Michael Jackson’s stunning death made him Yahoo’s biggest star this year.

The quest to find out what happened to Jackson in his final hours on June 25 and celebrate his legacy elevated the late entertainer to the top of the Internet company’s annual breakdown of the most frequent online search requests.

The self-proclaimed King of Pop ended singer Britney Spears’ four-year reign atop Yahoo’s search rankings.

The list released Tuesday is meant to provide a reading on our cultural pulse. It may not be the best barometer, given that Yahoo Inc. ranks a distant second to Google Inc. in Internet search. Google plans to release its own list of popular searches later this month.

Jackson will probably rank high on Google, too. So many inquiries poured in about Jackson within the first few hours of his death that part of Google’s Web site interpreted the fusillade as an automated attack.

As usual, people using Yahoo’s search engine in 2009 seemed to be most interested in celebrities and other diversions, even against the sobering backdrop of the worst recession in 70 years.

Besides Jackson, the other new entrants on Yahoo’s Top 10 list this year were: No. 2, “Twilight,” the vampire story that has spawned two movies, including the recently released “New Moon,” that are drawing hordes of teenage girls and their mothers; No. 4, Megan Fox, an actress who starred in the movie “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen;” No. 8, Kim Kardashian, part of a family with their own reality TV series; and No. 9, NASCAR, an automobile racing league.

The other half of the list consisted of 2008 holdovers. They were: No. 3, WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment; No. 5, Spears; No. 6, Naruto, a character created for the Japanese art form known as anime; No. 7, top-rated television series “American Idol;” and No. 10, RuneScape, an online video game.

Barack Obama made Yahoo’s top searches list in 2008 as a presidential candidate and the President-elect, but fell off after he took office in 2009. The others falling out of the Top 10 were all actresses: Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan and Angelina Jolie.

Although the economy wasn’t as hot a topic as entertainment in 2009, the hard times clearly weighed on people’s minds. “Coupons” and “unemployment” were the most requested search tied to finances, according to Yahoo.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s good looks are only surpassed by their big hearts.

According to the 2008 tax return for the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, the actors/humanitarians quietly donated more than $6 million to charities last year, more than double what they gave in 2007.

The biggest recipients: Global Health ($2 million), Human Rights Watch ($1 million) and Brad’s Make it Right Foundation ($1 million).

Other notable contributions included $500 000 to the Armed Services YMCA of the U.S. Army; $50 000 to the Springfield, Missouri Public Schools (Brad’s hometown); and about a million dollars to projects in Cambodia, the country from which they adopted their first child Maddox.

Angelia Jolie raked in an impressive $27 million between June 2008 and June 2009 to top this years Forbes Magazine list of top earning actresses.

Angelina beat her partner Brad Pitt’s ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, who came second in the list with earnings of $25 million.

In a statement, the magazine said: “Much of Angelina’s earnings came from her share of the profits on ‘Wanted’, but she also scored a fat upfront cheque for ‘Salt’, an action film originally slated to star Tom Cruise, in which Jolie plays a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian spy.”

‘Mamma Mia’ star Meryl Streep was placed third with an income of $24 million, while ‘Sex and the City’ actress Sarah Jessica Parker came fourth with $23 million in earnings.

Cameron Diaz was ranked fifth generating $20 million, while Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock tied for sixth place after making $15 million each. Nicole Kidman and Drew Barrymore tied for eighth place, followed by Renee Zellweger.

The magazine compiled the list after speaking to agents, managers, producers and lawyers. Money earned from clothing, perfume or accessories lines was also taken into account.

As usual, the actresses earned significantly less than their male counterparts. This year’s top-earning actor Harrison Ford earned $65 million, $38 million more than Angelina. The top 10 actors earned a combined total of $393 million, compared with the actress’ earnings of $183 million.

Forbes magazine’s top 10 Top-Earning Actresses of 2009:
1. Angelina Jolie, $27 million
2. Jennifer Aniston, $25 million
3. Meryl Streep, $24 million
4. Sarah Jessica Parker, $23 million
5. Cameron Diaz, $20 million
6. Sandra Bullock, $15 million
6. Reese Witherspoon, $15 million
8. Nicole Kidman, $12 million
8. Drew Barrymore, $12 million
10. Renee Zellweger, $10 million

Angelina Jolie has usurped Oprah Winfrey’s throne

The “Wanted” star tops the Forbes annual Celebrity 100 list, a ranking of the world’s famous people measured by income and media visibility. She bumps previous year’s title holder, media maven Oprah to No. 2.

Oddly enough, Jolie’s partner Brad Pitt only came in at No. 9 on the list.

The full Top 10 on the Forbes list follows:

1. Angelina Jolie
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. Madonna
4. Beyonce Knowles
5. Tiger Woods
6. Bruce Springsteen
7. Steven Spielberg
8. Jennifer Aniston
9. Brad Pitt
10. Kobe Bryant

A few other newcomers who make their debut on the list are President Barack Obama (No. 49), “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer (No. 26) and country artist Taylor Swift (No. 69).

The full list can be found at Forbes.com.

ANGELINA Jolie has been injured on the set of her latest film, movie bosses have confirmed.

The actress was taken to hospital on Friday (May 29, 2009) after suffering a head injury while completing an action sequence for new thriller Salt in New York.

She was taken to a local hospital as a “precautionary measure”, according to Steve Elzer, a spokesman for Columbia Pictures, after suffering “a minor bump to the head”, but returned to the set later that day to resume production.

Salt finds Jolie playing a CIA officer who is forced to go on the run and prove her innocence after being accused of being a Russian sleeper spy.

The film, which is due for release next summer (2010), also stars Liev Schreiber (of X-Men Origins: Wolverine fame) and Britain’s Chiwetel Ejiofor.