HOLLYWOOD DIRT OVERFLOW (12-01-09)

HERE ARE THE TOP WEB SEARCHES OF 2009 . . . ACCORDING TO BING.COM:

All I really know about Bing.com is that they want to become the most popular search engine in the world. And also that they have really annoying commercials.

I don't know how popular they've managed to become. But one way they're emulating their competitors is by putting out a year-end list of the most-searched items. Not surprisingly, MICHAEL JACKSON tops it. Here's the list . . .

#1.) MICHAEL JACKSON#2.) Twitter#3.) Swine Flu#4.) Stock Market#5.) FARRAH FAWCETT#6.) PATRICK SWAYZE#7.) Cash for Clunkers#8.) JON AND KATE GOSSELIN#9.) BILLY MAYS#10.) JAYCEE DUGARD


TIGER WOODS HAS BACKED OUT OF HIS ANNUAL TOURNAMENT:

TIGER WOODS has backed out of the Chevron World Challenge . . . a golf tournament in Thousand Oaks, California that benefits his Tiger Woods Foundation. He cited, quote, "injuries sustained in a one-car accident."

Tiger was expected to host a press conference today, then play in the four-day tournament . . . which begins on Thursday. He issued a statement saying, quote, "I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week. I am certain it will be an outstanding event and I'm very sorry that I can't be there."

Tiger also said he wouldn't be playing any more tournaments this year. (--Of course, there's only a month left in the year, anyway.) --This is actually the second year in a row Tiger is missing the tournament. Last year he was recovering from knee surgery. --The tournament plans to replace him with a Top 50 golfer . . . but they're also offering refunds to those who want them.

GILLETTE AND NIKE ARE STANDING BY TIGER WOODS:

Whatever happened at TIGER WOODS' home over Thanksgiving weekend, it isn't affecting his relationship with two of his major sponsors. Both Gillette and Nike stepped up and offered their support yesterday.

Nike said, quote, "Tiger and his family have Nike's full support. We respect Tiger's request for privacy and our thoughts are with Tiger and his family at this time." --And Gillette issued a statement saying . . . well . . . that they don't need to issue a statement.

They said, quote, "Gillette isn't issuing a statement on the subject. We feel that Tiger's statement speaks for itself." --AT&T, on the other hand, refused to comment when asked if Tiger's endorsement deal with them would be affected by the weekend's events.


SERENA WILLIAMS HAS BEEN FINED $82,500 FOR THREATENING A U.S. OPEN JUDGE:

SERENA WILLIAMS has been fined $82,500 for threatening a judge at the U.S. Open back in September. That's a record. -The previous high fine for a Grand Slam offense was $43,756 . . . which was handed to Jeff Tarango at Wimbledon in 1995, after he stormed off the court and accused the umpire of favoring his opponent.

In addition to her fine, Serena has been placed on two years' probation. If she commits another, quote, "major offense" during a Grand Slam event in 2010 or 2011, the fine increases to $175,000, and she'll be banned from the following U.S. Open.

Serena issued a statement through her publicist yesterday, saying, quote, "I am thankful that we now have closure on the incident and we can all move forward. --"I am back in training in preparation for next season and I continue to be grateful for all of the support from my fans and the tennis community."

For those of you who somehow don't remember, Serena got IRATE when the line judge called a foot-fault on her during the semifinal match with KIM CLIJSTERS. --Serena then approached the judge with a ball in her hand, and threatened to, quote, "shove it down your (effing) throat."

A decision was made to penalize Serena for that . . . which cost her the match.

(--Here's video of the whole incident, including the aftermath . . .)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-VxYvfwVas

(--And here's a quick clip of Serena's initial outburst, which is thankfully bleeped . . .)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_jlXjgxN8

(--By the way: There's no clear definition of what constitutes a "major offense". Under Grand Slam rules, it's described as, quote, "aggravated behavior" or "conduct detrimental to the game.")


MOVIES YOU CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN:

An "Entertainment Weekly" columnist recently had people e-mail in the movies they can watch OVER AND OVER AGAIN. There were some pretty good ones, like "Princess Bride", "Goodfellas", "Silence of the Lambs", "The Goonies" and "The Shawshank Redemption". (--There were 17 in all. You can check 'em out here . . .)http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20323150,00.html

LADY GAGA took a spill onstage during a performance in Canada over the weekend. She quickly recovered and continued on. (--It happens after the 0:15 mark at the link below. There's an UNEDITED F-BOMB at the 1:23 mark.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQr6PJkx3E0


NICK JONAS' side project, NICK JONAS & THE ADMINISTRATION, will release their debut album, "Who I Am", on February 2nd. --They will also be touring throughout January. The first concert will go down in Dallas on January 2nd . . . and shows are booked through January 30th in Berkeley, California.

(--For all the dates, go to this address and scroll down . . .)https://tickets.jonasbrothersfanclub.com/index-old.php