Though celebrity breakups were making headlines last week, December is drawing to a close with happier tidings. Early in the week, a few famous couples generated ample online searches after announcing their engagements.
Natalie Portman, who has been in the spotlight since the release of her latest film, Black Swan, announced that she and Benjamin Millepied, (her choreographer and dance partner in the film), are expecting a baby together, and plan to tie the knot. The two held top positions in Google Trends' hot search phrases on Monday.
Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz will be single no more: Mraz and musician Tristan Prettyman will soon wed. Mraz tweeted "SHE SAID YES" on Thursday evening after he proposed to his long-time love.
Fans were also searching for news of Reese Witherspoon's engagement to Hollywood agent Jim Toth. The pair has been dating for about a year. Earlier in 2010, Witherspoon ended her high-profile relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal. The blonde beauty was previously married to actor Ryan Phillippe, with whom she has two children: daughter Ava, 11 and son Deacon, 7.
Though Oprah hasn't made any engagement announcements this holiday season, the talk show host did generate her fair share of searches. The Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN, is set to be launched on Saturday. Those who currently have access to the Discovery Health Channel, which was purchased by OWN, will be able to view the network's new programming. At press time, OWN has generated more than 87,000 Google News results this week.
However, entertainment news hounds were also compelled to search for more scandalous stories. When rapper Chris Brown tweeted a picture of the certificate he received for completing court-ordered domestic violence counseling sessions, rapper Raz-B, formerly of the group B2K, responded. The two began an explicit back and forth exchange via the social website. Chris Brown returns nearly 9,000 search results related to the scandal.
Brett Favre recently made headlines for the salacious text messages to former New York Jets employee Jenn Sterger, but the athlete was a trending topic today when it was revealed that the Minnesota Viking's player didn't pass a concussion test and is now unable to play in Sunday's game against Detroit. The test will likely be administered again on Saturday to reassess his eligibility, the Washington Post reports.
When it was announced that Snooki of The Jersey Shore would not be attending the ball-dropping ceremony in Time's Square as previously planned, fans took to the web to find out why. The self-proclaimed Princess of Poughkeepsie will instead be ringing in the New Year in Seaside Heights near the Jersey Shore cast house.
So what will be generating entertainment searches next week? Oscar buzz is working its way up to a fevered frenzy, and it's likely that predictions and news of the nominees will draw internet readers, though it remains to be seen what the New Year will bring.
