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Lanon Wee

Barbie and Shakira Prove Popular in Google Searches for 2023

Google's yearly review suggests that 2023 was a year of major movie releases and celebrity deaths. In 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer were the most searched movies while news about those who had passed was being sought out as well. Footballers Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane were heavily searched on the internet, while Shakira was the most Googled musician. The results are derived from the terms that saw the greatest increase in search volume in 2023 relative to prior years. Movie fans set new records by watching Barbie, a film about the doll's journey to feminism, and Oppenheimer, a motion picture about the creation of the atomic bomb, consecutively. The films raked in £30m in their opening weekend, which was the highest gross in the industry since 2019. Shakira was a topic of discussion twice in 2023, with the first being in January when her music video for her song about ex-partner Gerard Pique received widespread attention and became a YouTube hit in Latin America. Throughout the latter portion of the year, a huge amount of attention was directed towards her after claims of tax fraud in Spain, which ultimately led to her settling the dispute with an out of court payment of €7.5m (£6.5m); despite maintaining her innocence. The widespread fascination with Barbie and Oppenheimer prompted the coinage of the word "Barbenheimer," which aptly depicts how much chatter was being generated about them. Both films have been showered with Golden Globe nominations. Barbenheimer was the buzz of the film world, yet people in the UK also looked up Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which saw its release in May. Coming in ninth on the list of most-searched films was Bank of Dave, a Netflix special based on the story of Burnley's businessman Dave Fishwick and its cheerful narrative. It is not surprising that in 2023, many searches were conducted seeking information on those who have died. Matthew Perry, renowned for his role in the hit show Friends, passed away in October at the age of 54. His death generated the most search traffic worldwide in the category. Perry was held in high regard by gamers due to his portrayal of Benny in Fallout: New Vegas. The UK saw many searches for Tina Turner, Sinead O'Connor and Paul O'Grady, as well as S Club 7 star Paul Cattermole who passed away shortly after the group revealed their reunion tour. In 2023, Smash Mouth was the fourth most searched music act worldwide, which occurred after the passing of the lead singer, Steve Harwell, at the age of 56 in September. The hit All Star has made the band famous, featuring in 1999 films Mystery Men and Inspector Gadget, as well as being chosen as the title music of 2001 cult classic Shrek. Kylian Mbappe, renowned as one of the finest players in the world, was one of the most sought-after athletes in 2023. Englishman Harry Kane also gained attention following his huge £86.4m switch to Bayern Munich in August. Kane has been excelling in Germany this season, having notched 18 goals in only 13 league matches for Bayern. However, a name that may not be recognisable to a lot of people in the United Kingdom - Damar Hamlin, an American football player - is the most frequently searched for athlete. The Buffalo Bills player suffered a collapse during a National Football League match in January but was successfully revived on the field. Following an extensive rehabilitation period, he made his debut with the Bills in October, which drew attention from people around the world.

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