by Claudine Zap

Is there some kind of rule that calls for dads of young celebs to act even less mature than their starlet daughters?

While the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears are hardly role models, they seem to take their bad-behavior cues from their worst-acting dads. But this new level of bad parenting, making its way up Buzz today, seems to merit a higher level of recognition. Let’s call it the Baddies.

Party Baddie. That would go to Hilary Duff‘s dad, who is in the midst of messy divorce proceedings with Duff’s mom. Bob Duff was actually jailed for 10 days for contempt after he and his former wife could not agree over the $25,000 for daughter Hilary’s 21st birthday party. Hey, they only turn 21 once. According to People.com,

Hilary’s mom, Susan Duff, was heard saying as her ex was led away in cuffs, “This isn’t what I wanted.” No, she wanted $25,000!

Paycheck Baddie. Britney Spears‘ dad, Jamie, gets an honorable mention for complete chutzpah, demanding to be paid for his parenting. Granted, Britney can’t have been the easiest kid to raise, but still, that is the general idea behind being a dad, no?

Defamer notes

that papa Jamie Spears is already picking up a tidy paycheck of $2,500 a week for the care of Britney (cooking, cleaning, running errands), but he wants some retroactive pay for “pro bono parenting,” as the L.A. gossip blog puts it.

Low-Life Baddie. Hands down that award goes to Hayden Panettiere‘s dad, who was arrested for spousal abuse after hitting his wife. According to Us magazine,

Panettiere was moved to violence after feeling disrespected. We’re sure that was just the thing to get more respect from his family.

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by Claudine Zap

Party planning. If you’re throwing a shindig that only happens once every four years, you had better bring in the blockbuster entertainment. If you don’t mind all the bad dancing that goes along with rocking out, well, then, get your groove on with Buzz.

You may have noticed some oldies but goodies filling the Pepsi Center where the first few days of the Democratic National Convention was held, with toe-tapping tunes like “Celebration” and “Love Train”. That would be the DNC house band and they sure got those 4,000-plus delegates moving. (For better or worse.)

Every good party needs a theme song. John Legend stepped in by introducing his new tune, “If You’re Out There.” Legend told Rolling Stone, “‘If You’re Out There’ reflects the themes of hope and change, responsibility and leadership, and commitment to a better tomorrow expressed in the principles of Barack Obama and the hearts of the American people.” And it’s catchy, too.

Rebels with a cause. On Thursday night, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen will warm up the crowd, which is expected to top 70,000.

But for now, Jennifer Hudson is getting the love in Search. Queries surged on news that the American Idol contestant and Academy Award winner would belt out the national anthem at Barack Obama’s request.

The only two people who may be dissatisfied with the all-star lineup are Obama’s daughters. The two girls were apparently a little disappointed when the on-stage “surprise” mom promised was dad on video conference. Reportedly, the girls had hoped it would be the Jonas Brothers.

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by Molly McCall

As the third night of the Democratic National Convention drew to a close, several questions bombarded the Search box: How was Bill Clinton’s speech? What does “cronyism” mean? And who is Beau Biden?

Joe Biden‘s son Beau introduced his father last night and made his first appearance in the national consciousness. In an address warmly received by convention attendees, the Delaware attorney general spoke of the deaths of his mother and sister in a car accident in 1972. He praised his dad and expressed love for his stepmother, Jill Biden. And he called on Democrats to “be there” for his father in the upcoming months when “it won’t be possible” for him to be there himself.

Won’t be possible? Here’s what the 39-year-old left unsaid: Beau Biden is a captain in the Army National Guard, and in early October his unit deploys for Iraq. Why he kept silent on this, we can’t say, but it certainly sparked the attention of watchers (and maybe that’s the answer). Lookups for “beau biden” surged almost immediately, as did queries for the misspelled “bo biden,” perhaps helped along by one network’s typo.

By the next morning, blogs like The Dallas Morning News’ Trail Blazers had reprinted parts of Beau’s speech, and The Washington Post mused about the young man’s political future. The New Jersey Politicker declared, “Biden’s son brings tears to the New Jersey delegation,” and the New York Daily News reported that Michelle Obama looked a little weepy herself.

Beau wasn’t the only Biden to draw notice yesterday. After Obama called out to “Mama Biden,” queries for “joe biden’s mother” leapt upwards, and Joe Biden’s references to his mom inspired at least one blogger to label it the “aw shucks” moment of the night. Finally, as we’ve mentioned before, Jill Biden is turning out to be a real Internet star, inspiring searches and slide shows across the Web.

Whether the Delaware senator’s addition to the Obama ticket helps or hurts in the long run remains to be seen. But for now, the Biden family is certainly helping to stir up buzz.

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by Mike Krumboltz

Tiger Woods is one of the most dominant athletes alive. But is he really a mortal like the rest of us? Footage of the golfer walking on water has some folks wondering if he’s actually something more… divine.

Well, not really. The footage was just a viral video. Still, though obviously a joke, the clip has started a firestorm of buzz. So what’s the story? Apparently, in an older version of the Tiger Woods video game, players could “walk on water” when their golf balls landed in the drink. Fans of the games noticed this and pointed out the bug by uploading clips to the Web. EA Sports, the publisher of the series, decided to have a fight back by posting a video of Tiger casually strolling on water a la Jesus. The clip concludes with, “It’s not a glitch, he’s just that good.” In your face, gamers!

Naturally, news that EA had gone to great lengths to have a little fun stirred up the bloggers. An article from USA Today notes that the video is getting millions of views and that another of Tiger responding to a Rubik’s Cube will likely garner a lot more eyeballs. Meanwhile, Mashable writes that it is nice to see major companies like EA “get” the Web subculture. Indeed, a clever response to customer criticism goes a long way. Finally, though the ad may seem original, TrendHunter points out that this isn’t the first time an athlete has been compared to Jesus Christ. In “The Theater of Dreams,” an upcoming musical, David Beckham gets the whole son of God treatment. No word on whether he trades in his cleats for sandals.

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by Claudine Zap

… Creature from the deep. As Gawker put it, it’s been “our monsteriest season yet.” Our obsession with beasts real and imagined continues today. A “giant squid” was found off the waters of Antarctica and recently dissected at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Curious lookie loos quickly sent searches for the 30-foot creature up 14,816%.

…The Talented Mr. Rockefeller. A mystery of a different nature cloaks Clark Rockefeller (+319%). The Rockefeller family says he is no more a Rockefeller than we are. But that didn’t stop the German con man from passing as a member of the legendary family. People.com describes him as “the controversial figure at the center of a number of criminal investigations—including, most recently, the alleged abduction of his own 7-year-old daughter.”

…Alive and kicking. The Internet is a dangerous place for celebrities, where rumors of stars’ deaths are often wildly exaggerated. Dolly Parton is the latest to fall prey to the deathwatch. Searches on “dolly parton” (+ 288.32) and “dolly parton dies posts” (+254%) peaked on the false claims.

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