Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/May 8 to 14, 2022

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (May 8 to 14, 2022)
Prepared with commentary by, , , , and a helpful IP

One could argue the theme of this report is competition, as below the latest MCU installment we have the Eurovision Song Contest (#2, #7), a race to make money in India (#3, #9), an election in the Philippines (#10, #20, #24), a lawsuit (#5, #6) and a boxing match (#12, #17). Also on the list are the new Doctor (#11), a hip-hop album and its artist (#16, #18) and four deaths (#19, #21, #23, #25).


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes/about
 * 1
 * Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
 * 2,523,503
 * Doctor Strange, The Supreme Sorcerer by Christian Brommer 14.jpg
 * The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, from the original Spider-Man trilogy's director Sam Raimi, continues to top the box office despite a steep 67% drop in the second weekend box office grosses, which I'd attribute to it polarizing audiences due to containing much less MCU shenanigans and much more of Raimi's signature comically absurd body horror. (Though personally, I thought the film was excellent and a breath of fresh air for the increasingly samey and fan service-obsessed franchise.)
 * 2
 * Eurovision Song Contest 2022
 * 1,207,777
 * ESC 2022 Map.svg
 * Ukraine won the annual song contest this year, represented by Kalush Orchestra with the song "Stefania", which received nearly 200 points from the 39 national jury votes, and over 400 points from the audience vote. The UK improved dramatically from last year, going from receiving 0 points to coming second place (thanks to a space man), receiving over 400 points in total. Russia were excluded from attending the annual song contest completely following protests from other participating countries (because of #4). Although the show's presenters and the viewers all expected that Ukraine would win as a result of the invasion, it was nice to see Ukrainians finally enjoy something and be happy after months of war. Our #7 also co-presented the show.
 * 3
 * K.G.F: Chapter 2
 * 1,058,176
 * Champion_Reef_Mine_shaft.jpg
 * India continues to bring in the crore to this Sandalwood epic set in the Kolar Gold Fields.
 * 4
 * 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
 * 1,023,189
 * 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.svg
 * Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to be awful, and could now cause a worldwide food shortage due to its blockade of the port at Odessa. It's also caused Sweden and Finland to apply to join NATO.
 * 5
 * Johnny Depp
 * 1,013,880
 * rowspan=2|Black Mass 11 (21268540588).jpg
 * rowspan=2|Depp v. Heard is still polluting making headlines as the he-said-she-said legal drama continues.
 * 6
 * Amber Heard
 * 983,264
 * 7
 * Mika (singer)
 * 912,682
 * Mika Nibe Festival.jpg
 * The singer who wanted to be like Grace Kelly then tried a little Freddie co-presented all three live shows of the contest sitting at #2, despite having turned down competing in it (for the UK, who this year don't seem to be minding his refusals) on various occasions; he also sang a duet with fellow presenter Laura Pausini as an interval act in the second semi-final and sang a medley of his hits as an interval act in the final.
 * 8
 * Deaths in 2022
 * 888,058
 * Illustrations to Robert Blair's The Grave, object 18 The Grave Personified.jpg
 * And in the end The love you take Is equal to the love you make...
 * 9
 * List of highest-grossing Indian films
 * 875,766
 * The old Indian coins.jpg
 * #3 has now surpassed RRR for third place, meaning the Sandalwood epic is only behind the Tollywood production Baahubali 2: The Conclusion and Bollywood's Dangal.
 * 10
 * 2022 Philippine presidential election
 * 840,705
 * 2022_Philippine_presidential_election_by_province.png
 * Voters in the Philippines went to the polls this week to (among other things) elect their president for the next six years, and elected Bongbong Marcos (#20), whose central promise was to return the country to the days of his father's dictatorship. It's an... odd choice, especially given his opponent seems to be actually competent, but I guess that's what happens when disinformation replaces reason.
 * 11
 * Ncuti Gatwa
 * 820,820
 * Gatwa is currently best known for his role in Netflix's Sex Education, but is about to rise to even greater heights as the first black actor to be cast as The Doctor in the venerable sci-fi TV program Doctor Who. (That is unless you count Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor or indeed Peter Davison, whose father was from Guyana, as the Fifth Doctor. Who knew Doctor Who lore was so confusing?)
 * 12
 * Dmitry Bivol
 * 805,863
 * Boxing gloves Bail 10-OZ (2).jpg
 * To a more physical competition than Eurovision, the latest big boxing match saw this Russian boxer narrowly defeat #17 in what was apparently considered an upset.
 * 13
 * Elon Musk
 * 773,078
 * SpaceX_CEO_Elon_Musk_visits_N&NC_and_AFSPC_(190416-F-ZZ999-006)_(cropped).jpg
 * Musk continues to make headlines after Twitter accepted his takeover offer; this week, he indicated that he'd lift former US president Donald Trump's permanent suspension (though Trump's indicated he won't return to Twitter even if unbanned, since he's currently trying to get Truth Social up and running, to which I say "well good luck with that"). Currently, the deal's on hold as Musk awaits data regarding the percentage of spam accounts on the platform, though he and Parag Agrawal don't expect it to make the acquisition fall apart.
 * 14
 * Mother's Day
 * 701,579
 * Mother's_day_udit.jpg
 * This holiday is celebrated on different days in different countries. But the most common date (and the date used by India and the USA, our biggest readership bases) is the second Sunday of May (the 8th, this year)
 * 15
 * Michael Peterson trial
 * 692,304
 * Colin_Firth_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg
 * HBO Max released The Staircase, a miniseries where Colin Firth (pictured) played this novelist convicted in 2003 of murdering his second wife, who he claimed had instead fallen down a set of stairs.
 * 16
 * Kendrick Lamar
 * 678,676
 * One of the most acclaimed rappers of his generation, who even managed to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, released his fifth studio album.
 * 17
 * Canelo Álvarez
 * 669,073
 * Saúl_Álvarez_2013.jpg
 * Splitting the acclaimed rapper and his latest album is the Mexican boxer who lost his title belt to #12.
 * 18
 * Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
 * 667,076
 * Kendrick Lamar The DAMN. Tour @ TD Garden (Boston, MA) (35709968550).jpg
 * Friday the 13th was the lucky release date of the follow-up to DAMN. and the Black Panther soundtrack.
 * 19
 * Dennis Waterman
 * 653,031
 * Dennis_Waterman.jpg
 * An English actor and singer who started his career still as a child, and 6 decades later died at the age of 74. He was best known for his roles in the TV shows The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks, and was a successful stage actor in his early years.
 * 20
 * Bongbong Marcos
 * 634,698
 * Bongbong Marcos 2018.jpg
 * The fact that this guy will soon be in charge of the Philippines is fairly alarming, as his central campaign pledge was to return the country to the "glory days" of the Marcos regime, under which his family stole billions from the country and human rights abuses were rampant. The Marcoses have been rehabilitating their public image for a while now, and this kicked into high gear ahead of the election, with a flood of lies amplifying his message and seeking to rewrite the past. His campaign was thin on policy detail, he avoided the media and refused to debate the other candidates, and stuck largely to social media. Coincidentally, social media doesn't have factcheckers.
 * 21
 * Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
 * 632,324
 * [[File:The_President,_Smt._Pratibha_Devisingh_Patil_with_the_President_of_UAE,_Sheikh_Khalifa_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahayan_at_the_Ceremonial_Reception,_at_Mushrif_Palace,_in_Abu_Dhabi_on_November_22,_2010_(cropped).jpg|100px]]
 * The ruler of Abu Dhabi, and by extension the UAE, which he had led since 2004. Khalifa presided over the country's economic growth and diversification as it became an international hub, and got his name on the world's tallest building. He died this week, although he had largely disappeared from the public eye for a while.
 * 22
 * Roe v. Wade
 * 600,356
 * Ithaca_response_to_overturning_of_roe_v._wade.jpg
 * With the world's most famous legal opinion on the chopping block, abortion looks set to be illegal in large parts of the United States. This seems a little odd, given that most people in the U.S. want to keep Roe, but the judicial branch doesn't have much obligation to go with what the public wants.
 * 23
 * Fred Ward
 * 590,135
 * B-movie actor Ward died at the beginning of the week, but his death at the age of 79 was not announced until near the end of it, and even then it was somewhat under the radar. Thus it is a tribute to his popularity, stemming primarily from his roles in the cult classic Tremors and its direct-to-video sequel, as well Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, that he makes the list.
 * 24
 * 2016 Philippine presidential election
 * 462,726
 * Presidential_Race_2016.png
 * Also on the list is the last Philippine election, in which Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency and Marcos was defeated for the vice-presidency by his 2022 opponent Leni Robredo.
 * 25
 * Naomi Judd
 * 454,718
 * Naomi Judd AHA (headshot).jpg
 * Keeping striker Erling Haaland off the list is the matriarch of The Judds, whose suicide is still being mourned.
 * }
 * 667,076
 * Kendrick Lamar The DAMN. Tour @ TD Garden (Boston, MA) (35709968550).jpg
 * Friday the 13th was the lucky release date of the follow-up to DAMN. and the Black Panther soundtrack.
 * 19
 * Dennis Waterman
 * 653,031
 * Dennis_Waterman.jpg
 * An English actor and singer who started his career still as a child, and 6 decades later died at the age of 74. He was best known for his roles in the TV shows The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks, and was a successful stage actor in his early years.
 * 20
 * Bongbong Marcos
 * 634,698
 * Bongbong Marcos 2018.jpg
 * The fact that this guy will soon be in charge of the Philippines is fairly alarming, as his central campaign pledge was to return the country to the "glory days" of the Marcos regime, under which his family stole billions from the country and human rights abuses were rampant. The Marcoses have been rehabilitating their public image for a while now, and this kicked into high gear ahead of the election, with a flood of lies amplifying his message and seeking to rewrite the past. His campaign was thin on policy detail, he avoided the media and refused to debate the other candidates, and stuck largely to social media. Coincidentally, social media doesn't have factcheckers.
 * 21
 * Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
 * 632,324
 * [[File:The_President,_Smt._Pratibha_Devisingh_Patil_with_the_President_of_UAE,_Sheikh_Khalifa_bin_Zayed_Al_Nahayan_at_the_Ceremonial_Reception,_at_Mushrif_Palace,_in_Abu_Dhabi_on_November_22,_2010_(cropped).jpg|100px]]
 * The ruler of Abu Dhabi, and by extension the UAE, which he had led since 2004. Khalifa presided over the country's economic growth and diversification as it became an international hub, and got his name on the world's tallest building. He died this week, although he had largely disappeared from the public eye for a while.
 * 22
 * Roe v. Wade
 * 600,356
 * Ithaca_response_to_overturning_of_roe_v._wade.jpg
 * With the world's most famous legal opinion on the chopping block, abortion looks set to be illegal in large parts of the United States. This seems a little odd, given that most people in the U.S. want to keep Roe, but the judicial branch doesn't have much obligation to go with what the public wants.
 * 23
 * Fred Ward
 * 590,135
 * B-movie actor Ward died at the beginning of the week, but his death at the age of 79 was not announced until near the end of it, and even then it was somewhat under the radar. Thus it is a tribute to his popularity, stemming primarily from his roles in the cult classic Tremors and its direct-to-video sequel, as well Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, that he makes the list.
 * 24
 * 2016 Philippine presidential election
 * 462,726
 * Presidential_Race_2016.png
 * Also on the list is the last Philippine election, in which Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency and Marcos was defeated for the vice-presidency by his 2022 opponent Leni Robredo.
 * 25
 * Naomi Judd
 * 454,718
 * Naomi Judd AHA (headshot).jpg
 * Keeping striker Erling Haaland off the list is the matriarch of The Judds, whose suicide is still being mourned.
 * }
 * 24
 * 2016 Philippine presidential election
 * 462,726
 * Presidential_Race_2016.png
 * Also on the list is the last Philippine election, in which Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency and Marcos was defeated for the vice-presidency by his 2022 opponent Leni Robredo.
 * 25
 * Naomi Judd
 * 454,718
 * Naomi Judd AHA (headshot).jpg
 * Keeping striker Erling Haaland off the list is the matriarch of The Judds, whose suicide is still being mourned.
 * }
 * 454,718
 * Naomi Judd AHA (headshot).jpg
 * Keeping striker Erling Haaland off the list is the matriarch of The Judds, whose suicide is still being mourned.
 * }
 * }