Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-02-18/Traffic report
Traffic report
February is for lovers
This week saw the 57th Annual Grammy Awards (#13 on the Top 25) held on February 8 dominating the traffic chart, as music lovers checked out Sam Smith (#3) picking up four awards, Beck taking album of the year, and performances including Sia (#9), Madonna (#11), and Annie Lennox (#16). But Valentine's Day (#1) proved the perfect time for the release of Fifty Shades of Grey, with the movie coming in at #5, the book of the same name at #2, and the primary actors at #14 and #15.
For the full top 25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions.
For the week of February 8 to 14, 2015, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Valentine's Day 
2,215,877 
As in 2013 and 2014, Valentine's Day makes its annual appearance at the top of the chart. 2 Fifty Shades of Grey 
2,168,619 
Unquestionably, the film based on this book picked the right weekend to be released. As of Sunday February 15 (one day after this Report's coverage period), the film had grossed over $239 million worldwide. On this chart, it is up from #8 and 713,992 views last week. 3 Sam Smith (singer)
1,331,959 
At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2015, Smith won four awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Stay with Me", Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album. Speaking of "Stay with Me", it is clear that Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne cashed in at the right time, recently settling a dispute with Smith to get a cut of royalties from the song based on coincidental similarities to a part of 1989's "I Won't Back Down". Lots of songs have similar riffs to earlier songs, since there are only so many combinations of notes and chords in pop music that appeal to us. But being similar to a song of the year is apparently worth paying a lawyer to complain about a bit. 4 Beck 
1,317,196 
Beck's album Morning Phase won Album of the Year at the Grammys. And Kanye West took issue with Beck winning over Beyoncé, which got himself placed at #18 this week. 5 Fifty Shades of Grey (film) 
1,204,926 
See #2. The film stars Dakota Johnson (#14) (pictured) and Jamie Dornan (#15). 6 Better Call Saul
1,130,822 
A television show spinoff of Breaking Bad (a former chart favorite on Wikipedia) starring Bob Odenkirk (pictured), it debuted on AMC on February 8, 2015. 7 Chris Kyle
1,121,178 
Down from 1.59 million views last week, but still quite strong. If there's one thing America loves, it's a good, old fashioned culture war. Clint Eastwood's latest directorial effort American Sniper may not be wowing the critics (Rotten Tomatoes places it 13th among the films he has directed), nor drawing the crowds overseas (its international box office take is currently less than a third its domestic take), but it has played spectacularly well in America's conservative heartland, leading politicians on the left and right to, well, snipe at each other about what the film and its popularity say about America, its people, and in particular its subject, the now deceased sniper Chris Kyle. While interest seems to be winding down (viewing figures for this article peaked at 5.3 million two weeks ago), the topic still has enough oxygen to keep it in the Top 10. 8 Stephen Hawking
935,172 
The former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, black hole theorist, and latter-day science icon makes his 15th straight appearance in the Top 25 this week. Interest is only likely to increase in the run-up to the Oscars, thanks to Eddie Redmayne's likely Best Actor win for portraying him in The Theory of Everything. 9 Sia (musician)
872,633 
The popular singer hid her face once again, but performed at the Grammys on February 8. 10 Facebook
822,844 
A perennially popular article.
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