It’s that time of year again, Dancing with the Stars (Season 5) is in full swing, which means it’s time to take a look at the latest search term data to gauge contestant popularity and viewer mindset. The first chart is a full two year historical chart of search term volume (by week) in the U.S. for the remaining contestants on the show.

That August 2006 spike for Marie Osmond is most likely due to the announcement of her divorce rumors surrounding her hospitilization, her spike this week was related to her fainting spell on camera. The most popular searches for Marie last week included “marie osmond faints,” “marie osmond fainting” and of course “videos of marie osmond fainting.” Here’s a chart with a close-up for this fall season:

A little too early to call this season, but search term suggestion does give us some indication into what’s on the mind of Dancing with the Star viewers:
Jennie Garth: most searchers looking for pictures or information on her husband
Jane Seymour: several searches about her age as well as concern if she was affected by the California wildfires
Helio Castroneves: searchers wondering if he’s married or has a girlfriend
Finally, we’ll be doing an analysis this year on the blog to determine if Dancing with the Stars provides a lift to the mindshare of its celebrity contestants. Here’s the first installment, two contestants are members of the girl bands Cheetah Girls and Spice Girls, below is a chart of searches for the two groups.

More to follow, stay tuned.