Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/May 7 to 13, 2017

WP:25

The Top 25 Report

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (May 7 to 13, 2017) edit

Prepared with commentary by Soulbust

← Last week's report – Next week's report →

Sequels and Politics edit

Movie sequels seemed to dominate much of the Top 25 this past week. For the second week in a row, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion tops the list, with its predecessor, Baahubali: The Beginning (#17), lead actor (#11) and lead actress (#24) also finding spots on the list. Hollywood sequels also found their way onto the list with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 remaining at #4, and Alien: Covenant invading the list at #8, before its release into theaters next week.

Entertainment through music, television, and even good, old-fashioned toys was represented on the list by the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 (#7), 13 Reasons Why (#10), and fidget spinners (#25), respectively.

Politics was once again heavily featured on the list. In a way, the 2017 French presidential election (#17), had its own sequel as Emmanuel Macron (#2) won the second round run-off against Marine Le Pen. Macron's wife, Brigitte (#5) was also the source of interest for Wikipedia readers. In American politics, even when Trump doesn't find a spot on the list, people involved in Trump-related controversies do. Trump/Russia affairs led to individuals dismissed by Trump, such as James Comey (#6) and Sally Yates (#20), as well as the Deputy Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders (#21) to appear on the list. Trump's dismissal of Comey even led to American media comparisons to the Saturday Night Massacre event (#23), which occurred during the Nixon-era Watergate scandal.

The sport world was quiet on the Top 25 this week, aside from boxing figures Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Álvarez coming in at #12 and #18, respectively.

For the week of May 7 to May 13, 2017, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Views	Notes
1	Baahubali 2: The Conclusion	2,388,864	The Telugu / Tamil language (versions were made in the two languages simultaneously) historical fiction film enjoys a second consecutive week at the top spot. It recently became the highest grossing Indian film of all time and judging by its sustained interest by Wikipedia readers, it'll set the bar very high by the end of its run.
2	Emmanuel Macron	2,060,644	Macron of the social-liberal En Marche! party decisively won the second round of the 2017 French presidential election (#15). Macron assumes the presidency on May 14 and the we will soon see his effect on France's, Europe's, and the global political landscape.
3	List of highest-grossing Indian films	1,508,988	Readership for this list is only slightly down this week as Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (#1) continues to increase its box office gross. At the time of this writing, the film has grossed 1,500 crore ($US230 million, or around 210 million euro).
4	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	1,167,020	Speaking of making money, the fifteenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (beloved by yours truly), is definitely doing that. It added another $65 million domestically, in addition to $52 million from its international markets. Overall, it's made just about $630 million and as long as Baby Groot doesn't push the wrong button, we should see that number keep climbing.
5	Brigitte Macron	1,058,045	As her husband (#2) has recently been elected as President of France, readers scramble to know more about him, and that spills over into knowing more about his wife, Brigitte too. Fun fact: Her nephew runs the family chocolatier (pictured). She's also a teacher in her own right; being 24 years his senior, Brigitte was actually in charge of the theater class Emmmanuel attended.
6	James Comey	1,011,444	Controversy after controversy in America. While the story behind Donald Trump's firing (err... dismissal) of Comey from his position as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is far too complex to do justice in a short blurb, it's pretty interesting (even shady for some) that only days after Comey requested increased resources from the U.S. Department of Justice an FBI investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election, Trump decides to dismiss him. No doubt, the fallout will have a considerable effect on the American political landscape.
7	Eurovision Song Contest 2017	986,308	The annual Eurovision Song Contest was once again held this year. Semifinals were held on May 9 and 11, with the final occurring on May 13. Portugal's Salvador Sobral (pictured, left) was crowned the competition's winner with the song "Amar pelos dois", written by his sister, Luísa (pictured, right).
8	Alien: Covenant	863,183	Yet another film sequel: this time it's director Sir Ridley Scott's (pictured) Alien: Covenant following Prometheus in the Alien prequel series. Covenant is set for a May 19 release in the United States, so expect readership to be high next week.
9	Ferdinand Monoyer	850,257	Once again, a Google Doodle informs Internet users on a nifty individual. This time it's Monoyer, who had his May 9 birthday honored with a doodle. Monoyer invented the Monoyer chart (pictured), which is used to test visual acuity. Many of us probably have seen this at the doctor's office without even knowing about Monoyer, so it was interesting to read about it this past week.
10	13 Reasons Why	834,835	This Netflix drama series starring Dylan Minnette (pictured) and Katherine Langford continues to prove it's a hit, with is sixth consecutive week in the top 10. A friendly reminder that a second season of the drama has been commissioned, which at this point—despite its puzzling nature from an artistic angle—seems like the obvious choice forward for Netflix.
11	Prabhas	695,597	No surprise seeing the star of Baahubali 2 (#1) get some attention from readers as well.
12	Gennady Golovkin	680,812	While I'm completely out of the loop in this area, apparently this Kazakhstani professional boxer has garnered heavy interest among readers this week. After a fight on May 6, fellow boxer Canelo Álvarez (#18) announced that he will fight Golovkin in September. Golovkin holds unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, and IBO middleweight titles, in addition to having a sleek 37–0 record (that's 37 wins to zero losses)! So for boxing fans out there, consider this fight very interesting.
13	Deaths in 2017	679,399	I always find it a little morbid how this list always seems to have a steady 500,000 to 700,000 readers every week. But then again, as time keeps chugging along, this list is updated on the daily.
14	Christopher Boykin	673,872	Unfortunately, Mr. Boykin was added to the above list as he passed away on May 9 due to a heart attack, after already being hospitalized for a week. Boykin was an entertainer and musician, known for the reality TV series, Rob & Big, where his friendship with skateboarder Rob Dyrdek was highlighted.
15	French presidential election, 2017	649,290	After Baahubali and Guardians, we have yet another sequel (of sorts). The second round of the 2017 French presidential election took place on May 7 (results pictured) and Emmanuel Macron (#2) soundly defeated Le Pen, after a close first round in April.
16	Justin Bieber	637,092	Baahubali 2 wasn't the only popular thing in India this week; views on Bieber's article spiked on May 10, the day he performed in Mumbai as part of his Purpose World Tour. He's also been at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the past two weeks—first featuring on DJ Khaled's "I'm the One" and then on a remix of Luis Fonsi's "Despacito".
17	Baahubali: The Beginning	558,252	With The Conclusion (#1) tearing up Indian box office records (#3), readers explore The Beginning as well.
18	Canelo Álvarez	520,346	The challenger to Gennady Golovkin (#12) and his middleweight supremacy. Of course, while Golvokin is 37–0, Álvarez is no slouch either with a 49–1–1 boxing record (49 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw). Boxing fans will have a sight to see in September.
19	Mother's Day	505,862	Many countries observe and celebrate this holiday on the Second Sunday of May (this year, that fell on May 14), so readers spent the week being mother-lovers.
20	Sally Yates	504,239	Sometimes it's exhausting slogging through all the Trump controversy, but here we have Sally Yates who was dismissed from her position as Acting Attorney General early into the Trump era. Yates was a figure of interest this past week, after testifying for three hours before the Senate Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism over the Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
21	Sarah Huckabee Sanders	484,223	The Deputy White House Press Secretary held her first White House press briefing on May 5 and continued to fill in for Sean Spicer until May 12, as Spicer was serving on Naval Reserve duty. Her first week in and she's given the easy task (sarcasm, of course) of acting as a surrogate for a president who has had controversies flare up following his dismissal of James Comey (#6), and additional Trump/Russia information disclosure controversy.
22	Saturday Night Massacre	482,479	The Saturday Night Massacre refers to when U.S. President Richard Nixon ordered to fire independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox (pictured), which led to the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, during the Watergate scandal. Views for the "massacre" spiked on May 10, immediately following (now former) FBI Director James Comey's (#6) dimissal by Donald Trump, during the middle of the FBI's investigations into Trump/Russia affairs. So, almost on cue, American media ran with the comparison.
23	The Handmaid's Tale	479,740	This 1985 dystopian novel, written by Margaret Atwood (pictured) has been adapted into a TV series for the online streaming service Hulu. While the series once again misses the Top 25 list, the novel continues to attract readership.
24	Anushka Shetty	460,189	Another appearance in the Top 25 for the lead actress of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (#1). Starring as Devasena in the Baahubali films, Shetty is also one of the leading actresses in Telugu cinema.
25	Fidget spinner	447,163	Seems like everyone's playing with one, huh? Often advertised as beneficial for those with ADHD, autism, and anxiety, the toy has spun out of nowhere. I personally have seen many of my schoolmates playing with one in the hall, but some schools have banned the spinner. There also appears to be a lack of clarity regarding the patent status of the popular three-pronged model that's been blowing up recently. We'll see how much longer this toy can keep spinning in the mainstream. (Not at all sorry for the puns).

Exclusions edit

This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.
Per consensus, XXX, Lali Esposito & Earth are excluded.

Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.