with the Buzz Week in Review.
Taxed enough already?
This just in: Americans don’t like paying taxes. That may sound like a news blurb from Captain Obvious, but tax rage seemed especially high this year. Tea parties, in which ticked off taxpayers voice their displeasure, took the country and the Web by storm. Over the course of the week, lookups for “tea parties” surged over 2,000%, and related queries on “anti-tax tea parties” and “april 15 tea parties” also posted impressive numbers. Blogs, papers, and the TV news sought to put their own spin on the proceedings. A particularly buzzy moment occurred when CNN reporter Susan Roesgen interviewed protesters and then called their activities “anti government.”
Bobama makes his debut
Yes, yes, we know. You’re sick of hearing about the new Obama puppy. We’re sick of writing about it, too. And until it bites the ankle of a prime minister of a not-so-friendly foreign country, we promise not to mention it again. But, for now, we will say that Bo Obama had his coming out party this week and he was just as cute and popular as folks imagined he’d be. The six-month-old puppy, a gift from the Kennedy clan, posed for photos on the White House lawn and went for a brief trot with his new family. Queries on “new obama puppy” and “photos of obama dog” howled at the moon.
Susan Boyle rocks it
One of the biggest viral video in years hit the Web this week in the form of unassuming singer Susan Boyle. The 47-year-old contestant on “Britain’s Got Talent” blew the doors off the judges with an amazing performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables. Even Simon Cowell was impressed. The notoriously difficult-to-please judge is known for his acid tongue. However, upon hearing Ms. Boyle, he dropped his jaw in amazement. Since her breakthrough performance, Boyle has been lighting it up on morning talk shows. Some are expecting her to sign a very lucrative contract. Let’s hear it for substance over style!
Also buzzing this week…
• John Madden retired from broadcasting. We assume this doesn’t extend to his very lucrative series of videogames.
• Lauren Lee Smith of “CSI” fame got married and saw her searches roar over 12,000%.
• Ashton Kutcher beat CNN in the race to garner 1 million followers. And people say humanity is doomed…
-- drakaal