Trends for February 18, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Feb. 18, 2002 | 8:15 a.m.

Break a leg?

This little nugget comes courtesy of the "Goofy Stuff Left Over From Valentine's Day" file. We figured the celebrity-addicted among you would gobble it up, along with whatever's left of the heart-shaped candy.

The votes have been counted and the results of the eighth annual Hanes Hosiery Sexy Legs Survey are in: The celebs with the greatest gams are (drumroll, please) ... "Monster's Ball" siren Halle Berry and "007" Pierce Brosnan.

So say 1,000 men and women nationwide who were polled for the survey. Surprisingly, 31 percent of those women chose the legs of their husband or significant other over those of Brosnan (who garnered 8 percent of female votes), while 30 percent of men did the same for their wives/s.o.'s over Berry (14 percent).

Berry and Brosnan had the leg up, so to speak, over their competition: Among the men surveyed, pop tart Britney Spears was voted by 11 percent as having the second-best legs, followed by "Moulin Rouge" star Nicole Kidman in third place with 8 percent.

Who beat James Bonds' legs, according to the ladies? Golf great Tiger Woods came in a close second with 6 percent, followed even closer (5 percent) by "Let Me Be Your Hero" singer Enrique Iglesias.

Love train

Maybe you hit the road (or the skies, or the rails) for the long Presidents Day-holiday weekend. So, was it a romantic getaway?

The folks at online travel service Expedia are betting that it was. How do they know? They sponsored a survey (yuhp, here's another one).

Turns out that 70 percent of Americans the company polled said romance is "important on vacation," and 44 percent fessed up to experiencing more intimacy with their partners while they're away from home.

The ideal romantic getaway for 32 percent of Americans is somewhere domestic, with Hawaii leading the list, followed by Florida. Europe (26 percent) is the second most-popular destination with spots in Italy and Greece tying for first place, followed by London and Paris.

Minding your superstars

Quick ... there's still time to make it to Hollywood before the holiday weekend is over. But don't go without a copy of "A Visitor's Guide to Celebrity Etiquette."

Conveniently published by Universal Studios Hollywood Press, the book ($9.95) is subtitled "How to Keep Hollywood a Fabulous Place for Celebrities," and is full of tongue-in-cheek (we hope) advice for sunglass-wearing, camera-toting tourists to follow while in La-La Land.

Chapter I is titled "How to Recognize a Star" and warns, "Running toward them is obviously bad. They don't know what to think." So, apparently, is staring and throwing things at them. You don't say?

Chapter VI: "Food, Facts and Fiction" "Only interrupt a celebrity who is eating if you are pleased when telemarketers call your house during your dinner." Point taken.

"Talk the Talk" is the title of Chapter XI, and explains what you can do when encountering the famous: "Do concisely compliment then on what you admire about them," however body parts are out of bounds.

Advice to live by.