the buzz log

Friday morning, what sounded like a hundred thousand fans stood in the rain outside the "Today" show and screamed themselves silly for New Kids on the Block. It was probably only 30 women in parkas—we couldn't tell—but the hysteria over the Boston group's return blew us away.

In anticipation of the guys' jubilant reunion, lookups for the group rose more than 700% over the past week. Searchers wanted to know what the story was on a tour and when the band would be appearing on "Today." And then they invested time in refreshing their memories on the guys' lovey-dovey lyrics. Step by step, oooh baby.

We don't like to play favorites, but two of the new kids in particular are setting searchers' hearts a-flutter. Demand for Donnie Wahlberg rose 1,573% over the past seven days. Lookups for Jordan Knight soared even higher: 1,973%. Fans also wanted to catch up on Donnie's family ("donnie and mark wahlberg," "mark wahlberg") and on Jordan's brother's love life ("jonathan knight married"). But other than that, Jonathan Knight himself, Danny Wood, and Joey McIntyre were left playing backup buzz to the other guy's hard rocking searches. Sorry, dudes.

Most of the New Kids articles to hit the Buzz on Friday featured clips of the "Today" show spectacle. Us magazine, Rolling Stone, and New York Magazine all included overviews of the quintet's return to the public eye. OMG! didn't have the video, but it shared more background on the band that sold 70 million albums in the '80s and '90s—and broke 70 million teenage hearts along the way.