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With David Beckham deprived of the limelight by a badly sprained knee and his wife Victoria still smarting at being blank-faced by Britney Spears in a Hollywood restaurant, the profile in America of Britain's first celebrity couple already seemed to have reached its zenith in Tinseltown.
Now the first evidence has emerged that the novelty of Posh and Becks is wearing thin among the achingly trendy inhabitants of Manhattan after a cult magazine put the pair at the top of a "scientific" survey of the most overrated people, places or things in American life.
Radar, a New York-based title aimed at so-called opinion formers in the Big Apple and beyond, delivered a damning verdict on Britain's latest gift to culture on the other side of the Atlantic, saying: "He's an overpaid soccer star; she's a pointless collection of body parts."
The couple's ranking at the top of the "Overrated 100" put them comfortably ahead of their nearest competitors, which included Keira Knightley, cupcakes, Brad Pitt and going to Mars.
The magazine claimed to have arrived at its choices with a mathematical equation based on the number of references in the media to each candidate over the past three months, their longevity as celebrities or talking points and a rating of their inherent appeal.
A Radar spokesman said: "Hype has become an epidemic. Our culture's volume knob is permanently turned to 11."
- Independent
