Coronation, chatbot, celebs: Celebs and Bollywood film dominated reader interest, as usual, but with a new persistent presence on the lists of a certain A.I.
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Springer | 
|
2,704,171 | 
|
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! The former mayor of Cincinnati turned icon of 'trash TV' with an eponymous series that was the standout point and laugh show and even inspired a Weird Al parody, Jerry Springer died at 79 of pancreatic cancer. |
| 2 | ChatGPT | 
|
2,150,517 | 
|
People still interested in AI. I don't have much to say about it other than "it's bad" and I'm too lazy to write a full blurb. (And yes, as I wrote this, I realized I could ask ChatGPT to write me one. And no, I'm not going to.) |
| 3 | 2023 NFL Draft | 
|
1,448,974 | 
|
American football picked its newest college graduates to make a professional jump, led by the Carolina Panthers choosing Bryce Young. |
| 4 | Harry Belafonte |
|
1,379,958 | 
|
Death came at 96 to the musician responsible for popularizing calypso music with hits like "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)", "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)", and others that didn't appear in Beetlejuice, and with a prolific film career as well (a career shared by daughter Shari Belafonte). |
| 5 | Tucker Carlson |
|
1,210,153 | 
|
On Friday, April 21, the controversial Fox News host—who's attracted intense criticism and advertiser boycotts for his remarks on race and women, not to mention his promotion of January 6th conspiracy theories—signed off his talk show by saying, "we'll be back on Monday!" Well, that Monday morning, April 24, Fox fired him. Whether it was due to Fox's defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, Carlson's internal criticism of Fox leadership, a pending lawsuit alleging a toxic work environment, or some combination of those three factors remains unclear. |
| 6 | Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan |
|
1,013,196 | _(cropped).jpg)
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The Bollywood action flick climbed from its position on this list last week as became one of the year's highest-grossing Hindi films so far. |
| 7 | Evil Dead Rise |
|
1,001,882 | 
|
Although Mario continues to dominate cinemas (at least until the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), this low-budget addition to the Sam Raimi-created Evil Dead franchise had no problem recouping its budget, even without Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams. |
| 8 | Deaths in 2023 |
|
990,491 | 
|
How 'bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out? How 'bout not equating death with stopping? |
| 9 | Gervonta Davis | 
|
868,455 | 
|
This boxer is still undefeated after 29 matches, following a successful title defense against Ryan Garcia on April 22. |
| 10 | Whitney Houston |
|
800,963 | 
|
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody might not have earned entries here while in theaters or HBO Max, but once it got to Netflix's catalogue, an influx of viewers checked our article on the singer whose equally successful and tragic story was told in that film (where Whitney was played by Naomi Ackie). |
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 |
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1,935,502 | .jpg)
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Breaking a streak of three Marvel Cinematic Universe movies that did not take the top spot of this Report upon entering theaters, the "bunch of a-holes" who against all expectations became one of the most popular teams out of Marvel return trying to save a furry psycho. Writer-director James Gunn (whose involvement in the film saw a slight delay due to the alt-right, during which he managed to land a movie and a job in the Distinguished Competition) manages to weave well comedy, action and drama, which translated into positive reviews and big box office numbers (nearly $300 million in a weekend!). |
| 2 | Alan Rickman |
|
1,889,935 | 
|
On April 30, the late English actor (who most audiences will probably recognize as Hans Gruber from Die Hard or Severus Snape from Harry Potter) was honored with a Google Doodle commemorating anniversary of Les Liaisons Dangereuses' Broadway premiere, which helped launch his career. |
| 3 | ChatGPT |
|
1,683,770 | 
|
Chatbots and other AI-made writing are still a big point of discussion, to the point it's one of things brought up in the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. |
| 4 | Charles III |
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1,408,865 | .jpg)
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Nine months after his mother Elizabeth II died and left him the throne of the United Kingdom, Charles had a ceremony to be properly crowned. And the UK wouldn't even get a rest from big events afterwards, as the following week Liverpool hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. |
| 5 | Gordon Lightfoot |
|
1,118,866 | _(cropped).jpg)
|
One of Canada's most admired songwriters, with fans like Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot died at 84, less than a year after his final concert. |
| 6 | Karl Lagerfeld |
|
1,001,864 | 
|
This year's Met Gala was themed after this famous stylist who died in 2019 and was a close friend of organizer Anna Wintour. Lagerfeld's controversies, as among other things he was accused of being fatphobic and Islamophobic, led to some protests, including going against his quote "Think pink. But don't wear it." by attending the ball in lightish red. |
| 7 | Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | 
|
985,253 | 
|
The title character of Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, a spin-off to the popular Bridgerton series which premiered on Netflix May 4. |
| 8 | Deaths in 2023 |
|
959,477 | 
|
Staring at the sea Staring at the sand Staring at myself Reflected in the eyes of the dead man on the beach... |
| 9 | Cinco de Mayo |
|
955,724 | 
|
Literally translating to the “Fifth of May” in Spanish, Cinco De Mayo celebrates the Mexicans triumphing over the French in 1862. |
| 10 | George III | 
|
928,040 | 
|
You might think his position on this list is due to the coronation of #4. But his presence here is actually linked to Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – a fictional take on his romance with #7. |
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Kerala Story |
|
2,299,171 | _(2).jpg)
|
Another Indian movie on the list, this time based on the Islamophobic conspiracy theory "love jihad", where a group of women from Kerala convert to Islam and join ISIS, has received awful reviews from critics, and also getting push-back from the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for "defaming the state of Kerala and promoting the agenda of the Sangh Parivar". Despite this, it's become the 3rd highest grossing grossing Hindi film of 2023. |
| 2 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 |
|
1,955,778 | .jpg)
|
The Marvel Cinematic Universe's most unexpected success story returned for a third go, and has already earned better reviews and box office than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. |
| 3 | Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz |
|
1,908,758 | _-_George_III_and_Queen_Charlotte_-_RCIN_403546_-_Royal_Collection.jpg)
|
Netflix released the Bridgerton spinoff Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, centering around a Queen of the United Kingdom during both the end of her life and her romance with King George III. |
| 4 | George III |
|
1,896,483 | ||
| 5 | ChatGPT |
|
1,759,107 | 
|
People are still intrigued and worried by AI, which is already becoming a co-author of scientific papers. |
| 6 | Eurovision Song Contest 2023 |
|
1,650,872 | 
|
This here writer arrived in Liverpool to find a chaos of blocked streets and such around Lime Street, and this musical extravaganza was to blame. Sweden won with the song "Tattoo". |
| 7 | Charles III |
|
1,303,416 | _(cropped).jpg)
|
Nine months after his mother died and made him king at the ripe age of 72, Charles had a proper coronation. |
| 8 | Hannah Waddingham |
|
1,249,873 | .jpg)
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#6 had as one of its hosts this British actress best known as Rebecca from Ted Lasso, who among other things made a moving eulogy out of a Rick Roll. |
| 9 | Robert De Niro |
|
1,097,400 | 
|
One of the greatest actors in history, who later this year will see his 11th(!) movie with Martin Scorsese released, revealed he just fathered a daugther at the age of 79. |
| 10 | 2023 SEA Games |
|
1,049,182 | 
|
Cambodia hosted this multisport event, with the most medals going to Vietnam. |
For the April 8 – May 8 period, per this this database report.
| Title | Revisions | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths in 2023 | 1777 | The obituary is always busy. Deaths not listed above include Len Goodman, Barry Humphries, Jock Zonfrillo, Tori Bowie and Manobala. (and even if it's out of the Anglosphere, I feel obligated to mention Rita Lee) |
| Coronation of Charles III and Camilla | 1451 | The reason why this here writer's visit to London couldn't include entering Westminster Abbey, and had plenty of jewelry missing at the Tower of London. |
| 2023 World Snooker Championship | 1418 | Liverpool hosted this pool tournament, won by Luca Brecel of Belgium - the first ever champion from a non-Anglophone country, as well as breaking a streak of 4 English and 13 British winners. |
| List of guests at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla | 1146 | Just about the entire British monarchy (albeit Charles' son Harry was without his wife and kids) and world leaders attended the ceremony. Among normal celebrities, Russell Crowe is seemingly too uncouth to be invited. |
| 2023 NBA playoffs | 1112 | Basketball hit the postseason, with a few upsets for the higher seeds in round 1 (the team with the best regular season fell to another that almost didn't get a spot, the second and third best teams of the West fell victim to the more victorious Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors), and the Phoenix Suns continuing their existence of over 50 years without a title by losing in round 2. |
| The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 1047 | The Nintendo adaptation became the first film of the year, and the first post-pandemic animated feature, to pass the $1 billion mark. It's a significant achievement, especially for a video game-based film—for context, the previous highest-grossing video game movie, 2016's Warcraft, managed only $439 million. All it needs now is a sequel featuring Joey Diaz and Willem Dafoe as Wario and Waluigi and then I'll be satisfied. |
| SpaceX Starship orbital test flight | 1037 | It would be nice if like promised by many science fiction works there were off-world human colonies by 2023. Instead Elon Musk's company built a massive launch vehicle, even bigger than the ones that sent men to the Moon, and it exploded a few minutes after take-off due to engine failures. |
| 2023 Sudan conflict | 1969 (967 as 2023 Sudan clashes) |
An armed conflict began in Sudan on April 15 after months of rising tensions between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese government. So far, the violence has claimed almost 600 lives. |
| World Chess Championship 2023 | 985 | Kazakhstan held a decisive match of grandmasters, with Ding Liren becoming the first Chinese titleholder, beating someone from the country mostly associated with chess dominance - albeit for obvious reasons Ian Nepomniachtchi is like other Russian athletes currently playing for no flag. |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | 848 | A possible make it or break it point for the MCU given how reception for the post-Avengers: Endgame movies have been. Thankfully reviewers and audiences alike approved the return of Star-Lord and co. |
| 2023 ACC Men's Premier Cup | 839 | The first of two cricket tournaments among the most edited, this here being a qualifer for the 2023 Asian Cup, hosted and won by Nepal. |
| 2023 Southeast Asian Games | 806 | The medal table among the 11 contestants had Vietnam at first, hosts Cambodia in fourth, and right afterwards the Philippines, whose significant English-speaking population at times brings entries to the Traffic Report. |
| 2023 NFL Draft | 750 | Two days were spent to organize the transition from college football to professional one. |
| 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs | 715 | Hockey has been delivering many surprises in its postseason (and even before, as superstars Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin failed to qualify). The team with the best regular season ever was beaten by another which only won one round between 1996 and 2022, the defending champions were eliminated by a team in only its second season of existence, the league's most valuable franchise finally won a round after 19 years... |
| 2023 Indian Premier League | 710 | While the excessive mobile views make this article be excluded from the regular Traffic Report, frequent updates on India's tournament for their favorite sport enable it for a spot in this one. |
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