And now this. For what appears to be the billionth year on the trot, Britney Spears has been named as the most popular Yahoo search term of the year. Well, technically it was a combination of the search terms ‘Is Britney Spears dead yet?’, ‘Has Britney Spears died?’ ‘Seriously, is Britney Spears dead or not?’ and ‘Britney Speerz is funy LOL’ but none of those scan as well.

What’s most impressive is that Britney Spears managed to beat Barack Obama to the number one spot, which has to smart given his accomplishments this year. But it’s totally his fault – Obama had plenty of chances to put on a pink wig, wander aimlessly through a car park and babble in a British accent in the grip of a full-blown psychiatric meltdown, but instead he chose to become president-elect of America, the big idiot.

No matter how spectacularly she manages to destroy every conceivable aspect of her personal and professional life each year, the first week of December always provides a little bit of a respite for Britney Spears.

Not only is it Britney Spears’ birthday week, which at least allows her to chalk off another year lost to the ravages of alarming mental illness, but it’s also the week when Yahoo announces that more people search for her on the internet than anything else.

We’ve been here before, of course – Britney Spears was the top Yahoo search term in the year when she divorced the father of her children, the year when she shaved her hair and went completely batshit mental and a year prior to those when Britney seemed comparatively normal.

So let’s be fair, being popular on the internet is all Britney Spears has got and, by God, does she ever fight hard to hang onto her crown. Remaining the top internet search term in 2008 was always going to be tricky for Britney – not only had Barack Obama made history by becoming the first ever black president of America, but Britney’s arsehole parents wouldn’t even let her go outside and drive a car through an orphanage or punch cattle square in the face or whatever it is the voices in her head tell her to do – but by christ, she’s done it. According to AP:

Spears bested World Wrestling Entertainment, Barack Obama, Miley Cyrus and the online game “RuneScape” as the five most-searched terms of 2008, the Web portal and search company announced Monday, a day before the singer released her new album “Circus.” Jessica Alba, the anime series “Naruto,” Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie and “American Idol” rounded out the top 10 list.

So how did Britney Spears do it? Well, the fact that Womanizer made it to number one probably helped, as did the heartwarming news that Britney was about to go on her first full tour in several years. And, oh, what was that last thing? We had it a moment ago, but… oh yes, that’s it – the way that Britney Spears had a full-on juddering meltdown that ended up with her being literally locked in a padded room because she couldn’t even remember how to chew food properly. That might have also been a reason, in retrospect.

So congratulations to Britney Spears for being the top internet search term for the fourth consecutive year. And good luck for 2009 because, short of hijacking a bus and driving it off a bridge, we genuinely don’t know how you’re going to out-crazy 2008.

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Last week How To Lose Friends and Alienate People was released in the cinemas, putting another loser on the big screen in the form of Simon Pegg’s Sidney Young. In a move that’s totally non-affiliated with that film, we here at hecklerspray have decided to compile together a list of a bunch of losers, that one way or another, have given us greats amount of joy over the years in the cinema.

Maybe it’s because we’re better than them, maybe it’s because it gives us hope or maybe they are just too cool in a world that doesn’t appreciate them, either way, here we go…

10. Ben Stone – Knocked Up

A relatively new loser, Ben Stone managed to be a perfect example of what we love about these guys: Funny, likeable, stupid and completely oblivious to it all. The smartest thing he managed to do was get an incredibly hot chick pregnant and therefore locking her down for life. Well played, old friend.

“If any of us get laid tonight, it’s because of Eric Bana in Munich.” – Ben Stone

9. Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas – Dumb and Dumber

Pumpkin haircut, chip on his front tooth, sellotaping a dead bird’s head onto its body and selling it to a blind kid. All of these are reasons why we love Lloyd Christmas, the stupidest idiot in cinema – or should that prestigious title go to Harry Dunne, who drives around in a giant dog car all day long? It’s a close call but these losers manage to screw up every chance they get but they make for one of the funniest modern comedy duos.

“I can’t believe we drove around all day, and there’s not a single job in this town. There is nothing, nada, zip!” – Harry

“Yeah! Unless you wanna work forty hours a week.” – Lloyd

8. Milton Waddams/Peter Gibbons – Office Space


This pair of losers both work in the colourful world of Initech, where each day is exactly the same as the last. Peter has no delusions about his position in life and just wants nothing more than to do nothing everyday for the rest of his life. Milton is worse for the fact he loves his job and tries hard but gets crapped on by everyone around him on a daily basis.

“Every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that’s on the worst day of my life.” – Peter Gibbons

“Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler…” – Milton Waddams

7. Shaun – Shaun of the Dead

We’ve all been there, sitting in the pub night after night drinking with our mate wondering why life is so boring. Shaun is like all of us, with nothing ever interesting happening to him day by day. That is until zombies take over the country and Shaun becomes his friends’ last chance for survival with a rifle in one hand and a pack of peanuts in the other. The ultimate English slouch becomes one of its best action heroes.

“You’re the one that’s gone from being a chartered accountant to Charlton Heston!” – Shaun

6. Willie - Bad Santa

Foul mouthed, down on his luck and a drunk. Willie is the perfect candidate for a in-store Santa Claus to entertain your children. When he starts forming an unlikely bond with a young child you would assume life lessons follow. Instead he carries on much the same – cursing, beating children up, punching a midget in the face – but we love him for it.

“Why don’t you wish in one hand, and shit in the other. See which one fills up first.” - Willie

5. Ash Williams – Evil Dead Trilogy

Another loser by day, zombie-killing machine by night; Ash just wanted to get away from it all with his girlfriend. Little did he know the terrors that awaited him in the woods. Everything tries to kill Ash and as he falls into trouble again and again he emerges the coolest geek this side of our dimension. He also looks kick-ass with a chainsaw for a hand.

“Groovy” – Ash

4. Max Fischer – Rushmore

Max is a loser who thinks he’s the ultimate winner. Nothing stands in his way, he gets what he wants and thinks everyone loves him. It turns out though that everyone thinks he’s a spotty wee skidmark at Rushmore Elementary. Charismatic he may be but with a pretentious elitist attitude and flunking every class he is one guy who punches above his weight.

“Oh my God, I wrote a hit play!” – Max Fischer

3. Spinal Tap – This Is Spinal Tap

The world would be a less sexier place if it wasn’t for these rock and roll stars. These guys just can’t seem to get anything right, whether it be replacing their manager, just getting out of a prop onstage or keeping a drummer that doesn’t die. Their Stonehenge re-enactment is the most stupidly brilliant live performance of all time and this trio of David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls are cemented in rock history for ever.

“It’s such a fine line between stupid, and clever.” – David St. Hubbins

2. Jay and Silent Bob/ Dante and Randall – Clerks, Clerks 2, The View Askewniverse

These four are bundled together for their respective charms, they are a ying and yang foursome. Jay and Bob stand outside the Quick Stop store, selling weed and dancing like loons everyday all their lives. They’re content with how they live and aren’t going anywhere fast. Dante can’t stand being anywhere near the Quick Stop he’s working at and only has Randall to pass the time with. These guys have the ultimate ‘do nothing and hope something will come my way’ attitude. For their failures all four are totally likeable and relatable in different ways. Long live the Clerks!

“I’m not even supposed to be here today!” – Dante

“That guy’s being awfully forward with that donkey.” – Jay

1. The Dude – The Big Lebowski

Here he is, numeral uno, The Dude. Never before has someone who has exerted so little been forced into doing so much. He was a man who does few things bowling, driving around, the occasional acid flashback. When his life gets pissed on he gets tangled into a dark mystery he has to get to the bottom of, all for the sake of a rug! Rarely losing his cool, he is one guy who can be on our bowling team any day.

“That rug really tied the room together!” – The Dude

The Dude was the only one who could be at the top but what do you make of the list? Anyone you think deserves to be on there who isn’t? Strike back below and let us know.

[story by David Scarborough]

Any excuse to go to Legoland and we are there. Although as only a few of us have kids, we usually have to kidnap them to get in. Of course, we are joking. None of us have kids.

Anyway, to satisfy our sad Lego urges thankfully there are people who have decided to create music videos purely from Lego. Of course, The White Stripes did it, but here are 11 others for your viewing pleasure…

11. Guns N’Roses – Welcome to The Jungle

10. System of a Down – Chop Suey

9. The Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star

8. Rammstein – FeuerFrei

7. Metallica – One

6. Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em – Crank That (Soulja Boy)

5. Michael Jackson – Thriller

4. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

3. Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes

2. Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

1. Devo – Whip It

Yahoo has just published its top 10 internet searches of 2007, and Britney Spears has come out on top yet again, making her officially bigger than professional wrestling, Saddam Hussein and Fergie out of the Black Eyed Peas. She may be in the middle of her own private hell, but at least by being searched for on Yahoo more than anything else this year, Britney Spears can still take comfort from the fact that she's still popular.

We just wish we had the heart to tell her that most of the searches in full were either for 'Britney Spears' horrible minge,' 'Britney Spears looking like a dick at the MTV awards', 'Britney Spears is a terrible mother' or 'Britney Spears: why?'

Britney Spears has only three mottos in life: knickers are for the weak, never rehearse a comeback when you can just listlessly attempt to wing it in front of an audience of millions instead and start as you mean to go on. Since Britney Spears started 2007 by collapsing unconscious in a nightclub, we can only assume that she takes that motto the most seriously.

And if anything, Britney Spears has just gained momentum as 2007 wore on – head-shaving, puking, botched comebacks, multiple stints in rehab, suicide attempts, accusations of child abuse, shit-smeared magazine photo shoots, car crashes, arrests, speculated unwanted pregnancies, family in-fighting, Gimme More – that's the kind of borderline-tragic year we absolutely wouldn't wish on anyone except for Britney Spears.

But at least all that hard work has paid off, because by dedicating herself solely to the art of ruining every single part of her personal and professional life, Britney Spears has made sure that she's been the most-searched thing on the whole of the internet according to Yahoo.

Yahoo's top searches list of 2007 has been released, and here it is:

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

Of course, this is nothing new – Britney Spears has been queen of the internet before a few times, and now she's in the position where even a temporary drop to second place would be enough for Britney to launch into the sort of crying screaming incomprehensible breakdown that she usually only reserves for when she's trying to relay a single piece of simple information to her own children.

But while Britney Spears wonders what terrifying, mentally ill-seeming shenanigans she'll have to pull out of the bag to retain her Yahoo Search Queen crown in 2008, let's not forget that there's still the best part of a month to go until the end of the year. That's why we're urging everyone to go to Yahoo immediately and search for 'Dame Thora Hird's Pubic Hair'. Together we can win this thing. 

Read more:

Britney Tops Yahoo Searches For 2007 – Associated Press