| December 19, 1999 |
The Spice Doubles
DON'T worry - they haven't cloned the Spice Girls ... yet.
The foursome were just larking around with their look-alikes in Madame Tussaud's yesterday.
It has been a rapid rise to the hall of fame from pop wannabes to chart stars, with a string of hits including Two Become One, Viva Forever and Too Much.
The millionaire stars admitted they were "freaked out" at coming face-to-face with their replicas at the London waxworks.
And the queens of girl power admitted that they had each kissed their images - for luck.
Posh Spice, 25, was quick to check out whether staff had done her cleavage justice and captured her slim figure.
She peered down the front of the halter skirt and then checked that the hemline was okay.
And as she put her arms around her dummy, Victoria Beckham joked: "Now I know what it's like to be David."
The model-makers, of course, captured Victoria's trademark pout and had her glancing sideways in the glamorous silver and gold dress.
The only criticism she had was of her chin.
She said: "I think it's great. The chin is interesting."
"It looks like Jimmy Hill," chipped in Mel C.
The girls did three sittings each, sometimes lasting up to three hours, for the model-makers. They took six months to complete the figures, at a cost of pounds 35,000 each.
Since they modelled, all the girls' bodies have changed - partly because mums Mel G and Victoria have lost weight and also because they shaped up for their eight-date UK tour which has just finished.
Scary Spice Mel G said her dummy's bottom looked better than her own.
Scary was pregnant with her baby daughter, Phoenix Chi, now 10 months, when she was measured up for the look-alike. She said of her bottom: "It was bigger when I had it done."
She looked at her mirror image - complete with her pierced tongue - and admitted: "I'm a bit spooked by it."
Sporty Spice Mel C said: "Anyone that comes to see it, check out Mel's behind."
Sporty, 25, was amazed at the detail on her waxwork, which includes the angel tattoo on her stomach, a band around the top of her arm and her latest design of a dragon on her calf - which is hidden by a trouser leg.
"It's spot on," she said. But she added of the wax doubles: "I think they might give children nightmares - you know, 'The Spice Girls are coming to get you.'"
She was said to have asked for her breasts to be made bigger when she went for her final sitting last week.
In the time it has taken to create the models, Sporty Spice's hair has been transformed from a long dark style to a mid-length blonde look and eventually to a short spiky affair.
Her own stylist was drafted in a week ago to give the model the latest authentic touch.
Each strand of hair is applied individually to the model to build up a full head and Scary Spice Mel G's corkscrew curls took one expert 450 hours to create.
Baby Spice Emma Bunton thought the chart-topping band's trademark poses were just right.
The Spice Girls are the first four-strong pop band to be modelled together since the Beatles in 1964.
The sparkling outfits were donated by the girls themselves from their Spice World tour last year. They are working on their third album as well as solo TV and musical projects.
The fifth member, Geri Halliwell, left the band for a solo career before she too could be immortalised in wax.
A spokeswoman for Rock Circus, who own Tussaud's, said: "We may make a Geri. We're going to see how her career goes.
"I think it's safe to say we won't place her near the other girls."
Unidentified Rigger
The Spice Girl's tour organisers are still searching for the family of the rigger who died yesterday morning while dismantling lighting at the end of tour party.
The as yet unidentified 25-year-old was taking down the lights at the exclusive showbiz bash at London's Earls Court Arena when he fell 24 metres (80ft) through the arena's ceiling to his death.
Unconfirmed reports say he may not have been wearing a safety harness at the time of the tragic fall.
Robert Sandell, spokesperson for the party organisers Virgin Records says, "The party was over and everyone had left the building when the man was working up on the roof and fell. "It is a very tragic occasion and a sad end for the Spice Girls tour."
No Party Here For You
Jimmy Gulzar was left stranded on Thursday after being refused entry into his wife's exclusive Spice Girls aftershow party.
Jimmy and his friends arrived at the Earl's Court banqueting suite after the Wannabe singers' last live gig of this year (99) but were told they could not enter as they didn't have tickets.
Eventually an onlooker pointed out that Jimmy was actually Mel G's husband, and the Dutch dancer was let into the party - but without his six ticket-less friends.
An onlooker says, "They were all getting very flustered and started arguing with the doorman, but it was doing no good as this was a Spice Girls party, so the security was as tight as ever. "Eventually Jimmy spoke to a party organiser and they decided to let his friends join him inside the venue."
| December 16, 1999 |
Latest News From the Girls' Mouths
MEL C has launched a blistering attack on Cliff Richard's No1 hit Millennium Prayer.
She said: "It's a complete pile of s***. It's nothing new. It's put together very cheaply and it's ripping off the fans."
Mel was talking exclusively to The Sun backstage at London's Earls Court just hours before the Spice Girls were due to perform on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old singer added: "If it was any good, I'd say 'Good on you, Cliff,' but it's not. It's terrible."
Mel's attack came just 24 hours after George Michael branded Millennium Prayer "vile."
It seems not everyone shares their views. Sir Cliff's hit notched up its third week at No1 yesterday.
The girls, who are playing four Earls Court dates on their Ringside With The Spice Girls tour, also revealed their plans for the coming year.
Mel B said: "We're going to finish our third album in the first few weeks of the new year, fingers crossed.
"When we tour next year we want to go to places we missed out on our last tour. I'd love to go to Japan and Australia."
And Emma Bunton revealed: "I know we're still finishing our third album but we want to do another one.
"We love doing our solo stuff but we want to carry on releasing material as the Spice Girls as well."
The girls, who have scored seven No1 singles, are hoping for another colossal hit with the new album when it is released next year.
Mel C said: "It's going to be different from the other two.
"There are a lot more tracks from different styles. We've got dance stuff, R&B and ballads - a real mixture which we hope the fans will like. The Spice Girls have moved on and so has our sound.
"We've worked with a lot of top producers such as Rodney Jerkins, who has worked with Whitney Houston.
"We played some of our new material at the concerts in Manchester and were really nervous about how the fans would react to it.
"But it went down a storm and it was such a huge relief. We just can't wait to tour and play our new songs."
Hours later the girls performed their first Earls Court date in front of 20,000 screaming fans.
Despite having played to millions of fans all over the world, the girls admitted that they still suffer with jitters before gigs.
Mel C said: "It doesn't matter how many times we go on stage, we still get nervous. We've still got our little superstitions. There is one thing we do all together - but I'm not going to say what it is."
Posh Spice Victoria Beckham was happy to reveal her and Mel B's habit.
She said: "We both wear odd socks. We did it on day one and have done it ever since."
Victoria laughed off rumours that she has had the name of hubby David's team, Man Utd, tattooed on her back.
She said: "I don't know where the story came from but I haven't. It's a funny rumour, though."
Liverpool fan Mel C piped up: "If it was, I'd kick you up the a***."
The only problem on the girls' horizon is what to buy their families for Christmas. Victoria has splashed out on matching cars for her brother and sister, while Mel C has bought her mum a house.
Mel C said: "It gets harder each year.
"We try to get presents which top the year before but it's really difficult."
Keep It Shut, Mel
Louise fury at Spice Girl over attack on No1 Cliff
POP beauty Louise blasted Spice Girl Mel C Monday in a new war of words over Sir Cliff Richard's Christmas hit.
Pint-sized Louise sprang to Cliff's defence after Melanie Chisholm branded his Millennium Prayer "a complete pile of s**t"
Sporty Spice Mel added unsportingly: "It has been put together very cheaply, it's nothing new and it's ripping off the fans."
Angry Louise, 25, told Mel to button up. She said: "Cliff's up there with the greats. I've got a huge amount of respect for anybody who's been in the music industry for as long as he has.
"No one can say anything about his dedication to the music business - it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Good for him - go for gold, Cliff!"
Former Eternal star Louise, wife of Liverpool and England soccer ace Jamie Redknapp, lives in the same swish Merseyside block as Mel.
But there was nothing neighbourly about her onslaught yesterday. In a waspish sideswipe at Mel's new "rock chic" image, Louise said: "I won't be getting any tattoos or cutting my hair short to coincide with my new album.
"It will be a pop album because that's what I am, a pop artist - and I like it that way."
Mirror readers have already made it clear they like 59-year-old Cliff the way he is.
After George Michael's attack on the current No1 -saying "the single and the way it's been dealt with is vile" - more than 13,000 of you rang our hotline to say Millennium Prayer should stay at No1. That gave Cliff a lift - and he was further heartened by Louise's praise.
He said last night: ''I was moved to hear Louise's words and I have taken great encouragement from them.
''I may have been in the business for 41 years but this has still been a painful time for me - getting jibes aimed not just at myself but the people who have bought the record.
''George and Mel are two artists I have a lot of respect for and they are entitled to their own opinions.
"But what they seem to have missed - and Lousie has understood - is that people are choosing to buy Millennium Prayer because it touches a chord.
''It has captured the momentum of people's real feelings, as The Mirror's poll has proved.''
This week, though, will be the acid test with the release of major Christmas chart-topping rivals to Cliff.
Yesterday Westlife's cover of Abba's I Have A Dream went on sale, along with the re-release of John Lennon's Imagine. Pop experts reckon Cliff will have to sell over 100,000 copies this week to stay at No1.
MEL ON CLIFF: His No1 song is a complete pile of s***. It's put together very cheaply and it's ripping off the fans
LOUISE'S VERDICT: Cliff's a great.. and I won't be getting tattoos or cutting my hair short to coincide with my new album
Dotmusic Earl Courts Concert Review
If you want a beer tonight, no problem, no queues. But if it's burger & chips, sweets, glittery bouncing Alice bands or – God forbid – the girls toilets you're after, forget it! 15,000 under 10s, and their harassed looking mums are gathered to witness the return of the Spice Girls and they all appear to want to do exactly the same thing at the same time.
Inside the massive hall a raised circular stage sits beneath a throbbing, giant icicle. David Beckham and ickle baby Brooklyn are shown to their seats by a security team obviously concerned about the threat posed by this mass of My Little Pony fans, and the show begins.
Darkness, lasers, more throbbing and then there they are coming up through the floor at the end of a Winter Wonderland walkway straight from a Percy Ingle window display. Bang! Flames shoot to the ceiling, little girls wet their wooly tights and 'Spice Up Your Life' gets underway.
It's very impressive. Huge and gleaming, dusted in glitter and transfixing – and that's just Mel G's bosom. I don't know what it cost, but boy it was worth it. Bigger than Emma's thighs, more impressive than Melanie C's cod-karate kicks and more upturned than Posh's nose. Magnificent. The smattering of previously terrified dads in the crowd are now wearing smug grins.
There's a band hidden beneath the 'in the round' stage. We can just about see men wearing headphones bobbing in time with huge stabs of keyboards which propel old favourites like 'Say You'll Be There' on as the girls work the stage and wave to the fans while Victoria tries not to worry about baby Brooklyn's ear drums.
When they chat between numbers, they all chat at once and you can't hear a word. Mel G's got the loudest voice (that'll be the lung power) and Posh tries not to say anything at all. This is helped by the fact that her microphone is switched off and that when her vocal line comes along (she has one in each song) we miss the first half of it while the sound man turns her up. She's the best dancer by far though, her wrist rolls and toe points echoed by a legion of bopping Princesses in the crowd.
Of the three new songs on show tonight, 'Hollar Hollar' is the best – a TLC 'No Scrubs' guitar intro mashed by a latter day EBTG type synth shuffle. 'Right Back At Ya' and 'Woman' will both make decent enough album tracks and the Spice Girls need them. They've been singing some of these songs, 'Something Kinda Fun', 'Mama', 'Stop' – which they do twice – for too long now.
The only surprises tonight are an hydraulically lifted orchestra, with their violins wrapped in clingfilm for the brilliant 'Viva Forever' and two costume changes. The first change features a tight fitting, electronic looking outfit with evidently creeping underwear (not easy to adjust your knickers with 20,000 people watching), followed by a finale of Christmas taffeta and fake fur which ushers in a triumphant karaoke of Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' and Wizzard's 'I Wish It Could Be Xmas Every Day'. Brooklyn bounces on Daddy's lap and the rest of the kids bounce off the walls all the way home – after they've queued up again for the toilets of course.
Andy Strickland
What Mel G Really Really Wants
Mel G's mother will make her daughter's Christmas wish come true by giving her what she really, really wants - a rowing machine.
Spice Girl Mel G and her husband Jimmy Gulzar are hosting a traditional family Christmas this year (99) at their Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, home.
Guests are to include bandmate Emma Bunton as well as Mel G's mum, dad, aunt, nephews and sister.
Spice mum Andrea Brown bought Mel the high-tech equipment to help her keep her toned shape.
Brown says, "I have bought Mel a rowing machine for Christmas because she is getting into keeping fit now. I got a treadmill for her birthday and she goes on that three times a week. "Mel wants to build up a mini gym and put a rowing machine at the top of her list."
Victoria Fights Off Crazed Fan
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BRAVE Posh Spice Victoria Beckham knocked a crazed fan to the ground yesterday as he tried to grab her baby son Brooklyn.
Victoria, 25, clobbered the maniac after he lunged at soccer star husband David, who was carrying the tot as the couple left Harrods.
The weirdo attempted to snatch nine-month-old Brooklyn away, gripping the mite's arm. He yelled: "I just want a picture of me and Brooklyn together. Please, please let me."
Horrified Victoria sent him sprawling. Then she and David - clutching the tot to his chest - dived into a waiting car. Last night Victoria said: "I was really frightened. He just came out of nowhere and grabbed Brooklyn.
"I couldn't believe what was going on."
Brooklyn was unhurt. Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Victoria told how she reacted instinctively like any mother.
She said: "I gave him a massive push out of the way and we got into the car quickly. It was horrible. But I did what any mother would do.
"David and I were both shocked by the whole incident, as any parent would be.
"I was defending my baby and didn't want anything to happen to him."
Victoria admitted: "I feared for Brooklyn's life. I just didn't know what was going on.
"A lot of things went through my mind but my priority was Brooklyn. I was really scared."
"It's a horrible thing for any parent to go through. I'm just glad Brooklyn is safe and none of us were hurt."
Victoria and Manchester United ace David, 24, had been on a Harrods shopping spree.
They were just walking out of the London store's main door when the maniac struck.
Scores of stunned Christmas shoppers saw the incident in swanky Knightsbridge.
Housewife Tara Pepper, 35, said: "It all happened very quickly.
"One minute they were coming out of the store and the next this guy just went straight for them.
"He looked very weird and was shouting, 'Please, please, can I have a picture of Brooklyn?'
"Victoria just lunged at him, which was very brave of her.
"She reacted brilliantly and protected her baby."
Just hours later Victoria courageously took to the stage with the rest of the Spice Girls for the last of their sell-out concerts at Earl's Court.
Spice Girls Rigger Dies
A workman has fallen 80 feet to his death early today (August 16) after falling through the roof at Earls Court Arena after he was dismantling the stage after the sell-out Spice Girls concert.
Party organiser Grant Colville said: "I was standing 20 feet away and saw this thing hurtle past me. I thought at first it was a counter weight from the rigging but when the dust and masonry had settled it was this poor guy. He didn't stand a chance."
| December 12, 1999 |
Spice Girls Spice Up Elle Cover
SPICE GIRLS are featured on the cover of style magazine Elle's first cover of the millennium.
They will be on the cover of the January 2000 edition -which hit shops on Friday December 8- dressed in outfits from their latest tour, made by Welsh fashion designer Julien Macdonald.
The Girls beat Uma Thurman to the honour. The magazine's bosses had scheduled the Hollywood actress but then ditched her after finding that the popsters were up for it.
Spicy Online Concerts
Fans of the Spice Girls will soon be able to watch and hear the pop stars perform live over the Internet as part of a deal unveiled today.
A company has signed up the band to transmit a host of concerts over the web for those not lucky enough to get tickets.
Baby, Posh, Scary and Sporty will join the likes of 80s popsters Culture Club, Jean-Michel Jarre and Shirley Bassey on the live concert web site of on-line group Arthur Shaw.
Director Bryan Morrison said the Spice Girls had been "very eager to get involved" in the new technology.
"But dealing with supergroups takes a lot of time and effort," he added.
Jarre will star in the company's first Internet performance on Millennium Eve from Egypt.
The initial concerts are expected to be free but there are plans to introduce a fee when the project takes off.
When Mr Morrison took over Arthur Shaw last year it was an engineering firm but he is transforming it into an Internet company.
He wants to hang on to the engineering side, which employs around 280 staff in Willenhall in the West Midlands, to link it in with the Internet business in the future.
Wax Doubles To Be Unveiled
Many would argue that Sporty Spice Mel C boasts a great body but the super-fit star has admitted she thinks there is room for improvement.
Every aspect of the singer's physique has been minutely charted by expert sculptors at Madame Tussaud's, which is producing wax replicas of the top-selling Spice Girls.
But during her latest sitting Mel, whose seven tattoos will be faithfully reproduced on her wax alter-ego, let slip her secret wish.
Asked by a sculptor if there was anything she would like him to change, she simply said: "I'd like bigger bosoms."
Mel C was the last of the remaining four Spice Girls to attend a sitting for the wax models, which will go on display in the Madame Tussaud's Rock Circus on Friday, December 17.
She also requested a prime spot next to the "original Miss Girl Power", Madonna.
The Spice Girls are the first full band to be modelled by Tussaud's since The Beatles were recreated in wax in 1964.
Emma Parts With Her £2.5m flat
Spice Girls Emma Bunton's decision to part with £2.5 million for a penthouse on the site of a former Victorian workhouse makes her the latest in a long list of London-based celebrities to consider buying a property there.
Sporty Spice Mel C (Melanie Chisholm) has been settling in at her own penthouse at Mount Vernon in Hampstead for several months now, while Bunton, who is moving from her mother's home in Hertfordshire, says she "loves" her new home. A friend said: "She's very excited."
They are not alone. The security and privacy of the development is also reputed to have attracted Denise Van Outen and boyfriend Jay Kay, Arsenal's Dutch international stars Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars, and Tottenham Hotspur manager George Graham. All of them are reported to have cast an eye over the 69 units, where a one-bedroom flat costs £285,000.
While estate agent Knight Frank is fiercely protective of its clients and will only say that "interesting people live inside, some of whom are celebrities", the pubs and shops in Hampstead village are rife with gossip about who has been spotted coming in and out of the iron gates which guard the property on tree-lined Holly Hill.
Ultra-tight security is in operation, with six guards continually patrolling the three-and-a-half acres of landscaped grounds. Sixteen cameras watch over the three blocks of apartments, which house a heated pool and a gym. An underground car park provides secure accommodation for the Jaguars, Bentleys, Porsches and Ferraris.
One guard said: "This is a place where billionaire businessmen and celebrities live.
"They are the type of people who are happy to pay millions for an apartment because they are paying for their privacy."
When it opened as a 100-bed TB hospital in 1880 on the site of the old Victorian workhouse, architect Roger Smith's building was described as a "pseudo-chateau". At the outbreak of the First World War it was converted to a military hospital - after the original Mount Vernon had moved to Northwood.
At the end of the war it became the home of the National Institute for Medical Research and later the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, but the site was effectively abandoned 10 years ago. It was sold to developers for £4.5 million. Twenty-one of the 69 units are priced at between £1.5 and £2.85 million.
Burglars who target Hampstead should beware. Even if they get past the security team at Mount Vernon, there is another potential obstacle to overcome.
There is one more name to add to the list of celebrities who may be moving in: Britain's newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion, Lennox Lewis.
Baby Becks First X-mas Present
POSH Spice and David Beckham have bought baby Brooklyn his first Christmas present - a £48,000 toy Ferrari.
Victoria and Beckham chose the scaled-down version of the footballer's own £150,000 supercar at Harrods, the Sunday Mirror can reveal. And nine-month-old baby Becks has already tried it for size.
"David can't wait for Brooklyn to drive," said Victoria. And the England and Manchester United star told a shop assistant: "It's absolutely fantastic."
Unlike his father - banned from driving for eight months this week-- baby Becks was allowed behind the wheel. As Brooklyn sat in the miniature red dream machine during a five-hour shopping spree in the top people's London store Posh took photgraphs.
For the multi-millionaire couple the £48,000 price tag was no problem. A family friend said: "They just had to have the car."
The two-seater convertible can reach a speed of 30mph and runs on diesel. It comes complete with a stereo CD and DVD player.
Just like the real thing, it has heavy-duty tyres with light alloy trims, steel frames, brakes and hydraulic shock absorbers.
Brooklyn will be able to use his own keys to start the car, although staff assured the couple they would also be given a manual switch box to control it themselves.
Optional accessories from the maker - Los Angeles-based Cars For Children - include a rear spoiler and seatbelts.
The car has a glass-fibre body and cream leather seats, tachometer, lights, and a double horn.
The Beckhams spent 45 minutes chatting to staff about the motor. One shop assistant said: "They were here nearly an hour and wanted to know every detail about the car. They paid as much attention as if they were buying the real thing . It is clear they want the best for their child by the amount of attention they paid to all the car's features."
The family visit to the London department store came just a day after David was banned from driving for eight months and fined £800 for doing 76mph in a 50mph zone in his Ferrari Maranello.
He joked to Harrods staff: "At least one of us might get the chance to be on the road."
Beckham owns seven motors including a £145,000 Bentley Arnage, and a £65,000 Porche 911 Carrera S.
Shortly after their shopping trip, David was told by lawyers, that his driving licence had been returned to him pending an appeal.
Mel G's Battle To Save Her Marriage
TORMENTED Spice Girl Mel G is packing her bags - in a last-ditch bid to save her rocky marriage.
The stressed singer sensationally reveals today that all she wants for Christmas is a second honeymoon in the sun with dancer husband Jimmy Gulzar and their daughter Phoenix Chi.
And a chance to prove to the world that they can pick up the pieces of one of pop's most explosive relationships.
"We've been through hell and back," Mel G whispered as she spoke for the first time of her fight to rescue her turbulent 15-month marriage.
"But we are certain there is something worth saving. We've still got this chance to make it work.
"I still love Jimmy and I know that he feels the same about me. Christmas away together will be our opportunity to prove what we have still got."
There have been many fierce rows since the star couple wed in a glittering ceremony in 1998-the latest being a screaming bust-up early last week just as the Spice Girls kicked off their sell-out British tour in Manchester.
CLOSE friends say the problems lie in their living separate lives -with Mel G pursuing her solo career as well as going on the road with the band.
"Jimmy feels Mel is always busy and never makes any time for him," said a pal after the Manchester row which left their marriage teetering on the brink of collapse.
And Mel G admits that spending more time together is the key to their future.
"There have been times when all we could seem to do was argue," she sighed.
"But the fact that we've now managed to patch things up again shows just how much we really are in love."
Mel, 24, revealed how she and Jimmy have finally sat down and started working out a way to change their lives.
Last week they spent time together at a top Manchester hotel.
Mel said: "We want to take control of the situation this time rather than let things take control of us.
"Before, the situation just got worse every time. Maybe Jimmy and I didn't realise just how hard it would be holding down a steady relationship when we first got married.
"With me being involved with the Spice Girls and with my solo career taking off too it has only put added pressure on things.
"Lately I've had the current Spice Girls tour to prepare for while at the same time we've also been in the studio recording the next album.
"With Jimmy and I doing different things, it's bound to create conflicts.
"But actually the problems we've been having with our marriage are the same as those millions of others experience.
"And as anyone who's been there knows, it's horrible."
Jimmy, 31, was left feeling more isolated than ever when the Spice Girls decided not to use male dancers on their current tour.
"It got to him," said the close pal describing their latest bust-up.
"At one point Jimmy was overheard screaming down the phone at Mel after he had travelled up to Manchester to watch the gig. But at least the row seems to have been the thing that spurred the pair of them into attempting to sort their lives out."
Sorting their lives out, however, is something they have tried before.
LAST May Leeds-born Mel and Jimmy shocked the showbiz world when rumours first emerged that their relationship was on the rocks.
Furious Mel even went so far as to start a legal battle for custody of their daughter Phoenix Chi who was then just three months old.
It appeared as though the only fire left between them was the fight for custody of the baby-but the court hearing was postponed at the last minute. Hurt at suggestions that the birth of Phoenix had created conflict in her relationship with Jimmy, Mel said: "I wouldn't say motherhood changed me. In fact it's just added to my life. It's really refreshing." =
The couple called a truce. They saw marriage-guidance counsellors and appeared to have patched things up.
But their relationship quickly deteriorated again-and the rows got worse.
Mel began spending more and more time with showbiz pals like Bond film hunk Goldie and Noel Gallagher's wife Meg Mathews.
Last October Mel was even spotted enjoying cosy conversation in the company of dance star Goldie at London's trendy Ivy restaurant. But she slams speculation that their relationship was anything other than friendly.
"Goldie is someone I really admire," said Mel. "He is a real inspiration. But he is just a very good friend. That's all."
IT all seemed so perfect when Mel and Jimmy met two years ago. She first set eyes on the lithe Dutchman when he was recruited as a dancer on a Spice Girl tour.
Within two months they got engaged in Paris. Seven weeks later the News of the World revealed that Mel was expecting their child.
Following a whirlwind romance the couple married in spectacular fashion in September 1998 at a 12th century church situated next to their £2.5 million mansion in Little Marlow, Bucks.
The wedding, seven months after they had first met, seemed the natural step to a fairytale love story.
Celebrity magazine OK! forked out a fortune to gain exclusive coverage of Mel and Jimmy's big day.
The beaming bridegroom, dressed in an outrageous gold suit and matching tie, said at the time: "It's unbelievable I can finally call Melanie my wife. I know it sound's cliched but I really, really love her."
Spice Girls Sporty, Baby, and Posh were among the 200 lucky guests invited to the bash at which everyone was asked to wear white.
DRESSED in a stunning white and gold dress and Indian style head-dress for her big day Mel gushed: "This is the best day of my life."
How times have changed in 15 months. But now Mel G seems determined to change them back to the way they were.
With their Christmas holiday the couple hope to recreate the magic they enjoyed in their early days together.
The past few weeks have seen Mel and Jimmy make a determined effort to spend more time together.
The pair attended a recent star-studded after-show party together for rock legend David Bowie.
But that row last week shows there is still a lot to put right.
Mel remains tight-lipped about the exact location of their second honeymoon. But now more than ever she says she and Jimmy and Phoenix Chi deserve some time alone.
"All relationships have their ups and down," she said.
"But now it really does feel like Jimmy and I have turned a corner as far as our relationship goes.
"This Christmas we will go away together as a family-Phoenix, Jimmy and I.
"We've been given the perfect chance to make our marriage work - and we are going to do just that."
| December 7, 1999 |
Calling All Spice Cadets
A message from the Spice Girls Official Site:
Calling Spice Cadets Everywhere!
Join Us Onstage!
Yes, that's right! We're back! After an amazing year, we can't wait to get back onstage together and we want you to share in the fun!
We're gonna be webcasting our show live from Earl's Court in London on December 14th and you can join in by clicking thru to the show from here. It's gonna be the first time that we sing some brand new songs so don't miss out.
Between now and the night of the show, you can get the software you'll need to watch live, win signed platinum albums, send Spice Chrissie cards and loads more. (Click the "More Spice" button below)
So, see you soon for details of the best competitions in cyberspace and don't forget 14th December...we want to make it the biggest, bestest gig in the world ever! Love, peace and girl power!!!
Melanie C, Victoria,
Emma and Mel G
The Spice Girls Wrap Up Christmas
Tom Horan reviews the Spice Girls at Men Arena, Manchester
ON the bus from Didsbury, in coaches from Eccles and Salford, and from distant points across the Pennines came a gathering of the clans. The mums were there too, to hold daughters' hands, and the odd dad to bankroll the outing. Fifteen thousand little girls had put glitter in their hair, donned their tinsel deely-boppers and fussed over an outfit. The Spice Girls were back in town.
Package tour: the Girls on the first night of their 'Christmas in Spiceworld' dates
The last live show by the second-most-recognised Britons in the world (number one, the Queen; number three, Lady Thatcher) was in September 1998. In between there have been three solo projects, two weddings and two babies. Not one Spice tune has been released, but the first night of this new UK tour - "Christmas in Spiceworld" - was a sell-out.
At about five past eight the anticipation reached a frenzy. The mums looked vexed; the video screens advertised a brand of deodorant; the dads couldn't believe they'd paid seven quid for a programme. It was way past most people's bedtimes, and the show hadn't even started yet. Then down went the lights and up went the screams.
Vertical rocket plumes exploded and the Fabulously Wealthy Four made their entrance. They charged down a 100ft catwalk towards a circular stage capped with a giant icicle. In colour-coded outfits they belted out Spice Up Your Life while a man on the screens delivered the lyrics in sign-language.
There was much jumping up and down and waving from the returning heroes. "We're back!" said Scary (in lime). "How ya doing?" asked Baby (pink). "I think I'm going to cry," said Sporty (blue and obligatory trainers). Posh said, "Hi," and brushed a speck off her lilac number.
After a week of media fuss about her thinness, all eyes were on Mrs Beckham. While you wouldn't call her Fatty Arbuckle, from a distance her body looked no more or less remarkable than the those of the other three. Her demeanour seemed unchanged - clothes-horsey, reserved and just faintly stuck-up. As the others hurled themselves about, she went for a more regal approach, sort of Shirley Bassey minus the voice.
The breathless numbers continued - Too Much, Two Become One - punctuated by garbled asides to the crowd: "Give yourselves a round of applause for your outfits." Out came four Val Doonican stools for Mama, as a gospel choir appeared and a string section rose through the floor. Scary summoned a dad for a dance, Baby did the honours with a petrified youngster.
Half-time brought hunks on rollerskates doing a turn, and a chance to nip out to the merchandising outlets. Then it was new costumes and old hits, with choruses that a million subliminal plays have etched on to every brain in Britain: Stop Right Now; Wannabe; Goodbye. The four had gelled now and overcome earlier difficulties of singing with their backs to each other. The vital contract - you pay, we give our all - was more than fulfilled. There were also two types of fake snow.
The final reappearing act ladled on the Christmas jollies, including a cover of Slade's 1973 stomper Merry Xmas Everybody. It was the canniest move of the night, as thousands of parents and even grandparents sprang to their feet on all sides: "Does your granny always tell you / that the old songs are the best? / Then she's up and rock'n'rolling with the rest." One final salvo of rockets, a few infant tears, and they were gone.
Spice Girls Re-Team For Brief Tour
After solo projects, marriages, motherhood, and another round of slagging in the press, the Spice Girls reconvened over the weekend to kick off a brief British tour.
The Girl Power pioneers played the first of four straight shows at Manchester, England's Evening News Arena on Saturday and found a warm welcome, according to reports. The Associated Press reports that "Sporty Spice" Melanie C. actually cried at the response the group found, telling the crowd, "We've missed you."
After their Manchester run, the Girls will move on to play four dates at London's Earls Court Arena from December 11 through the 15.
The reception had to help the Girls' egos after the annual readers' poll in Brit music mag "Smash Hits" reportedly named the outfit "Britain's worst group." Reuters also reports that Mel C. (who ventured into solo country this year with "Northern Star") was hit especially hard in the survey, being named Worst Female Singer, Worst Single, Worst Video, Most Tragic Haircut, and Worst Dressed Person.
Despite the poll results, there's no denying that the Girls have placed a big candy-coated stamp on the face of popular music during their tenure, as the group's still-loyal fans will tell you. The outfit helped to usher in a new wave of larger than life teen-oriented pop with the one-two punch of 1996's "Spice" and 1997's "Spiceworld," and the Girls are not about to rest on top of the empire they've built.
"Initially we were standing up there for Girl Power and everything, which is fantastic," Mel C. told MTV News recently. "Now there's a lot of girl bands. There's a lot more female artists, maybe not [having] to do with us, but you know, it's made it more acceptable, and in Britain there's some great pop out there... and there's a lot of terrible pop out there, which is a shame."
"But that's always the way," she continued. "When something comes out in fashion, when something becomes successful, everybody jumps on the bandwagon. So that's something which is quite sad, but it was gonna happen. It was gonna happen anyway, and I mean, I feel now music is... enough already with the pop. You know, I think it's time for the next stage, thank you very much. I mean, okay, Spice Girls were a pop band, but I think we're the more sophisticated end of pop. I like to think so, anyway."
The Spicy ones have already begun work on a new album (no release date has been set yet), and Mel said that the group is expected to launch a U.S. tour in the summer of 2000. If you happen to be in the U.K. now, here's where you can catch them:
| December 5, 1999 |
Spice Girls Back with "Becks Appeal"
David Beckham and baby Brooklyn - in matching bandannas - turned out in support of Posh Spice Victoria Adams tonight as she joined the other Spice Girls for their first concert in over a year.
The girls kicked off the first of eight winter wonderland style British concerts at the Manchester Evening News Arena.
Mrs Beckham had vowed to show her critics that she was fit and well after a week of speculation about her weight.
But in a boob-tube style purple sequinned tasselled dress, seven-and-a-half stone Victoria looked slight in comparison to the other girls.
England and Manchester United star Beckham clapped his hands to the music as he stood with friends and watched his wife perform.
Later, Beckham and baby Brooklyn rocked and danced the night away together in an executive box as they watched the show.
All four girls emerged from the ground in a mist of smoke, dressed in different coloured sequinned outfits.
This was the first concert they had played since their European and American tour last year which saw the departure of Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell.
But the other Spices seemed not to miss her as they started the concert with a rousing rendition of Spice Up Your Life.
The band told the audience they had missed being together as a group.
Sporty Spice Mel C, complete with requisite trainers, began to cry as she said: "We've missed you."
And Scary Spice Mel G, dressed in a yellow sequinned outfit shouted to the crowd: "We're back."
Their slick stage show, which began with a laser display, included three new tracks. They also played other old favourites including Mama and Too Much.
The girls changed into black and silver metallic outfits and made the crowd roar with a rendition of Wannabe, the song that launched them on the road to fame and fortune.
Mel G, in a tiny bra top and mini skirt, showed off the figure she has regained after the birth of Phoenix Chi, while Mel C's split trousers showed off the new addition to her tattoos.
After two hours of enthusiastic dancing, singing and shouting the group ended their set with Goodbye, as mock snow fell on the crowd and a choir sang.
They returned in stunning red sequinned outfits, complete with white feather boas, to sing Viva Forever before launching into a raucous karaoke of a Christmas melody.
The band are due to play four dates in Manchester before moving on to London's Earls Court.
Win Spice Girls Concert Tickets
From Official Spice Girls Site:
'Hey Everyone, we're back!!
It's great to be working with all 4 of us together again after a big and hectic year for us all and we're just dying to get on stage again.
If you haven't already got tickets for our shows this December, don't worry coz we've got 25 pairs of tickets to give away. All you have to do is answer these questions(the questions that appear on the Competition page)and you can win a chance to see us live.
Dates and venues for concerts that you can win tickets for:
04/12 - Manchester Arena - 5 pairs
11/12 - London Earls Court - 5 pairs
15/12 - London Earls Court - 5 pairs
The competition is only open to fans in the UK but don't panic! We will be webcasting one of the shows in London, we'll give you the details as soon as we can.
Love, peace and girlpower
Victoria, Mel B, Emma and Melanie C
To enter to win the tickets, click here: Spice Girls Competition
Spice 1999
|
HERE are the
Spice Girls in their first official photos for a year -
looking a Spiceworld away from their old image. The band, beginning a tour in Manchester tomorrow, were last snapped together last Christmas. THEN Mel B and Melanie C had long straight hair. And both Victoria Beckham and Mel B were pregnant. NOW Melanie C, who had a solo hit with Going Down, has a punk crop and six tattoos. And Scary Spice Mel B - who had daughter Phoenix Chi in February - has curly locks. Posh Spice Victoria, 25, is now mum to baby Brooklyn and married to soccer star David Beckham. Only Baby Spice Emma Bunton, 23, whose single What I Am hit No2 last month, is pretty much unchanged. Last night they told The Sun how much fun they are having being together again. Sporty Spice Melanie C, 25, said: "It's been such a laugh during rehearsals we can't wait to perform on stage." Emma said: "It'll be the best show ever. We've worked really hard." Mel B, 24, added: "It's great to be back again as the band." And Victoria said: "We're here to stay - these concerts are the proof." |
| December 1, 1999 |
Spice Girls Grow Up On Next Album
The Spice Girls have grown up, and their next album will prove it, according to producer Jimmy Jam.
"Whenever the Spice Girls get together, we like to try something different," Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm said.
But the change won't be so drastic that you won't recognize them, Jam said about the collaborations he and his partner, Terry Lewis, recently recorded with the British pop group.
"You know it's the Spice Girls," Jam said.
"My wife probably had the best thing for it," he continued. "She said when you listen to it, it doesn't sound like cheerleader music. It's fun because the Spice Girls are fun, and it's pop music and danceable, but there's an air of sophistication to it, of maturity — as mature as you can be at 22, 23 — and I think it's a good blend."
Jam and Lewis — who helped make Janet Jackson a superstar in the mid-'80s and later created dark, mechanized soundscapes for her Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989) — collaborated with the Spice Girls on two songs, "Oxygen" and "If You Want to Have Some Fun," for their next album.
"Oxygen" finds the foursome "using oxygen as a metaphor for love and life," Jam said. "Each of the girls tells their opinion of what love is, relating it to basically breathing."
Jam described "If You Want to Have Some Fun" as "more of a straight-up party record."
Brandy collaborator Rodney Jerkins also produced tracks. Virgin Records has not scheduled a release date for the Spice Girls' third LP, which follows up Spiceworld, released in late 1997 in conjunction with the group's feature film of the same name.
The Spice Girls, whose hits include "Wannabe" (RealAudio excerpt) and "Spice Up Your Life" (RealAudio excerpt), became a foursome in May 1998, when Geri Halliwell, a.k.a. "Ginger Spice," left to pursue a solo career.
Chisholm, Melanie "Scary Spice" Gulzar and Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton also have put out solo material, with Chisholm, a.k.a. Mel C., releasing Northern Star earlier this year.
