Blog P.I.

For the record, this page will not be covering Flavor of Love (season 3), Deaths in 2008, 2008 UEFA Champions League Final or a handful of other articles that may have made the top-edited list but for the fact that I’m not entirely sure whether I copied the list of top articles for the week or just for Sunday.

I’m only a human and WikiRage is only a program which as yet does not allow one to look at charts in the past. But in the interests of Wikipedia trivia, let’s keep this feature moving forward. And in the interests of posterity, all apologies to Indiana Jones, who may have been the rightful owner of the top slot this week.

1. Article: Eurovision Song Contest 2009
   Why: The Eurovision Song Contest is something like the Olympics for pop groups of various European nations, held annually. I’d wager most Americans have never heard of it, but it’s actually entering its 53rd year.
   Detail: It’s not easy to see where all those edits went in this first week. The page is not very long, and only a few participants are yet confirmed. The best explanation is that new pages being prepared to expand greatly according to pre-established rules are the locus of numerous tiny edits and adjustments. Glancing over the meticulous, country by country, week by week charting on the article for 2008’s installment, I expect the 2009 page will make this list in subsequent weeks.


2. Article: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
   Why: This is no time for Wikipedia, Dr. Jones! The fourth installment in the Lucas/Spielberg/Ford series is the biggest movie in the world at the moment.
   Detail: Through no real particular linking effort, this article is the third non-news listing on Wikipedia when the title is used as a search term. If your search term is “Indy 4″ it’s the second result. And in terms of length and citations, this page resembles nothing so much as two chart-topping articles from the past few weeks: 2008 Sichuan earthquake and Cyclone Nargis.


3. Article: Stanley Cup
   Why: Yes, the NHL championship is under way now, but the article about the trophy itself was the Featured Article on May 25.
   Detail: Is it surprising that Canada’s national sport a target of relentless Wikipedia vandals? Perhaps not when you consider how frequently recent “South Park” episodes make this list.


4. Article: Dima Bilan
   Why: The Russian pop artist won the 2008 Eurovision song contest.
   Detail: Apparently the beginning of the new season brings the trolls out, as they make a recent, unscheduled appearance on the Talk page. But the attention also brought out the copyright hounds, who noted there was no rationale cited for the fair use image of Bilan in the article, and removed it.


5. Article: Eurovision Song Contest
   Why: The flagship article for the aforementioned annual European diva-off.
   Detail: I kind of hope I did grab the wrong list of articles, becuase I’m not sure if I get interested enough in the contest to cover it week in and out.


6. Article: UFC 84
   Why: This weekend the MGM Grand in Las Vegas hosted the latest battle royale between the leading practitioners of what has apparently come to be known as “mixed martial arts.”
   Detail: The title makes it sound like this event has been going for 84 years, but in fact UFC 83 was only in April, and UFC 85 will be in June. The only other thing I can say is that the Brazilians do exceptionally well.


7. Article: Union of South American Nations
   Why: You know the unification of North America raised by conspiracy theorists obsessed with the “NAFTA superhighway”? Yeah, well they did it South America.
   Detail: I’m kidding, sort of. The newly created union aims to create a single market not unlike the European Union, but it’s not quite a reimagination of borders as drastic as the Organization of North American Nations from “Infinite Jest”, even if the name sort of implies it.


8. Article: Rob Knox
   Why: Article about an 18-year-old British actor killed by stabbing outside a bar in suburban London.
   Detail: Wait a few days, and you may miss it. The article has been nominated for deletion, although early indications from the Talk page are that it will stay.


9. Article: Lion
   Why: Featured Article for May 24, 2008.
   Detail: Lions are not greater targets for vandalism than Canadian hockey trophies, but as charismatic megafauna, they’re still a target.


10. Article: Manuel Marulanda
    Why: Not Bill Frist’s former counsel but a leader of the FARC terrorist group reported to have died this week of a heart attack.
    Detail: A fair point from a newbie, not yet taken up: “Im kinda new here. Is it good to have the Video section have a link to a site selling a video?You cannot watch it free. Seems a bit too commercial.”

Holdovers this week: You know, let’s just pretend Deaths in 2008 made the list. In the second week of this feature, we honored Herb Peterson, inventor of the Egg McMuffin, so it would be wrong now if we did not reflect briefly on the life of J.R. Simplot, the man behind the McDonald’s french fry.

Falling off the list: Everything from last week.

Recurring themes: Weekly-elimination musical competitions, televised non-Olympic fighting events, long articles about current events with 100-plus citations.

Honorable mention: American Idol. It’s #11 for the week as of Monday, and may have been on the list as of last night. I suppose we’ll never know. But considering that the American TV series has concluded just as it has helped Fox become the #1 network in the United States for the first full season ever, I’ll throw it a bone.

Images courtesy Banlon1964, Dunechaser and Heaven’s Gate (John) on Flickr.