Spice Girls July 2000 News

Melanie C has confirmed that the Spice Girls new single will be a double A-Side of "Let Love Lead The Way and Holler"

There have been some changes to the scheduling for the Spice Girls and their solo efforts for the end of the year.

A while back it has been said that Five singer J and Spice girl Mel C had split. But other stories have been running stories about them still being a couple. J has said: "We're no longer seeing each other. Anyway, I already told you[the press] that two weeks ago!".

It's been a busy weekend for Victoria Beckham, in fact Posh Spice seems to have been everywhere promoting Out Of Your Mind, her single with Truesteppers and Dane Bowers. And the Spice Girl isn't too posh to plug her little heart out - begging anyone within earshot to buy the single when it is released.

First of all she popped up on Saturday's SM:tv where Truesteppers performed the single live in the studio with Ant, Dec and Cat. Later, backstage with an excited young Brooklyn, Victoria signed autographs for fans telling everyone to buy the single, which is pencilled for a 14 August release.

Victoria's next stop was Sunday's T4 show where together with Truesteppers and Dane, the Spice Girl gave another breathtaking performance of her first solo record.

On the Big Breakfast this morning, Victoria was again a special guest with Dane where she denied there was any pressure between the individual Spice Girls to have solo Number Ones.

Click here to watch the Worldpop interview between Victoria and Dane(from Truesteppers). Real player is a requirement to view it.

She'll have to try her hand at filleting in the 15minute film called simply Fish.

The unglamorous part is a far cry from the packed concert arenas and glitzy pop parties she's used to.

And Mel is unlikely to retire on her fee. The whole budget only comes to £47,000!

Mel will be filming at a processing works, known in the film as Fishy Frank's, preparing fish alongside people who do the job for real on Tyneside.

Mel plays the mum of a 14-year-old mixed-race boy called Jimmy who moves to a North East housing estate.

Producer Deborah Hunter said: "She has to work hard at Fishy Frank's and feels really tired. She's too weary to understand her son.

"Frank fancies her but there isn't anything going on really. She's a single parent trying to make ends meet."

Mel was alerted to the flick by director Bruce Goodison, who made a documentary about her.

Mel, who will appear in the credits as Melanie Brown, asked for no favours ahead of filming. Deborah said: "She has been absolutely brilliant."

She added: "The story is told from Jimmy's point of view and because he's a boy of 14 there's a heightened sense of reality.

Mel B is the first Spice Girl to follow up their Spice-world movie by appearing on the big screen.

Posh has long wanted to have a stab at movies and took acting lessons last year.

So far she has not found the right role although she did almost become one of Charlie's Angels before Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu landed the parts.

Baby Spice was lined up to play Sleeping Beauty two years ago but there's still no movie.

Max Beesley has ditched his Spice Girl lover Mel B after allegations that she had become involved with TV celebrity Richard Blackwood.

Beesley had newspaper reports faxed to him on the romantic Italian holiday island of Capri where he is filming a movie with American singer Mariah Carey.

"Mel is telling people that she has been dumped. She's being quite upbeat about the whole thing and has actually been out partying more than usual," said a source close to the star last night.

"Apparently, Max's press cuttings agency sends him everything that mentions his name, and ever since he started seeing Mel his name has been mentioned in every article about her, including the ones claiming she'd been canoodling with Richard Blackwood."

Reports about Scary Spice Mel and the rising TV star and pop singer Blackwood were generated after she appeared on his Channel 4 show last week. Afterwards they both went to a party for singer D'Angelo at London night club China White. Blackwood supposedly intervened in a fierce and violent argument between the Spice Girl and a female clubber, broke up the fight and took Mel out of the club.

Mel and Beesley, who starred in the BBC period romp Tom Jones three years ago, started dating eight months ago. They became friends after meeting in New York in 1997 but their friendship turned to romance when Beesley's relationship with model Melanie Sykes collapsed.

Beesley spent a lot of time at the Spice Girl's £2.5million period mansion in Little Marlow, Bucks, and recently said that he was completely in love with the singer.

They had even worked together on a song for Mel's forthcoming solo album, Hot. Ironically, the song is a sideswipe at the Spice Girl's former husband Jimmy Gulzar - father of her 18-month-old daughter Phoenix Chi.

The song accuses Dutchman Gulzar, who met Mel when he was a dancer for the Spice Girls, of just being interested in her money.

A spokeswoman for Mel refused to confirm that her relationship with Beesley was over but said: "If anyone was going to finish this it would be Mel not Max."

Blackwood's publicist scotched rumours that he is the new man in Mel's life, saying: "They have been spending time together and get on really well but are categorically not romantically involved. "

Mel B's estranged husband, Jimmy Gulzar, has revealed he has no regrets about his stormy marriage.

The former dancer, who split with Scary Spice over the Millennium Bank Holiday weekend, has told Now magazine he would not want to change anything about the past few years of his life.

Gulzar, 33, spoke of the strength of his love for the couple's baby daughter, Phoenix Chi.

He said: "I wouldn't have changed anything over the past few years. I don't regret anything. It's like Frank Sinatra said: 'Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention'."

Gulzar says his determination to be involved in bringing up 18-month-old Phoenix is the main reason he has decided to stay in London after his marriage break-up.

"You can love your girlfriend, your wife, your mother, your sisters and brothers, but the way you love your kid, the way I love Phoenix, it's different," he said. "It goes deeper. I'm head over heels with her."

He added: "I took the responsibility to bring a child into this world, and I'm not going to leave her." Gulzar says Phoenix loves swimming alongside him and has started speaking her first words - mistaking "shoe" for "soo".

"At the moment, she's mad for hats," he added. "Every time I've worn one, Phoenix grabs it. So last week, I took her out hat buying."

Victoria Beckham and Dane Bowers have told worldpop they plan to work together again following the fantastic response for Out Of Your Mind.

Their duet on the True Steppers track, released in the UK 14 August, marks Victoria's first recording outside the Spice Girls. She told worldpop the pair clicked as soon as they entered the studio and plan to collaborate again in the future. 'It was great fun. I think that as much as we had a lot to prove, so did everybody around us and everybody was putting 110% in.'

Dane went one step further, saying although they were both working on solo projects and Posh on the third Spice Girls album, the pair planned to work together again soon. 'I think we'll definitely get in the studio and do some writing,' he admitted. Victoria is said to have worked with Gary Barlow and US producer Rodney Jerkins on her solo album, while Dane has penned tracks with American R&B acts Montell Jordan and Kelis.

'We're both writing with a lot of people and doing our own writing projects, but hopefully we're going to get into the studio again and write together,' Dane continued. 'It's going really well.'

Meanwhile, Posh and husband Becks' lawsuit against ex-bodyguard, Mark Niblett, is due to begin today at London's High Court. They are trying to stop his planned publication of a book about his time with the celebrity couple.

Mel B's estranged husband Jimmy Gulzar has vowed to stay in England to be close to his daughter.

Former dancer Jimmy split from Spice Girl Mel B in January and left their palatial home in Marlow, Berks.

But Jimmy says he'll remain in London because he loves his 18month-old daughter Phoenix Chi and cannot walk away from her.

He said: "I took the responsibility to bring a child into this world and I'm not going to leave her. You have to take that responsibility and embrace it. I don't understand men who walk away."

He said: "I heard her say 'sh*t'. She must have heard it somewhere and copied. I said: 'Phoenix, you can't say that'."

Jimmy, who recently went to Barcelona with Emma Bunton's boyfriend Jade Jones, slammed speculation over his sexuality - telling Now magazine: "I know I'm not gay."

Melanie C has blamed the media for her split with Five's J. The Spice Girl was dumped last week by the boyband member after a three month romance - and she feels the press are to blame because they never gave the relationship a chance to flourish.

She said: "It was so hard even at the beginning with J because we had met at the Brit Awards and I really fancied him but the next day it was all over the paper that we were desperately in love with each other. I couldn't bring myself to speak to him for a while because we were supposed to be having this great love affair - yet we hardly knew each other."

The singer admits that J's striking good looks originally attracted her to him - and that he liked her new bulkier image. She says, "I never had a boyfriend before I put weight on and J really liked me this way. I was way too skinny before and men don't seem to like that.

J and Mel C have opened their hearts about the break-up of their short-lived romance.

J has confessed he is still seeing Mel on a platonic basis and may even rekindle the affair.

The Five star is seething after critics suggested his recent split from the Spice Girls singer after just four months together was a publicity stunt aimed at getting his band's latest single to No1.

OTR caught up with J as he celebrated We Will Rock You - his band's collaboration with rock veterans Queen - shooting straight to the top of the UK pop charts. But he denied he and Mel were milking their relationship to boost their records.

J said: "I find it pathetic that people who don't even know me go around saying these things about me and Mel C. When Melanie and I first met each other at The Brits, we both had singles coming out about a month later and everybody tried to pin that down as a publicity stunt. Now we have our single out and everybody is commenting on my relationship with Melanie having ended. They're saying it just happens as Five have got a single out. But if I started seeing somebody or finished with somebody at any time in my career, there'd be something else they could try to put it to. It doesn't really bother me though because at the end of the day these people don't even know me. They can comment all they like. I'm not going to stand by and let it hurt me or affect me."

J revealed he and Mel enjoyed a meal together on Thursday. They remain close despite the break-up.

J explained: "We are still really good friends and that friendship will never die. We'll always be close. I don't know what is going to happen in the future but I wouldn't rule out the possibility of us getting back together again. We don't have any plans to do so right now but you never know. I don't let anybody rule how I go about my love life. Melanie and I knew for a fact that people would say stuff about it but we knew that we wanted to be together."

Mel C has blamed the break-up on being in the public eye. She says she wishes her romance with J wasn't as public because then they'd still be together.

She said: "It was so hard even at the beginning with J because we had met at the Brit Awards and I really fancied him but the next day it was all over the papers. I couldn't bring myself to speak to him for a while because we were supposed to be having this great love affair, yet we hardly knew each other."

The 25-year-old tells Heat magazine they are still an item, and vows he will stay faithful.

J, whose band is at number one with their cover of Queen classic We Will Rock You, says he has never cheated on a girlfriend.

However, he says most of his relationships have been ended by him, adding that he is too ambitious to settle down and have children.

"I love kids to bits, and everyone says I'm good with them and around them, but I've got too much stuff, dreams, aspirations and goals," he said. "Every time I get to one, it moves on, so I don't ever want kids, because I don't feel like I'll ever be able to give them everything I should."

Asked about media claims he branded Mel C "ugly" before the two started dating, J said: "That wasn't even true! I hadn't even said anything about Mel."

Ant & Dec are looking forward to the arrival of Emma Bunton as co-host on cd:uk for the next month - and not just because it means they'll have the morning off to 'play tents in bed'!

'I think she'll be great,' Dec says of the Spice Girl, whose first show is this week. 'She's already been on the show a few times so she knows what to expect, and I know she'll do a good job. She's well-trained, she's been around the block a bit, in one sense! Yes, in the sense that she's experienced. She'll be brilliant.'

Ant says that he's impressed with Emma Bunton's work on VH1. 'I've seen the bits and bobs she's done for them,' he explains. 'And she was brilliant. You sometimes see pop stars doing things like that and you don't really believe them, and their delivery's not brilliant. But I've been really impressed with her.'

Given this glowing report, it's no surprise that it was cd:uk who originally approached Emma. 'We had a shortlist of people we wanted to take over,' Dec explains. 'And Cat had a lot to do with it, because she'd obviously be hosting with her. We approached a lot of people and Emma was the right one, really.'

Dec concludes: 'I mean, it's most men's fantasy, isn't it? Watching Cat Deeley and Emma Bunton together while you're in bed on a Saturday morning, playing tents ... That's what I'll be doing, most definitely.

The Spice Girls have been ordered by a High Court judge to pay around $598,000 in their legal battle with Italian motor scooter manufacturer Aprilia.

The pop group lost their claim for $325,000 against Aprilia World Service in April.

Aprilia sponsored their 1998 Spiceworld tour but the advertising and promotional campaign turned into a "total marketing flop" when Geri Halliwell left the group in 1998 and cost Aprilia millions, the original hearing was told.

Mrs Justice Arden has already ruled that there was an implied misrepresentation by the girls when they signed the contract with Aprilia because they knew that Miss Halliwell wanted to leave.

In a final ruling on damages awards and legal costs, the judge has ordered that Aprilia should get $68,000 from the Spice Girls for the motorcycles it supplied to the group plus around 60% of its own legal costs.

Lawyers involved in the case say this will translate into the Spice Girls facing a total bill of around $598,000, taking their own legal costs into account.

Mrs Justice Arden has given the Spice Girls permission to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

Mel C tells worldpop that she plans to give all the royalties from her next single If That Were Me straight to charity.

In a meaty video interview with worldpop the northern star expresses her wish to help the homeless. This worldwide problem inspired Mel to write the lyrics for the track due to be the last single released from her debut solo album.

'Charity work is something that's fab to get involved in especially if it's a cause you feel really strongly about,' says Mel. She adds that cancer charities are also causes she wishes to do more work for in the future because, 'like almost everyone it's something that's touched my life.'

The Spice Girl plans to spread the cash among relevant charities across the world. The size of donations offered to organisations in each region will be determined by the royalties made on local sales of the single.

Back in her early days with the Spice Girls the successful solo star joined her now ex-band mate Geri Halliwell on a moonlight mission distributing food among the homeless of London. 'I've got a house. I'm happy,' says Mel of her situation now since becoming one of the richest female singers in the UK. 'I've got my London and Liverpool pads and that's all I need.'

Check out this seven-minute interview here of Mel C being interviewed by Skynews.

Victoria Beckham is due to take to the stage at G.A.Y., London¹s infamous gay club night at the Astoria in WC2 on Saturday 5 August. Following in the footsteps of hundreds of top pop artists including TakeThat, Westlife, Kylie Minogue and a certain Geri Halliwell, Posh will wow the crowds as she performs her new single, Out Of Your Mind with TrueSteppers featuring Dane Bowers. The single is due for release on 21 August. It is thought unlikely that the Spice Girl will showcase any more solo material at the Saturday night gig or that ex-band mate Geri will join her for a duet!

Emma is sitting in for Ant and Dec in August - and her bandmates will be on the show to promote solo singles. A friend said: "She knows all their secrets, so she could really make them squirm."

MEL B was in a Scary mood last week when she got into a punch-up at a showbiz bash.

The Spice Girl and a pal were at an after-show party for singer D’Angelo at London’s China White on Thursday night when all hell broke loose.

“One minute everyone was enjoying themselves and the next there were all these screams,” said a stunned onlooker.

“Mel was pulling this blonde girl’s hair. And the blonde had a fistful of Mel’s hair in her hands.

“She screamed, ‘You b****, you’ve had it now’. And Mel was just telling her to ‘F*** off’.”

But Scary finally had enough of the catfight and—not for the first time—produced a massive hit.

“Mel punched the blonde to get her off,” said our eyewitness.

“She has amazing strength—she hits like a man, I can tell you.

“Luckily TV presenter Richard Blackwood stepped in, broke it up and took Mel outside.

"People couldn’t believe they’d just seen a Spice Girl have a fight.”

Last night a spokesman for Richard Blackwood confirmed: “There was a fight. Richard helped diffuse the problem.”

Mel is set to release her next solo single, Tell Me, on September 18.

The song is all about the breakdown of her marriage to dancer Jimmy Gulzar and includes the lyric: “You’re the fool.”

Perhaps the singer just wants to prove she’s not afraid of a good argument.

Following tabloid speculation of her split from Five's Jason Brown, Mel C tells worldpop that her next solo album will reflect her current cynical state of mind.

'I've been very inspired for my new album,' she says referring to events in her personal life over the past year. 'It's gonna be very bitter and twisted!'

Mel claims that since suffering a hammering from the tabloids over a string of stories including her supposed weight gain and her rumoured romantic liaisons, she's relied more and more heavily on just one person to get her through these troubled times -herself. 'Really, I Turn To You is about me,' explains Mel. 'No matter how much support and love you've got around you there's only one person who can make it better and that's yourself.'

The Spice Girl goes on to reveal to worldpop her hopes for an exciting collaboration on her second album: 'I'd love to work with Eminem and Dr Dre. I think they're really sound,' says Mel.

Always aware of varied fan base, Mel has even considered the moral effect of her lyrics on her younger fans but concludes that she wouldn't ask Eminem to censor his swearing. 'I don't think you can put boundaries on people's creativity,' says the northern star. 'I know what his music's about and I like it. We'd have to do something that suited both of us.' Sadly it's uncertain whether her dream team up will ever surface. 'I don't know whether they'd want to work with me,' adds Mel somewhat modestly. Well, there's only one way to find out. Eminem, get in touch with worldpop and put Mel out of her misery!

Mel B has told industry magazine 'Music Week' that working on her forthcoming solo album, 'Hot', has been more pressured than working with fellow band members the Spice Girls.

She said: "It was not like working with the Spice Girls because I knew that it was all down to me, vocally. It was a challenge because I had to be very focused. If there was a high not to be hit for instance, I knew that I'd have to concentrate and get it right, no chance to get one of the other girls to do it."

For her solo album, which hits the shops in October, the singer has recruited quite a collection of American producers to work with her. These include Sisqo, Jam & Lewis and R&B pioneer Teddy Riley. The Scary one said: "It seemed natural for me to work with US producers on the album since they understand my influences."

Mel's collaboration with Teddy Riley got off to a bit of a shaky start. She explained: "Riley was tough to work with. He had a pretty bad attitude and seemed to have decided that I'd be a popstar Spice wanker before he'd even met me. This made for some pretty uncomfortable times, but luckily the team around him were very professional and we ended up with three great tracks from the sessions."

Mel co-wrote all but one of the tracks on the long-player and this is something she is very proud of. "Coming up with the songs was intense," the singer revealed. "It's an extremely personal record and writing it has been like therapy. The album is like a documentary of all the things that I've been going through in the last two years."

According to Dotmusic, as it's looking likely that the next Spice Girls' studio album could be their last, the girl band star admits that she still has to prove she can cut the mustard as a solo artist. She said: "As my first solo album, this record means a lot to me. Everyone will have their opinions and no doubt some people will slag it off. I'm confident in the record and as long as I've got that, who cares what people think."

Spice Girl Melanie B introduced her young daughter to thousands of music fans at the biggest free pop concert in the North at the weekend.

The 24-year-old brought 17-month-old daughter Phoenix Chi on the stage at Monday's Party in the Park concert to meet the 70,000-strong crowd.

Scary Spice had accepted an invitation by organisers to help to compere the event as she was up in Leeds for the weekend "chilling out" with her parents at their new home in Horsforth.

With her daughter cradled in her arms she told revellers enjoying the six-hour long musical extravaganza at Temple Newsam Park: "She has come out to say hi to you all."

The former Intake High School pupil then treated music fans to an impromptu sneak preview of her new solo single.

She sang the main chorus of the soon-to-be-released Tell Me before stopping to tell the crowd that they could also look forward to a new Spice Girls album in November.

Revellers were in the party mood to enjoy some of the biggest names in pop as they basked in warm summer sunshine.

Mel B even urged the crowd to slap on the sun lotion before helping to kick start a mass Mexican wave.

Around 20 pop acts performed at the annual event which featured some emerging talent, established names and the return of some familiar faces.

David Beckham and Victoria Adams are gearing up for an epic courtroom battle in a bid to ban an explosive new book about their lives by Andrew Morton.

But Morton - acclaimed for writing the most revealing royal book ever, Diana: Her True Story - is fighting back.

Both camps have employed top barristers to plead their cause in a two-day High Court hearing expected to begin on July 26.

The Manchester United ace and his Spice Girl wife Victoria want the book stopped because they claim its chief source - their former minder and confidante Mark Niblett - is breaching a confidentiality agreement.

Posh and Becks are adamant Niblett, 40, signed the agreement when he took charge of their security. They parted company with him in May after a series of rows.

Insiders say the couple were devastated when they discovered he had "betrayed" them by talking to the author. Friends claim Victoria, 26, who trusted Niblett to babysit and bath her one-year-old son Brooklyn, was physically sick.

Niblett reckons his revelations in the book, At Their Becks And Call, will stun the showbiz world.

And the man he has entrusted his secrets with - multi-millionaire Morton - has a reputation for accuracy which will give the book added weight.

It was Morton who told the world about Princess Diana's sham marriage to Prince Charles in his 1992 royal blockbuster.

In a second incredible coup, Morton was chosen to write Monica Lewinsky's book on the scandal that rocked America. He flew to Los Angeles and spent weeks grilling her about her astonishing life and times with President Clinton for Monica's Story.

Last night one literary expert said: "Morton has a track record of getting the big names and for getting his facts right.

"A lot of people rubbished the Diana book when it came out. But all of them ate humble pie. He was spot on. It's no wonder the Beckhams don't fancy him delving into their lives - and you can bet he wouldn't take on the book if he didn't have a nugget or two up his sleeve.

"Their names alone will sell the book, but it'll sell even more with Morton's name on the cover because people expect dynamite from him.

"If it doesn't get the go-ahead in this country, who's to say it won't appear in print abroad because the Beckhams have mass appeal."

The first round of the battle began last month when Posh and Becks went to the High Court and won a temporary ban on the book.

Niblett was ordered not to pass on any more details of the couple's private lives to Morton.

And publishers Michael O'Mara Books also agreed not to put out the book or any allegedly confidential information in it before a full hearing. The court was told that Morton already had most of the information he needed from Niblett and that "the horse had already bolted."

But The Sun can reveal that the author is still busy collating information on the couple at his London office.

He has asked papparazi photographers for details about alleged bust-ups between themselves and Beckham and to supply pictures for the book.

Some of the photographs - which are locked in a safe - have never been seen in public before.

Niblett is also believed to have released snaps he took of the couple during the year he was employed by them.

Earlier this year he went on holiday with them when they took Brooklyn to Disneyland, California. He also organised security at the tot's first birthday and escorted the family to the high-profile wedding of Beckham's Manchester United team-mate Phil Neville.

"For a couple who are never out of the public spotlight, it does make you wonder why they're so keen to stop this book coming out."

Posh and Becks have hired leading lawyer Patrick Milmo QC in a bid to get their injunction extended at the July 26 hearing.

Mr Milmo specialises in defamation, copyright and all other areas of the law concerned with the media.

In 1998, he represented ace jockey Kieren Fallon and trainers Jack and Lynda Ramsden in a 19-day libel trial in which they won £195,000 damages.

They sued over allegations in the Sporting Life that they had cheated the racing public.

The QC also helped public relations consultant Brian Basham win £20,000 plus costs after he was libelled in a book about dirty tricks between British Airways and Virgin.

BA consultant Basham was depicted as a professional "pedlar of lies" who helped to instigate a smear campaign against Virgin Atlantic.

If his team emerge successful, author Morton could be on the way to another best-seller on the bookshelves well in time for Christmas.

There's more heartache for unlucky-in-love Mel C — she has split with Five singer J.

It seemed the Spice Girl had at last found happiness with the boy-band hunk. But he has ended the relationship after four months.

When J(real name Jason Brown) was caught up in Ibiza yesterday he broke the news saying: “We’ve called it a day—but we’re still friends.

“It’s just one of those things, but we’ll still go out for drinks now and then.”

J and Mel first met at the Brit Awards after-show party. They had both won gongs and feelings were running high.

“It was great just being boyfriend and girlfriend.” J says the the high-flying pop pair eventually had to go their separate ways—because he couldn’t get enough of her. “You can’t have a girlfriend you only see eight times a year—it isn’t on,” he said. It’s yet another blow for Mel, who has been unable to hold on to a fella since her split with Robbie Williams.

But J’s putting a brave face on his pain. “I’m a bachelor again now,” he told me. “And I’ve been enjoying nights out on the town.”

The Five boys, who performed at the MTV festival in Ibiza yesterday, have been making the most of the clubbing capital of the Med. J said: “I’ve been in Ibiza 37 hours and haven’t slept a wink. Me and the boys went to Cream at Amnesia the other night and got wrecked.

“This girl came up to me and asked me to sign her breasts. She didn’t need to ask me twice!

J isn’t the only one in the band with love trouble. Ritchie Neville told me he’s ended his two-week fling with delectable Honeyz star Mariama.

Meanwhile, the boys are fuming over recent allegations they called for cannabis to be legalised. Ritchie said: “We never said that, it’s rubbish. We don’t condone drugs in any way.”

After branching out with their own solo careers, the Spice Girls are back together again with a new album due out in November.

The Spice Girls, Britain's biggest pop phenomenon since The Beatles, have sold 36 million copies of their first two albums around the world and are now set to launch another assault on the international charts.

"We have two more weeks in the studio. We are shooting a video and then it will be all done and dusted. It will be out in November," "Sporty Spice" Melanie Chisholm told Reuters.

Chisholm has been revelling in the success of her solo career and was in Brussels to accept a Platinum Award for her album "Never Be The Same Again", which sold more than a million copies across Europe and topped the charts in seven countries.

As the first Spice Girl to win a solo award, the singer with a tattoo on each arm proudly accepted it from veteran rock star Phil Collins who quipped: "Now Mel C will be able to afford a few more tattoos."

Asked if the feisty "Girl Power" quartet were stronger after being apart to concentrate on their solo careers, she said "Yes, hopefully."

Anyway, she felt as though they had never been away as they had known each other for so long and kept constantly in touch.

But have they yet decided on a single from the album that will herald the relaunch of the Spice Girls?

"That is up for discussion," she said at the glitzy awards ceremony, pausing to sign autographs on the red carpet entrance to the auditorium.

The Spice Girls have seldom been off the front pages of the tabloids which cover their every move, especially the life and times of "Posh Spice" Victoria Adams and her soccer star husband David Beckham.

Countless pop columns recount tales of the alleged rivalry between the quartet and "Ginger Spice" Geri Halliwell, who left the group to start up permanently as a solo artist.

Geri going head-to-head with Mel C in a battle for the number one slot in the pop charts provided perfect publicity material.

The resilient Mel C has taken a few knocks from the fans -- a Smash Hits teenage magazine poll picked her for worst dressed person of 1999, worst video and most disastrous haircut of the year.

Mel C's live singing at the awards ceremony won plaudits from record company executives and she herself reflected on how differently fans react to the Spice Girls around the world.

"In Spain, Italy and France, they are very passionate. In Scandinavia they are a bit more reserved. The English are reserved. But the Americans are a whole different ball game," she said.

Spice Girls star Mel C claims she doesn't want No1 hits - because pop stars and their managers are only interested in fleecing kids.

Mel slated pop bands "who can't cut it live" yet take young fans for every thing they can. And she called for managers to change the way music is marketed.

Speaking exclusively to OTR, Melanie said she was left cold by rumours that The Spice Girls and Westlife would battle for this year's Christmas No1 spot.

Both have singles set for release on December 18, but Mel says she doesn't care who wins because record industry marketing campaigns are way out of control.

She said: "It's just whoever is marketed the best and who can rip off the kids most. I don't care who wins."

On Westlife she said: "When my solo single Never Be The Same Again was there, Westlife only sold a couple of thousand more but they were doing in-store signings and everything. It was a case of 'Get your money out kids'. It's the same with all pop acts - a big rip-off. It's exploitation within the marketplace."

She added: "Kids are getting ripped off by people who are not talented and can't cut it live. The kids are getting fleeced."

Mel plays Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall on September 9. Her next solo single, I Turn To You, will be out on August 7.

Victoria Beckham has missed out on another movie project after failing to convince producers she could carry it off.

Posh - away on holiday with husband David Beckham at the moment - thought she had won her first film role in a Bridget Jones-style romantic comedy, but producers are now looking elsewhere for their leading lady.

Posh had set her sights on the part of Delilah in the film adaptation of Alexandra Potter's racy novel What's New Pussycat? - a comic love story about a Northern girl who moves to London to find romance.

But after meetings with producers her theatrical agent has been told: "Thanks, but no thanks."

That leaves Victoria, 26, still searching for that elusive first part over a year after she started looking.

"No one's saying Victoria can't act," a source told the diary. "She just wasn't right for this movie.

"There's a lot of money riding on a film like this and we decided it was too much of a gamble. It wouldn't be fair on Victoria if it all went wrong and she got the blame."

It's third time unlucky for Posh, who was hotly tipped to win a part in the Charlie's Angels remake last year before losing out to Ally McBeal star Lucy Liu.

Then in March this year she was frontrunner to win the role of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider but again producers went for the Hollywood banker and chose Angelina Jolie instead.

Never mind Victoria, at least your debut solo record Out Of Your Mind is a dead cert to be No.1. Or is it?

Her single is up against this year's big Ibiza anthem, Groovejet by Spiller, which is expected to be one of the biggest selling records of the year.

POSH Spice gets a saucy squeeze from hubby David Beckham at a huge pop show yesterday.

David, 25, playfully cupped her boobs at the side of the stage at Party In The Park. She tittered as she fended off his fondle.

Victoria, 26, sported hair extensions as she made her first solo appearance, in front of 100,000 fans in London's sodden Hyde Park.

And Posh and David, who have been dubbed the new Royal Family, met the old Royal Family when Prince Charles spent five minutes talking to them at the concert.

Victoria said: "I was telling the prince how I was really nervous about performing because this was the first time I've appeared before 100,000 people. I haven't even done that with the Spice Girls.

"He asked how Brooklyn was getting on then asked if David and I had any plans to do a duet. I said 'no way' to that."

David said: "The prince asked me if I was fit and looking forward to the new season and I said I was."

Victoria, performing new single Out Of Your Mind with Dane Bowers and Truesteppers, looked sensational with long black hair extensions, fake tattoo and a sexy slitted top which exposed acres of bouncing flesh.

Becks videoed her set from the Press area and got more shots for the family vaults later. As Posh gave telly interviews, she shouted: "David, film this."

POSH Spice Victoria Beckham mimed to her debut solo single in front of a rain-soaked 100,000-strong crowd in London's Hyde Park yesterday - and they loved it.

If the weather was not on Victoria's side - it rained intermittently all day - the crowd at the Prince's Trust Party in the Park were. They cheered enthusiastically as she appeared on stage.

Victoria, 26, dressed in a slashed white top, figure-hugging leather trousers and wearing long, black hair extensions, was fronting a song by dance act True Steppers alongside Another Level's Dane Bowers. The song, Out Of Your Mind, is set to be released as a single next month.

In common with many of the artists at the concert, Victoria mimed to a backing track.

Mel said: "I think when you go to see bands you don't go to see them mime. I don't agree with artists miming."

Posh's PR advisor Caroline McAteer refused to say whether Victoria mimed or not.

Victoria's first appearance without the Spice Girls, the band which made her an international celebrity, was watched from the wings by her husband, footballer David Beckham.

Coming off stage, Victoria said: "I hope people like the track, that's the main thing. This is the kind of music I like listening to when I'm going out, so my album I'm working on will be a bit dancey and a bit more poppy, like this song."

A spokeswoman for the singer said: "It would be almost impossible to create the sound of the record live. A lot of the acts were miming."

Victoria added: "I haven't been on stage for such a long time, it feels like a year at least, but I haven't been lazy, I've been being a mummy."

Referring to her new long hair, she laughed and said: "This isn't my real hair, it's just stuck on. But I wore it like this in the video so I thought I'd better put it on today."

There was a brief moment of embarrassment for Posh, though. As she was gearing up to run on stage the concert sound engineer inadvertently swore over the massive PA system, forcing Channel 4, which was televising the event, to issue an on-air apology after Victoria left the stage.

The atrocious weather at the concert scuppered plans for Prince Charles to take a seat in the uncovered royal box. Instead, he went backstage and met a line-up of artists. He chatted to Victoria and David Beckham for about two minutes before engaging Boyzone's Ronan Keating in some light-hearted banter. He also met US teen star Christina Aguilera, who had made a mad dash from the stage wearing a skimpy Union Jack crop-top to meet the heir to the throne.

Prince Charles then went on a self-initiated walkabout backstage much to the astonishment of organisers. One said: "The Prince was going walkabout backstage and really startled Elton John and his boyfriend David Furnish in Elton's dressing room by dropping in on a whim. He spent five minutes laughing and joking with them. Then to our total astonishment he saw The Corrs going on stage, stopped Andrea for a word and then propped himself into a chair at the side of the stage. He sat through the whole set, so they must have been a bit nervous."

After performing, Ronan Keating, who appeared as a solo performer, said: "The weather is awful but it isn't dampening anyone's spirits." The boisterous dance routines of Billie Piper and Steps meant they too had to mime to backing tracks.

PRINCE CHARLES turned Prince Charming last night when he met Victoria Beckham at the Party In The Park pop extravaganza.

He insisted on going backstage at the charity gig in rain-lashed Hyde Park to meet Posh Spice and her husband David Beckham.

It was Victoria and her first performance without the Spice Girls that he seemed most interested in, chatting happily to her and virtually ignoring soccer star Becks.

The Manchester United ace had earlier appeared to grope his smiling wife as they watched one of the groups on stage.

Afterwards Posh revealed Charles had asked if she and David were planning to record a duet together.

She said: "I told him 'no way'. I was telling him how I was really nervous because it was the first time I have appeared before 100,000 people.

"I didn't do that with the Spice Girls and, apart from Top Of The Pops earlier this week, this is the biggest performance I have done on my own."

Victoria added: "I said to him it's a shame about the weather but everything went well and I got all the dance steps right so it was a good performance."

David, who proudly watched his wife sing with garage act Truesteppers, said Charles asked if he was looking forward to the new football season. He added: "I said I was, but he mostly spoke to Victoria."

Charles also met Boyzone's Ronan Keating and Bryan Adams as well as pop veteran Sir Elton John. Bryan Adams said: "Charles said he was delighted to see me here again for the fourth time.

"He said I was a very brave man, I think he was talking about the weather. I said 'but what can you do when hundreds of young people have come to see you'."

Charles is patron of the Prince's Charity Trust, which holds the annual concert to raise thousands of pounds to bring opportunities to young people.

A torrential downpour held off briefly as Victoria took to the stage to sing Out Of My Mind with Another Level star Dane Bowers.

"I was more nervous watching Victoria than I am playing for England because I know how scared she was."

Among the 30 acts at the nine-hour concert were Steps, Billie, Kylie Minogue, All Saints and WestLife.

Greeted at the end of the evening to rapturous applause, Martine McCutcheon was in brave spirits despite fiance Jonathan Barnham being charged with drug smuggling.

The Spice Girls are planning a world tour off the back of their third album, due in the autumn. Emma told worldpop the group had originally planned to tour at the end of this year, but plans were scrapped as work on the album stretched. 'Once the album is out then we can plan the tour,' she confirmed.

'We'd like to start in England and then go around the world and come back,' Mel B added. 'We missed out on a lot of places the last time we toured so we'd want to go everywhere we haven't been for a while.'

Since the Spice Girls' 1998 world tour, Victoria and Mel B have become mothers but the girls insist they won't be leaving their children behind in the UK. 'They would come along with us but we would come back every couple of weeks to rest.' Emma predicted. 'It would probably be a much longer process than the last one.'

The girls added that their upcoming album, rumoured to be called Third Time Around, shows off a more grown up sound and the track Woman even includes saucy lyrics about G-strings! 'Yeah, I really love shouting that bit!' Emma giggled. 'Woman is really different to most of the things that we've done. I think that naturally we're all growing musically and individually as well,' she added.

Boyzone star Stephen Gately and Baby Spice Emma Bunton are in talks to duet together.

The pop duo have been planning the collaboration for some months in the hope of boosting their solo careers, but are trying to keep the exact details under wraps.

Gately admits Bunton is the only girl for him -- and he can't wait for the project to begin.

He explains, "We have had a chat about it and she agreed to do it. I have to call her again and get it into action."

Posh Spice boosts her credibility next month with the release of 'Out Of Your Mind' - a single with the True Steppers and Dane Bowers.

The song's intended as a reply to Dane's last hit, 'Buggin'', and Posh told Radio 1 that her and Dane really hit it off: "I heard the song and I loved it. I'm a big fan of dance music and I liked all the people involved and I was flattered to be asked."

Victoria said working with Dane has taken the pressure off her first solo project: "It's been nice that for the first thing I do on my own, I'm not actually on my own."

Dane added: "It's actually been quite pleasant. We take the mickey out of each other every five seconds. We're both committed 100 per cent to it, and that just makes it a lot easier."

Posh Spice will have an emotional reunion with her designer wardrobe this week when police ask her to identify items which went missing on a British Airways flight.

A detective is to visit Victoria Beckham's mother's home where he will ask the singer to identify items from a suitcase full of clothes.

Victoria and soccer star husband David are celebrating their first wedding anniversary on Tuesday, but the event has been overshadowed by the on-going police investigation and the couple's anger over a separate matter which
they see as a personal betrayal by a former bodyguard.

Three men have been questioned by police about the theft of Victoria's luggage from Heathrow Airport. Four of the singer's matching Louis Vuitton designer cases - each worth £700 - disappeared on a flight back from Miami in April. They were snatched as she and David switched to a Manchester flight after celebrating her 26th birthday in America. They later accepted
£100,000 compensation from BA over the incident.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Guild, head of Heathrow CID, said: "I have arranged to meet Victoria next week at her family home about this matter. I shall be showing her some clothes which we recovered and I will ask her to
identify them.

"She is also going to make a formal statement to us about her luggage. We have been looking at this case in conjunction with the theft of other luggage and cargo from the airport."

He said a member of Posh Spice's family - believed to be her mother Jackie -has already identified two jackets and four tops belonging to the singer.

But police have not so far recovered any of the personal correspondence or birthday gifts packed in her luggage and it is feared these could be hawked around by people trying to cash in on her fame.

Two men in their forties and a youth of 19 have been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Of more immediate concern to the Beckhams is their fall-out with former bodyguard Mark Niblett. On Friday they fired the first shots in their battle to stop him talking about them to biographer Andrew Morton.

Mr Niblett, 40, who left the couple in May, gave an undertaking in the High Court not to speak to or provide information to Mr Morton pending a hearing in about three weeks' time at which the Beckhams will seek an extended injunction. In an action to stop publication of any revelations about their private lives and financial affairs, the Beckhams claim Mr Niblett is bound by a confidentiality agreement governing his employment with them.