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Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/June 16 to 22, 2013

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The Top 25 Report


Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (June 16 to 22 2013)

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Summary: With most TV shows on hiatus for the summer, attention has turned to those other staples of human interest, celebrity and sports. The dramatic (and at times slightly mystifying) events at the NBA Finals and the 2013 Confederations Cup drew massive attention, as did the birth of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's first child. But the most searched event of the week was the tragic and unexpected death of popular actor James Gandolfini on June 19, at the age of only 51, which drew the kind of attention normally reserved for Google Doodles.

For the week of June 16 to 22, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:

Rank Last Wks Article Views Image Notes
1 - - James Gandolfini 1,692,389
 
 The sudden, unexpected death from a heart attack of this hugely popular actor on June 19 sent many shocked fans to his Wikipedia page for confirmation, and, once the sad truth was learned, doubtless over to YouTube for a commemorative listen to Woke Up This Morning.
2 - - Yahoo! 1,670,003
 
 The corporation finalised its $1.1 billion purchase of the popular microblogging site Tumblr on June 20, increasing speculation on the implications for both it and the site. Yahoo! promises however, that Tumblr will remain independent.
3 2 3 Man of Steel (film) 1,218,396 The second attempt to rework the Superman mythos for modern cinema (after Bryan Singer's reverent but turgid Superman Returns) has earned $255 million worldwide in its first week. So DC and WB's massive gamble appears to have paid off, which bodes well for a future Justice League movie.
4 11 2 Yeezus 878,466
 
 Kanye West's new album was released on June 18.
5 - - Jeanne Calment 711,319 The oldest woman in history, who famously said, "I've only got one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it", was the topic of a popular TIL thread on Reddit.
6 7 24 Facebook 684,298
 
 A perennially popular article.
7 20 3 The Last of Us 676,691 This eagerly awaited and critically adored not-quite-zombie apocalypse video game was released on June 13.
8 - - 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup 630,147
 
 FIFA's quickie warmup to the Football World Cup in 2014 (which pits the winners of the various continental football confederation championships against each other) runs from 15 to 30 June 2013. It became somewhat infamous due to a rather lopsided match-up on June 20 (see #20 below).
9 - - World War Z (film) 613,702 Brad Pitt's not-quite-adaptation of Max Brooks's arguably unadaptable zombie apocalypse novel follows a now-well-worn precedent of the less-popular opening film generating many more hits on Wikipedia. Monsters University, despite winning the weekend, barely broke the top 100.
10 18 2 Father's Day 579,315
 
 It's nice to know that it's not just Mother's Day that sends people to their computers scrambling for the date*

*June 16, in case you were wondering, and if you were then yeah, you missed it.

11 3 16 Game of Thrones 505,438
 
 It appears that not even ending for the summer can curb interest in this show.
12 17 2 Henry Cavill 468,343
 
 There is an irony in a Brit playing the greatest of all-American heroes, Superman; that said, Superman isn't technically American either, so it is also oddly fitting.
13 - - FIFA Confederations Cup 462,049
 
 See #8 above.
14 15 34 Deaths in 2013 434,108
 
 The list of deaths in the current year is always quite a popular article.
15 - - World War Z 414,735 Max Brooks's faux-oral history of a future zombie apocalypse gained a large boost in views this week, most likely from users searching for the Brad Pitt-starring "not-really-film-adaptation" (see #9 above).
16 - - Kanye West 402,190
 
 Yes, he has a popular album out (see #4 above) but his presence in the Top 25 is just as likely due to his having become a father on June 15, with his partner, Kim Kardashian (see #23 below).
17 19 5 List of Bollywood films of 2013 375,631
 
 This article looks well on the way to becoming a staple of this list.
18 - 34 YouTube 372,355
 
 Another perennially popular article
19 - - LeBron James 367,095
 
 Won the NBA championships for the Miami Heat with a 20-foot shot and 27 seconds on the clock. So as you can imagine, he's pretty friggin' popular right now.
20 - - Tahiti 361,659
 
 This island paradise of only 178,000 inhabitants is more famous for its sun than for its sporting prowess, but, by virtue of having beaten New Caledonia to the OFC Nations Cup, its football team earned the privilege of facing Spain in the 2013 Confederations Cup on June 20. For the record, the Spanish national side have a 23-match winning streak behind them, and won the European Championship in 2008, the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship again in 2012. There are seldom times when it is appropriate to say this but, congratulations, Tahiti on only losing 10-0.
21 21 35 World War II 336,254
 
 Another perennially popular article. (The 16th most popular article from 2010–12, in fact, see Table 2 here.)
22 - - Russell Brand 336,254
 
 This British comedian, professional celebrity and... character made several notable stops to promote his upcoming Messiah Complex tour, including the BBC's usually fairly staid Question Time and MSNBC's Morning Joe.
23 - - Kim Kardashian 323,776
 
 Girlfriend of Kanye West and professional famous person who gave birth to his and her first child on June 15 (see #16 above)
24 23 23 Google 322,091
 
 A perennially popular article.
25 - - The Sopranos 316,342 The death of James Gandolfini (see #1 above) triggered interest in the TV show that made him a household name.
  • This list is derived from the WP:5000 report. It excludes the Wikipedia main page (and "wiki"), non-article pages, and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish. Standard removals this week include:
    • Cat anatomy: A spammer with a sense of humour? Lazy med students looking for quick info on cat dissections? Or a REALLY confused adware bot for Friskies? The debate still rages as to why this article continues to rank so highly.
    • G: This, or alternately G-force, frequently appears in the top 25. It is probably due to people typing "G" for "Google" in Google Chrome's search bar and hastily clicking "enter".
    • Melanie Maddison: Why this virtually unknown self-publishing British artist should suddenly be surging into the top 25 has never been determined. Presumably due to a misguided attempt at promotion.
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