Review of 2006: The Top Five Stories Countdown

Number 5: Madonna’s adoption of baby David
Madonna adopting any baby is newsworthy enough but the controversy around David’s adoption made it even bigger. Rumours had been circulating about a possible adoption for a while but Madonna’s spokespeople repeatedly denied it - even when the adoption was confirmed by the baby’s living relatives. The legal challenge by human rights groups in the country and then the various stories from David’s father, Yohane Banda, made the story run and run. Madonna defended her actions in a range of interviews and labelled the criticism as just racism and a distraction.

Number 4: Paul McCartney and Heather Mills‘ marriage split
This could have been a quiet, almost non-story if it stayed amicable: it would have garnered some press because of Paul’s status but aside from that, it could have just disappeared. But then it turned - stories began to emerge of pettiness, avoidance, affair rumours, abuse and drug allegations, damning secret audio diaries. The two are believed to be preparing for a public high court showdown early next year to settle the financial aspects of their split and a fight over the custody of their daughter Beatrice.

Number 3: The Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes extravaganza
If 2005 was about Tom and Katie’s initial over-the-top romance, then 2006 was about the cementing of their relationship - with a side order of considerably speculation of the influence of Scientology in their lives. Stories of silent births and first weeks started circulating on the run up to the birth of their daughter, Suri, in April and after she was born, their decision to keep her out of the public eye - and even keeping her shielded from friends, caused a great deal of speculation into her parentage, actual birth date and physical appearance. Suri’s first public appearance - on the cover of Vanity Fair - started up the publicity engine in advance of Tom and Katie’s lavish wedding. Katie was repeatedly rumoured to be having second thoughts about the marriage at the start of the year but that all settled down in time for the ceremony in a castle just outside Rome in November.

Number 2: The “perfect storm” of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Although they’d been rumoured to be an item through most of 2005, it wasn’t until Angelina confirmed she was pregnant with Brad’s child in January this year that they officially acknowledged their relationship. They spent the next five months constantly being hounded by the paparazzi despite moving first to Paris and then onto Namibia - where their daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, was born in May. Since then, the pair have been repeatedly rumoured to be planning to marry (most notably at George Clooney’s Italian villa in the summer) and/or adopting another child.

The biggest story of the year: Britney Spears‘ split and um … pink bits
Despite having two years off from her pop career, Britney still managed to get a fair share of press in the first half of 2006 - with almost constant pregnancy rumours and stories about problems in her marriage to Kevin Federline. She denied them all - but then admitted to being pregnant, giving birth to her second son Jayden in September, and then in a surprise move (to us and to Kevin, by the sounds of it), filed for divorce in November. We thought that would be Britney’s big story for 2006 but then she started partying - first without her trousers, then without her knickers - and celebrity gossip sites across the web melted as everyone tried to catch a glimpse of her pink bits.