Italians were interested in major world news events, with November’s Paris attacks and the attacks at the office of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in January, both making it to number four and 9, respectively.

But the story that struck the hardest, at least according to Google statistics on the top searches to come out of Italy over the past 12 months, was the loss of the beloved singer, Pino Daniele, who died on January 4th.

And the popularity of reality TV programmes showed no sign of waning in 2015, with the Italian version of Big Brother and Isola dei Famosi, or Celebrity Island, being the second and third most-searched.

Away from the reality scene, the San Remo Music Festival is still going strong after more than 60 years, making it to number five on the Google search list.

Whether they admitted to reading the book or not, Italians were certainly intrigued about the film version of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, which was released earlier in the year and came in at number six, with Miss Italia 2015 and Expo following in seventh and eighth place. Valentino Rossi, the professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP world champion, came 10th.

Pino Daniele, who was born in Naples, was also the most searched Italian person, followed by Valentino Rossi and Sergio Mattarella, the Sicilian judge who became president in February.

Actress Laura Antonelli, who died in June, and TV personality Maria Grazia Capulli, who died in October, also made the top ten.

As did the porn star Rocco Siffredi, who made headlines in October after announcing the launch of a ‘University of Porn’ for aspiring stars.