Maxim has released its Hot 100 2012, the definitive list of the world’s most beautiful women. And Israeli supermodel and former Leonardo DiCaprio love interest Bar Refaeli is officially the hottest woman on the planet, according to the Maxim list.

The Maxim Hot 100 is usually created in-house, but this year the magazine decided to let readers vote. And because of the crowd input, the Maxim 100 has a few surprises on it. It includes, at No. 92, Amanda Knox, the young woman who was convicted of murdering the woman who shared an apartment with her in Italy.  The conviction was overturned last October.

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Who do you reckon will make it to the top 50 women on the Web? In this age of Google, the more you are searched, the higher you get on the list.

Lady Gaga (real name: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) thus reigns supreme as the most popular woman on the web according to COED magazine.

This list has been compiled taking data and statistics from Google search-engine results, and COED Magazine has ranked them thanks to this data and statiustics.

At number two is Ke$ha (real name: Kesha Rose Sebert). The iconic Madonna (birth name: Louise Veronica Ciccone), age 52, remains a powerhouse in current pop culture at number three.

Every girl�s-crush Justin Bieber is placed at number seven on the list though he is not a woman. I guess his inclusion is part of COED�s sense of humor.

The COED Top 50 list of Most Popular Women on the Web:

1 Lady Gaga

2 Ke$ha

3 Madonna

4 Beyonce

5 Rihanna

6 Britney Spears

7 Justin Bieber

8 Miley Cyrus

9 Paris Hilton

10 Avril Lavigne

11 Shakira

12 Taylor Swift

13 Angelina Jolie

14 Oprah Winfrey

15 Megan Cox

16 Jennifer Lopez

17 Mariah Carey

18 Sarah Palin

19 Jessica Simpson

20 Lindsay Lohan

21 Michelle Obama

22 Katy Perry

23 Kim Kardashian

24 Sandra Bullock

25 Christina Aguilera

26 Jessica Alba

27 Fergie

28 Pamela Anderson

29 Betty White

30 Kristen Stewart

31 Ciara

32 Hillary Clinton

33 Jennifer Aniston

34 Demi Moore

35 Heidi Montag

36 Marilyn Monroe

37 Hilary Duff

38 Ashley Tisdale

39 Katy Price

40 Vanessa Hudgens

41 Amy Winehouse

42 Carrie Underwood

43 Kelly Clarkson

44 Sarah Jessica Parker

45 Lily Allen

46: Adriana Lima

47: Tina Fey

48 Carmen Electra

49: Scarlett Johansson

50: Eva Longoria

Lady Gaga�s dominance at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards saw her winning honors for Best Female, Best Song, and Best Pop just a year after taking the best new act prize.

The Sunday ceremony converted two of the Spanish capital’s most iconic landmarks into glittering venues from which to present its 2010 honors.

Tens of thousands of music fans crowded downtown Puerta de Alcala and Caja Magica to hear acts by Jared Leto and Shakira.

Lady Gaga was in Budapest, Hungary, for a concert and so accepted her awards via video link. On the third occasion she appeared to be wearing little more than a folded piece of plastic, enhancing her reputation for outlandish outfits.

“I wish so much that I could be there,” she said, before launching into a song for the MTV crowd in the Caja Magica venue in Madrid. “Get off my stage!” she shouted at the end.

Lady Gaga and Katy Perry went into the annual awards ceremony — one of pop music’s biggest nights outside the United States — leading the field with five nominations apiece.

Perry was also recognised, winning the Best Video category for “California Gurls.”

Both Americans, the singers underlined the dominance of U.S. music on the night even though most prizes were decided by a popular vote on MTV’s Europe Awards website.

Of the main winners, only one was not American. That was 16-year-old Canadian chart sensation Justin Bieber, who beat out the likes of Eminem and Kanye West to pick up the coveted Best Male Artist prize.

Colombian singer Shakira opened the show with British rapper Dizzee Rascal, and there were performances by acts including Kings of Leon, Kid Rock and Miley Cyrus.

Among the highlights was Barbadian star Rihanna, who sported red hair, a tiara and a short white wedding-style dress when she sang “Only Girl.”

Bon Jovi were the closing act, after the band picked up the inaugural Global Icon award.

“Thanks for making us icons,” Jon Bon Jovi told the cheering crowd. “I want to thank everyone at MTV for this unbelievable ride over a quarter of a century. We’re still doing what we do and we’re doing it well.”

According to MTV, the group has sold more than 125 million albums, performed over 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries to 35 million fans and were the number one touring act in 2008.

Rounding out the prizes were U.S. performers Ke$ha (Best New Act), Eminem (Best HipHop), Paramore (Best Alternative), Linkin Park (Best Live Act) and 30 Seconds to Mars (Best Rock).

“Hopefully I can inspire you guys to give the finger to the cynics,” Ke$ha told the screaming crowd.

“Desperate Housewives” actress Eva Longoria hosted the event, and managed eight changes of costume, all designed by Victoria Beckham.

At one point she was joined on stage by last year’s host Perry, who tore at the shoulder straps of her successor’s black dress revealing a tight-fitting bodice.

Winners of the 17th annual MTV Europe Music Awards:

Best Song — Lady Gaga for “Bad Romance”

Best Live Act — Linkin Park

Best European Act — Marco Mengoni

Best New Act — KE$HA

Best Female — Lady Gaga

Best Male — Justin Bieber

Best Push Artist — Justin Beiber

Best Pop — Lady Gaga

Best Rock — Thirty Seconds to Mars

Best Alternative — Paramore

Best Spanish Singer — Enrique Iglesias

Best Video — Katy Perry for “California Gurls”

Best Hip Hop — Eminem

MTV Global Icon — Bon Jovi

World Stage — Tokio Hotel

The day the world has been waiting for is finally here. The world’s greatest soccer tournament starts today. …and over the next few weeks, soccer fever will grip the world and productivity will take a big hit. You will see lots of “panda eyes” in the work place.

Which player will ignite the tournament and carve his name in soccer history as a world cup legend? Will it be Cristiano Ronaldo? Lionel Messi? Wayne Rooney?� Kaka? Xavi? Fernando Torres? David Villa? Andres Iniesta? Steven Gerrard? There is bound to be controversies but hopefully the tournament will not be marred by any “hand of God goals”, violence or untoward incidents.

Waka waka……this time for Africa…..yeah! let the show begin! Let Shakira turn you on….I mean turn you on to the soccer fever…what were you thinking of?

This is the Spanish version of the song…..watch the video and be amused!� It makes me wonder how they made this video.� Maybe James Cameron was behind it, lol!

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is all set to kick off tomorrow in South Africa. This will be the 19^th FIFA World Cup and this is the first time that the tournament will be hosted by an African nation, after South Africa defeated Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. The tournament is scheduled to take place between June 11 and July 11.

This is the first World Cup that does not include any teams that are qualifying for the first time, although two of the qualifiers (Slovakia and Serbia) have previously appeared only as parts of former competing nations. Slovakia was previously part of Czechoslovakia, and Serbia has competed as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro. In both cases FIFA considers these teams to have retained the earlier nations� records.

The 32 qualifiers are South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England, Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Honduras, Mexico, United States, New Zealand, Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d�Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

The tournament will be held at the following 10 venues in South Africa.

Zakumi, an anthropomorphized leopard with green hair, is the official mascot of the tournament. �Za� is the international abbreviation for South Africa and �kumi� is an African word that means �ten�. So Zakumi stands for South Africa 2010.

The official song for 2010 FIFA World Cup is �Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)�, in English, and �Waka Waka (Esto es Africa)� in Spanish. Waka means do it. It will be performed by Shakira and South African group Freshlyground at the closing ceremony before the World Cup final on Juy 11 in Johannesburg Soccer City Stadium.

Who will win the coveted World Cup? Being a fan of English Premier League, I would be ecstatic if England wins it. But I seriously doubt England can pull it off as England always seems to falter at World Cup tournaments. I am putting my money on Brazil and Spain.

Let the world cup begin��Waka Waka!