by Mike Krumboltz
Gaard Swanson of Yahoo! Buzz gives the scoop on Roger Federer's victory at the French Open, David Carradine's tragic death, and the surging searches on home swapping.
On Sunday night, when Sacha Baron Cohen's alter-ego Bruno descended from the rafters and landed fanny-first on Eminem's head, most folks figured that the rapper's rage was the real deal. Suckers! Not only was Eminem in on the joke, he and Baron Cohen rehearsed it to make sure it would all go according to plan.
Suspicions over the legitimacy of "butt-gate" had been brewing for days, but it wasn't until a writer for the MTV Movie Awards confessed that we all knew for sure. On his blog, head writer Scott Aukerman wrote that the incident was staged. "They rehearsed it at dress (rehearsal) and yes, it went as far as it did on the live show." Wow. Let it never be said that Eminem isn't a team player.
According to the New York Daily News, Eminem wasn't Baron Cohen's first choice for the joke. That honor, which was tragically declined, went to Paris Hilton. Just imagine the buzz had that happened. Still, Eminem did a great job of selling the stunt considering he "may not have been briefed on just how naked Baron Cohen's flying 'Bruno' would be when he agreed." What a pro.
Even before the writer's admission that the crash landing was planned, the searches had a suspicious slant. Throughout Monday, lookups on "was the eminem bruno stunt staged" and "eminem bruno joke" posted strong gains. Blogs, like this one from the Chicago Tribune, raised the possibility that the audience had just been played.
Now that the joke has been confirmed, queries are surging on "bruno eminem fake stunt." We'd say we feel used, but we're too busy laughing.
Other than Sacha Baron Cohen landing fanny-first on an understandably agitated Eminem, the biggest story of MTV's Movie Awards had to be the trailer for "New Moon" (aka "Twilight 2"). The much anticipated clip premiered during the ceremony and set off a firestorm of searches.
Throughout Sunday evening and well into Monday, lookups for "New Moon trailer" soared 388% until it landed among our top 100 overall queries. Related searches on "official new moon trailer" (+451%) posted huge gains as well. Why the need to search on the word "official"? Dedicated (some might say "obsessed") fans have created their own pseudo-trailers to "New Moon" and posted them online. While their efforts are no doubt appreciated, Twi-hards want to see the real deal.
As is often the case on Yahoo!, star Robert Pattinson was absolutely huge in the Search box. Queries on the brooding heartthrob were up 30% — more impressive than it sounds considering that he's perpetually popular. Also seeing a surge following the MTV gala: "are robert pattinson and kristin stewart dating?". Everything we've read says they're just good friends. Still, Twi-hards can dream, can't they?
by Mike Krumboltz
Ananda Lewis of Yahoo! Buzz talks with Mike and Juliet about Susan Boyle's victory (in Search), Jay Leno's big finale, and a surprising new trend around the ol' homestead.
by Vera H-C Chan
After a Memorial Day break, Yahoo! Buzz pays another visit to "The Mike and Juliet Show" to talk about the heartrending accident with Mike Tyson's daughter, the return of Susan Boyle, and a Search road trip trend.
