Saddam Hussein and Britney Spears?

I understand the need to gossip and to gloat when others are down, it's only human nature and it's just normal to feel sickly inclined to find out things about a person post mortem (or not, actually). But for the love of god, how come that every year the same persons come out on top of the number of search queries?

It's Britney, you know her, she's a mess, she's just done some plastic surgery for her legs in order to remove that extra tissue that didn't belong there. And then there's "Leave Britney alone!", the video that spun around it a lot of laughter and pointed fingers. What else, except the outrageous performance at the MTV awards? Nothing, she's just up there because people are interested in her misery. That's the "Celebrity Downslides" section in case you were wondering.

Saddam Hussein is also at the top of the searches, in the "News" category. I think that either a lot of people wanted to watch him being executed or there's a world thesis on his life that I am currently unaware of. It's either this or that, there's no middle way between them.

Oh, and there's Harry Potter with "Final Farewells", which I can totally understand, being a fan myself, but the runner up is Anna Nicole Smith, who� um� died. I find this fascination of death to be rather morbid, if I am permitted the word play. She also comes third in the category of "Celebrity Downslides" which is, if I might add, the biggest downslide possible for her.

Kids are interested in Global warming, the Solar System, Dinosaurs� of course, after the "Games" which clearly ruled the playing field and did not even let the others approach enough for a shot at the first place.

To end it all, here are the absolute top queries of the year on Yahoo:

1. Britney Spears
2. WWE
3. Paris Hilton
4. Naruto
5. Beyonce
6. Lindsay Lohan
7. Rune Scape
8. Fantasy Football
9. Fergie
10. Jessica Alba

"Searches can give us insight into a culture in motion and Yahoo!'s Top Trends in Search in 2007 reflects the world's fascination with crossroads and breakthroughs. People weren't just buzzing about celebrity. More than ever they sought to be environmentally responsible, were using the Web to find out about food and product safety and getting the scoop on the latest gadgets," said Heather Cabot, Yahoo! Web Life Editor.

Oh, really?