Opinions..Opinions

Mel C and Emma Bunton are divided in their opinion on whether Geri should get up on stage at the Brits next week to collect the Lifetime Achievement Award with the rest of the Spiceys.

Radio 1 spoke to both of them individually, and although Geri says she won't be getting up with them, Mel C says she'd like her to: "I firmly believe that she should be up there with us. But there's five girls, y'know, who have to make that decision. And that's just, y'know, that's just my opinion," she says.

Melanie wanted Radio 1 to point out that there's no animosity between the girls and Geri - in fact, they're in regular contact with Geri, despite hardly ever seeing her. She says she's fed up with what's becoming a media circus around the Brit awards ceremony. Emma, however, has a very different point of view when it comes to Geri joining the group on stage: "Obviously, the five of us were in the Spice Girls but we have sort of moved on," she says. "And we did an American tour and, y'know, we've done another single and had a Christmas No.1. So I think we have moved on now and become a four piece."

Melanie seemed quite disappointed by that news, but insists the matter isn't that important to them: "We haven't even talked about. We're just having a laugh rehearsing for The Brits. Geri is not really something that we talk about because we've got our own lives and we're not obsessed like the British tabloids are."

Life Goes On

SPICE Girl Mel C defiantly shrugged off the group's £1million legal bill last night after they lost a High Court battle with a scooter firm.

She said: "Justice has not been done. But we don't care. Hey ho, life goes on."

A judge ruled that the four remaining Spices were liable for failing to tell Italian company Aprilia - which sponsored their 1998 Spiceworld tour - that Geri Halliwell had quit the band.

Aprilia said her departure wrecked sales of its special Spice-Sonic scooter because its adverts featured all five girls.

But Mel C - Sporty Spice Melanie Chisholm, 26 - said: "At the end of the day we were in the right. We did not know Geri was going to leave." Asked about her new single, Never Be The Same Again, she laughed and added: "What will never be the same again?

"Gosh, who knows. My bank account after the court settlement?"

The case arose after the four band members - Mel C, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham - sued Venice-based Aprilia for £218,000 in unpaid sponsorship and royalties.

The firm then counter-sued, having earlier resigned itself to writing off alleged losses of £1.6million on the Spice deal.

The court heard that Geri, 27, told the other girls THREE TIMES before the £500,000 contract with Aprilia was signed on May 8, 1998, that she was leaving. Her decision was announced on May 31.

Mrs Justice Arden said of the Spices' behaviour: "There is quite clear misrepresentation but it was unintentional."

The four chart-toppers - Mel C, "Baby" Emma, 24, "Posh" Victoria, 25, and "Scary" Melanie Brown, 24 - face an order to pay £434,000 in damages and another £600,000 in costs.

Aprilia's solicitor, Gregor Kleinknecht, said after the London hearing that the company had been willing to accept a lower, out-of-court payment but the Spice Girls refused to agree a settlement.

He said: "The whole thing backfired on them. They have only themselves to blame."

A spokeswoman for the singers' company, Spice Girls Ltd, said: "They have not yet decided whether to appeal."

Although Geri gave evidence for the group, she will not have to pay towards the £1million bill because she was not part of the original legal action.

A Loss For the Girls

The Spice Girls yesterday lost their High Court claim against the sponsors of their 1998 tour and will now have to pay around £1 million in damages and court costs.

There is to be a further hearing to determine the exact amount of the claim against Spice Girls Ltd, who launched the action against Italian motorcycle manufacturers Aprilia with a claim for £218,000, which was dismissed by Mrs Justice Arden in a ruling today.

Baby Spice Emma Bunton and breakaway member Geri Halliwell both gave evidence in the case in which Aprilia World Service, the motor scooter arm of the Italian firm, claimed that Geri's departure from the group in May 1998 cost them up to £1.6 million in lost profits.

The firm signed a contract with the group for more than £500,000 to promote their products, launching a special edition Spice Sonic scooter with a silhouette of all five girls on it.

But their advertising and promotional campaign turned into a "total marketing flop" when Geri left, the hearing was told two weeks ago.

The company claimed the group, which sued for £212,000 in unpaid sponsorship and royalty fees, was already aware of Miss Halliwell's plans to quit when they signed the contract.The judge said the five Spice Girls signed an agreement with Aprilia on May 5 1998 that the company should sponsor their Spiceworld Tour and in return the girls would be available for a TV and cinema commercial, photo shoots and provide logos for the new Spice Sonic scooter until March 1999.

Mrs Justice Arden said this was an implied misrepresentation because Geri left the group after logos had been designed and the advertisement completed.

She said Aprilia would not have entered into the agreement to provide the Spice Girls with £450,000 in sponsorship fees and £112,000 in guaranteed royalties on the scooter if it had known that Geri was leaving at the end of May 1998.

The girls will now have to pay more than £400,000 in damages, plus interest, to Aprilia together with court costs.Mrs Justice Arden said at the start of 1998 the Spice Girls consisted of Geri, Emma Bunton, Victoria Adams, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm.

But three weeks after the five girls had signed the sponsorship contract with Aprilia, Geri left the group.

The Spice Girls launched the action against Aprilia, claiming £100,000 in unpaid sponsorship fees, motorbikes worth around £6,000 plus £112,500 in a guaranteed royalty payment.

Aprilia's response was to claim damages of £434,564 or £1,016,541 depending on whether it could establish its claim for misrepresentation or breach of contract.

The judge said the Spice Girls knew that Geri intended to leave the group from April 25 1998, after a management meeting at a Wembley concert in the dressing room.

A spokesman for Aprilia said after the hearing that the company was pleased with the outcome of the case but it was "regrettable that the matter had to come before the court to achieve a satisfactory resolution".

"Aprilia does not have any ill-feelings towards the members of the Spice Girls or Geri Halliwell and wishes them all the best for their future careers."The Spice Girls had told the court that they were under no obligation to tell Aprilia of Geri's intentions even though she had mentioned the possibility of her leaving to Victoria Adams in March and had told the others later that month that she was definitely going at the end of their US tour.

Roberto Brovazzo, head of Aprilia's marketing department, had told the judge that the group were the creators of a new "girl power" concept and were "symbolic for the fashionable, fresh and a bit cheeky image that Aprilia wanted to convey for the Sonic scooter which it had recently launched".

Ms Halliwell, he said, was "a core member of the Spice Girls and the embodiment of the girl power concept in the public eye".

Aprilia was targeting its new scooter at young teenage girls - in some European countries 14-year-olds can drive 50cc machines - and wanted to use the images of the Spice Girls to promote its product worldwide.

The motorcycle manufacturers were promised by tour sponsorship consultants KLP that they could "use the tour to make the Aprilia/Spice Girl connection famous before having a 12 month opportunity to have the biggest band in the world endorse your products and appear in your advertisements".Mrs Justice Arden said: "Aprilia for its part clearly saw the potential for linking their product, a scooter for 'fun loving girls', as one whose sales could be enhanced by the Spice Girls."

The company also planned a special edition scooter, the Spice Sonic, which was to be sold in two fashion colours, light blue and orange, "associated with the public image of Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) and Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell)".

They expected to sell 10,000 but only 2,000 were eventually produced and sales "were disappointing".

Aprilia announced its association with the group at a press conference in Milan when the tour reached Italy on March 8 1998.

The judge said Ms Bunton and Ms Halliwell gave evidence about the two conversations about leaving the group on March 3 and 9.

On the first occasion the girls were in a coach being taken from Frankfurt airport to their hotel and the judge said she accepted that none of the other Spice Girls took Ms Halliwell's intentions seriously.

Six days later the girls were waiting to go on stage when Ms Halliwell said she definitely wanted to leave in September and that she had "had enough".

Emma Bunton told the judge that the rest of the group took it as a joke and they ended up laughing.

"They were justified in not taking her seriously at this point," said the judge.

Aprilia were not happy with the performance of the girls at photo calls at the beginning of the sponsorship period and there were disagreements over the stage payments of the sponsorship fees.

At one commercial shoot, the girls left early, leaving Aprilia to find doubles.

The relationship between Aprilia and the group broke down completely when it was announced that Geri was leaving, said the judge.

"Aprilia took the view that the market which it was targeting was discriminating and would not buy a product with an out of date image, and that marketing material had to be consistent.

"It would follow that the marketing material would have to be redesigned and reissued; there was no budget to do this."

When Miss Halliwell made her announcement to the band at the Wembley meeting, it was decided to keep it confidential but this was not an attempt to deceive Aprilia, said the judge.

She said they would not have been familiar with the precise terms of the deal with Aprilia.

"Ms Halliwell's departure was an emotional event: Ms Halliwell described it as like the end of a marriage."

But the Spice Girls had not shown they had reasonable grounds to believe that at the date they signed the contract the representations were true. They were therefore liable in damages to their sponsors, said the judge.

Mel C Wants A Reunion

Reported by News of the World:

MEL C wants a Spice Girls reunion with Geri Halliwell.

Sporty took me to one side this week and said: "I'd love Geri to appear on stage with us when we get our Brit Award."

She is the first of the fab four to come out and say she'd like to bury the hatchet...and not in Geri's back!

"I'm only one quarter of the group and one-fifth of the equation, but I'd like Geri to be there because she was part of our success story," Mel told me. "Anyway, I don't bear her any ill feelings."

There have been rumours that Sporty has already rowed with Scary Spice Mel B over the reconcilliation idea. Sporty reckons that's rubbish.

"I've not even had the chance to see Mel B face to face in the last couple of weeks because I've been so busy promoting my new solo single and she's been on holiday," she said."

During our heart-to-heart, Mel C also confessed that, at one point, she thought their Brit gong was going to be a Lifetime achievement award.

"I was gobsmacked," she said, "I thought, 'Aren't we a bit young to pick up a Lifetime Achievement award?'

Then I discovered that this year they're calling it an Outstanding Contribution Award instead. That makes more sense, at 26 I hope I still have a lot more achivements to come."

Mel's third solo single, Never Be The Same Again, is out on March 6. It's taken from her debut album Northern Star, which has sold almost a million copies. Geri also has a new single, Bag It Up, released in April.

End of the Court Hearing

The court hearing between the Spice Girls and an Italian motorcycle manufacturer ended at the High Court today.

Mrs Justice Arden reserved her judgment to a date to be fixed after hearing four-and-a-half days of evidence.

Baby Spice Emma Bunton and former Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell both appeared as witnesses in the action between the pop phenomenon and Aprilia, the official sponsors of their world tour in 1998.

The Italian motorcycle manufacturers had signed a contract with the group for more than £500,000 to promote its products. It claims it lost £1.6 million in profits on sales of its special edition Spice Sonic scooter when Geri left the band during the term of the sponsorship deal.

The Spice Girls had sued the company for £212,000 in unpaid sponsorship fees and royalties on the scooter.

Emma Sets the Trend

The fashion circus arrived in town today with the start of London Fashion Week and the first to jump on the merry-go-round was Spice Girl Emma Bunton who arrived with ex-lover Jade Jones from pop band Damage.

On the eve of Valentine's Day Miss Bunton, aka Baby Spice, looked like she had patched up her rocky love-affair with Jade.

The pair, who split up last May despite rumours of wedding bells, happily posed for photographs together to show they are formally an item again.

Baby Spice was said to be devastated over her break-up with Jade but has since been linked with West Ham and England defender Rio Ferdinand and Hollyoaks star Paul Danan.

Miss Bunton arrived today in this summer's fashion musts - denim jeans with piped detail and a two-tone tight T-shirt.

And Baby Spice looked like she had been taking fashion tips from her colleague Posh Spice's famous footballing husband David Beckham, by donning a bandana.

London Fashion Week, which will run until Thursday, will include the latest creations for autumn and winter from 40 world famous designers including Andrew Groves, Jasper Conran and Jean Muir.

And crowd-pleaser Alexander McQueen will return to the stage after last year's notable absence.

McQueen, London's prodigal son, sparked fears about the future success of London Fashion Week when he opted to unveil his creations in New York last year.

Today Ronit Zilkha, Amaya Arzuaga and Paul Costelloe got the show rolling with collections in browns and greens and detailed with embroidery and beading.

And girls had better hope next winter is a mild one because the skirt lengths look likely to be short and there's an abundance of hotpants. The blouses are made of delicate fabrics with elaborate collar details and ruffs.

The finale of the week will be the Rover British Fashion Awards on Friday at the Natural History Museum.

Julien Macdonald, who persuaded Scary Spice Mel B to model for him recently, will launch his collection at a show in the much-maligned Millennium Dome on Thursday night.

It is tipped as one of the shows to watch, with the Spice Girls as likely guests and as always with fashion-queen Madonna in town rumours of her appearance at various shows will cause a furore.

Leave Us Alone

POLICE are hunting a woman stalker who has been plaguing David Beckham for a month.

The Manchester United star and wife Posh Spice are living in fear of the mystery black woman who has been turning up at the footballer's Cheshire home on a daily basis.

She was finally reported to police last Monday after evading tight security and breaking into the mansion block which contains Beckham's penthouse.

But after hammering on the door of the luxury three-bed apartment in the village of Alderley Edge, she escaped without trace.

The woman, who is described as well-built and 5ft 10ins tall, leaves gifts such as knickers for the England star outside the pounds 350,000 flat on each visit.

She also leaves sexually-explicit hand-written letters, in which she fantasises about watching Posh and Becks making love.

The month-long campaign has left Beckham, 24, deeply distressed.

He has warned Sir Alex Ferguson and security bosses at Old Trafford of the threat but has been anxious not to alarm wife Victoria - who seldom stays at the Alderley Edge apartment.

Posh spends most of her time at her parents' home in Goffs Oak, Hertfordshire, as she waits for the work on their new mansion nearby to be completed.

Last night a family friend said: "David is is getting more and more depressed by all the unwanted attention.

"This woman may prove to be harmless but she is hanging around every day and bombarding him with letters and presents.

"It has left him rather shaken, nervous and worried about his safety."

After the break-in a week ago, detectives at Wilmslow CID were alerted and now want to question the woman. Officers are also looking at security TV footage taken at the premises.

A source close to the couple said: "This crazy woman has been turning up every day. She comes laden with gifts and always leaves underwear or flowers for Beckham, together with really sick letters.

"The stuff she writes about is really perverted, fantasising about seeing David and Victoria in bed together."

The source added: "What happened when she broke in was frightening. She tricked her way through electric gates and got past video surveillance. David has his personal bodyguard and massive security but it seems that nothing can stop these nutters.""

It is not the first time Beckham has been stalked - in January 1998 he told his club he had become the target of a male stalker.

And the Sunday Mirror revealed last month how a plot to kidnap Posh and Becks' baby Brooklyn was foiled in an undercover police operation.

Early last year, hi-tech security devices, along with a video surveillance system and electric gates, were installed at the penthouse. The couple have also had the building swept for spying bugs.

Last night Cheshire police said: "We are investigating a complaint of harassment."

Not Believing Geri Would Leave

EMMA BUNTON, from the Spice Girls, told the High Court yesterday that the group did not believe Geri Halliwell when she told them she was leaving.

Miss Bunton, known as Baby Spice, told a packed court that Miss Halliwell had confided to the group in Frankfurt, during their 1998 world tour, that she would not be continuing after September that year. But, said Miss Bunton, "we never believed that she would go".

The 24-year-old singer had been called to give evidence in a complex two-way action between Spice Girls Ltd and the Italian scooter manufacturers Aprilia World Services. Aprilia, which paid £500,000 in sponsorship for the European leg of the 1998 tour, had hoped to sell special limited edition Sonic Spice scooters bearing a logo of all five Spice Girls, the court has heard.

However, the venture was "a complete marketing flop" when Miss Halliwell (Ginger Spice) unexpectedly left the band, reducing it to a quartet. The firm claims that the Spice Girls were aware of her imminent departure at the time of the deal but failed to inform it, and is suing the group for £1.5 million.

The Spice Girls, including Miss Halliwell, are counter-suing, seeking more than £200,000 they say they are owed in fees, royalties and "moto-bikes". Miss Bunton, who arrived at the High Court in a silver Mercedes, spent 30 minutes in the witness box, contending with the noise of builders working on the court roof.

She began her evidence by admitting that she had "a terrible memory". She had initially "not remembered" the two occasions on which Miss Halliwell had informed the group of her imminent departure, once on a coach in Frankfurt, and in a dressing room in Milan.

She told Mrs Justice Arden: "I just know that when I looked at Geri's statement, then I did remember the conversations." When Andrew Sutcliffe, counsel for Aprilia, suggested that this must have been "a major piece of news", she replied: "I never took it that seriously because things were said quite frequently."

The group had just started their world tour, designed to promote their second album and film, when Miss Halliwell made her announcement to Miss Bunton and her fellow Spice Girls Victoria Adams, Melanie Chisholm and Melanie Brown. It happened on the coach from the airport to the hotel in Frankfurt, said Mr Sutcliffe.

Miss Bunton agreed that it was a shock and everyone had stopped talking. She said: "But it was something we just took in, because we had arranged to do this tour until September. We never believed she would go."

A few days later, in Milan, on March 8, Miss Halliwell again spoke about leaving, said Mr Sutcliffe. Miss Bunton said: "I don't remember her saying it was definite. I just remember her mentioning it again."

"Do you remember Victoria [Posh Spice], asking Geri why and Geri saying 'I've had enough and just want to finish with a big finale at Wembley'?" Mr Sutcliffe asked. "Do you remember Mel C [Sporty Spice] saying 'This feels like a Take That moment', when Robbie Williams left Take That, and asking Geri 'Are you doing a Robbie on us?' and Geri replying 'No, I am not. I'm going to stick it out until September. I am committed to the band'?" he continued.

Miss Bunton replied: "It was just jokingly said. And we were just about to go on stage. I think we were laughing. Again we didn't seem to take it seriously." She said Miss Halliwell had not spoken of her plans for the future. "She never said she wanted to do something else. I think one of us asked her why. She said . . . Oh, I can't remember what she said. But I never remember her having other plans."

Aprilia claims that its scooters, designed to appeal to teenagers on the Continent, became obsolete overnight when Miss Halliwell left in May 1998. It has also argued that a £150,000 television shoot for a commercial to promote the scooters was delayed by several days at some cost because Victoria Adams had a private enagement she did not wish to cancel. When they finally did shoot it, the group went home early, leaving "body doubles" to complete the shots.

The full-page colour advertisements the firm hoped would be published in the tour programme did not appear. The firm claimed that the band did the minimum in promotional photo-opportunities and "meet and greets". But Miss Bunton said: "We were always professional. We gave 100 per cent."

Earlier, the Spice Girls' former lawyer, Andrew Thompson, told the court Miss Halliwell had officially told him and Nancy Phillips, a director of Spice Girls Ltd at an informal meeting on April 25, of her intentions just before the group were going on stage at Wembley.

At first he wanted to put out a press release, but it was agreed that was "ludicrous" and that the news should be kept confidential "as she may well have changed her mind". He said contracts with Aprilia were written in such a way that there would be "no breach of contract" if the group's line-up changed.

Miss Bunton said afterwards: "I'd rather do a show. I was nervous. Going on stage is much easier." Miss Halliwell is expected to give evidence when the case resumes tomorrow.

Mel B In Love Again

Mel B is in love again - with hunky actor Max Beesley who comforted her after her split with  Jimmy Gulzar.

The pair have jetted off on holiday to the Seychelles and openly kissed and cuddled on the flight

A pal of Mel's says, "They get on really well and both have a wicked sense of humour." And the friend reveals that the pair have been secretly dating since the New Year.

The source explains, "Max is a very strong personality like Mel and they are a bit of a double act. "Max gets on well with the baby (Phoenix Chi) but Jimmy is still seeing his daughter as often as he can." The pair first met when Beesley played percussion on the singer's solo album. He recently said, "I love meeting beautiful women - I can't help it and I'm a very sexual person."

Spicing Up the Court

EMMA BUNTON and Geri Halliwell are both set to appear in the witness box this week after the Spice Girls began a sensational court battle against a legendary Italian motorbike and scooter firm.

Baby Spice Emma is expected to head to the High Court today, with Geri following close behind her, to give evidence over a sponsorship deal which went wrong.

The Spice Girls are being sued for £1.4 million by bike firm Aprilia over the deal which turned sour after Geri left the group in May 1998.

Aprilia made the claim following a £212,500 suit launched against the company by the Spice Girls.

During the hearing, Geri is expected to be asked some explosive questions about her decision to quit the charttopping girl band.

Aprilia were the official sponsors of the Spice Girls' 1998 Spiceworld Tour of Europe and the States.

Opening the case in the High Court yesterday, the firm's counsel Andrew Sutcliffe said part of the deal was for the company to produce a 50cc "Spice-sonic" scooter with pictures of all five original group members on it.

But after signing the sponsorship deal and handing over £300,000 Aprilia found out that Geri was quitting to go solo, Mr Sutcliffe said.

The company still went ahead with the tour sponsorship but, disappointed at being kept in the dark, it withheld some of the cash.

As a result, the girls' own company, Spice Girls Ltd, sued Aprilia for the £212,500 they claimed was still owing.

Aprilia decided to launch its own action after Geri's biography, If Only, was published last October.

In her book, Geri said Mel G, Mel C, Emma and Victoria all knew that she would be leaving the group before the sponsorship deal was signed, Mr Sutcliffe told the court.

Aprilia viewed the conduct of the girls as breach of contract and launched their own counter-claim for £350,000 in wasted costs, plus £1.1 million in lost profits on the scooters.

Mr Sutcliffe said the company "regretted" that the case had ended up in court.

But he added that Aprilia's suggestion for discussions to settle the row had been "rejected out of hand," by the Spice Girls' representatives.

The court hearing continues today and is expected to last up to eight days.

Wanna Start Something?

The break in good relations between members of the original five Spice Girls is getting more bizarre by the day! News has reached us that Mel B is extremely cross with Mel C for the heinous crime of chatting backstage with former Spice mate Geri Halliwell! The background to all this pop star petulance is that Mel B has vehemently refused to take to the stage to recieve her Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution To British Music as part of the fab five. Geri has been invited out of recognition for her guiding role in the Spice phenomenon, which has put Mel's nose out of joint. The pair are rumoured to have not spoken at all since Geri left the band in 1998. Mel C bumped into Geri at a charity concert in Manchester last week and the pair opted to bury the hatchet, rather than stand about and pout all night. This new alliance has clearly irked Mel B even more, and she has apparently had a couple of heated discussions with Mel C about Geri. Whatever happened to "Friendship lasts forever", girls?

No Problems Here

Emma Bunton has denied press rumours of furious infighting amongst the Spice Girls. The gossip was that Scary had fallen out with Sporty after she made up with Geri at a charity event in Manchester recently. And questions are still being asked as to whether Geri will join the rest of the girls on stage next month to receive the 'Lifetime Achievement' award at the Brits. Radio 1 spoke to Emma on Monday night and she said she wasn't ruling it out: "I don't know what's happening there at the moment. Everyone makes up stories all the time, it's ridiculous, we're best friends, you know, we're always together and that is total rubbish," she told Radio 1.

Victoria Goes to A Charity Screening

Posh Spice Victoria Beckham showed off new blonde highlights tonight as she and soccer star husband David attended a charity screening in London.

The pair - both dressed top to toe in matching brown - were at an event which reunited stars of cult classic movie Withnail and I.

Tanned Victoria wore a strapless bustier and trousers topped off with her new hairdo featuring burgundy streaks on top and touches of blonde in the fringe.

David was wrapped up in full-length brown leather coat beneath which matching trousers and shoes were just visible.

The event was organised by the film's star Richard E Grant to raise funds for an African school he himself attended, enabling gifted children to be taught.

"He's a really good friend. We got to know him when he worked on our film," Victoria said of Grant.

Also at the event in the Odeon West End in London's Leicester Square was Baby Spice Emma Bunton who said she too had come to support Grant.

"He's really sweet and he's just a lovely man," she said.

The singer added that she was in the dark about whether former band mate Geri Halliwell would pick up an honorary award with them at next months Brits ceremony.

"I don't know what happens there at the moment, she said.

Withnail and I tells a tale of two out-of-work actors and their squalid existence in a London bedsit.

When first released the low-budget flick was not even given a premier, but it has gone on to become a student favourite.

Grant said tonight: "It's the first time that the cast has all been together in one place. It's a premiere like I've never seen before - because it did not happen 14 years ago when the film was released."

Celebrities attending tonight's event proved to be fans of one of the movies most enduring scenes - the rolling of a huge joint known as a "Camberwell Carrott". Both fashion designer Stella McCartney and Neil Hannon of pop act The Divine Comedy agreed it was a highlight.

Another guest Paul Merton said he remembered little of the film from the first time he saw it.

"I can't remember any of it because I was stoned when I saw it," said the Have I Got News for You funny man.

"But it was a long time ago and it's strictly an illegal practice I should point out."

Also at the cinema were Chris Evans and Lulu, as well as stars of the film Paul McGann and Richard Griffiths.

Guests helped to raise cash with an auction of memorabilia from the film after the screening.

Awards Frenzy

The Spice Girls look set to make the Brit Awards night interesting - they' re to get the 'Lifetime Achievement award', even though they've only been together a handful of years. Past winners have included Fleetwood Mac and The Bee Gees, but the big question is will Geri rejoin the rest of the girls to pick up the gong?

There may also be cause for some friendly rivalry - Mel C's up against Geri in the 'Best Female' category. Also in the running are Beth Orton, Beverly Knight and this week's No.1, Gabrielle. Mel could win an award for the most over the top reaction to the nomination - safe to say she's delighted: "I can't believe it, it's so fantastic. It's tough, tough competition, you know. I think that's a very tough section. There's some great female artists there," she told Radio 1.

And what does Mel think to being up against Geri?:" Good luck to her. She's been very successful with the album, you know, so obviously people like her stuff, so good luck to her," she said. "It's nice to see two Spice Girls there. We should be proud of ourselves, and I'm proud to be in there with that lot."

Mel and Ronan Keating To Duet

Boyzone frontman Ronan Keating and Spice Girl Mel C are set to record a single together.

The pair want to team up in the future - if they can find the time.

Ronan says, "I'd love it. It's always interesting working with other people and you learn so much. I really admire Mel for what she's doing. "To go from the biggest band in the world to a solo career is not an easy thing to do." "Somewhere down the road we might get the time to do something, to maybe record a single." Mel C says,"I've got a lot of respect for Ronan.

He's so young and he's done so much.

I think he's fantastic - he even manages Westlife."

Victoria, Sick of Gucci?

Victoria has ordered her wardrobe assistants to stop buying her Gucci garments - because she's sick of getting ripped off.

The Goodbye singer who inspired last year's British fashion craze - the Gucci biker jacket - has fallen out of love with her once- prized designer gear.

A source says, "She didn't want to continue being the one wearing Gucci the whole time, she realised she could do it a bit cheaper." Now Victoria wants her personal shopper, Brenda Gowen, a wholesale clothes stockist, to hunt down stylish bargain buys.

All the Stp singer's recent purchases have been from up-and- coming British dressmaker Alexander Campbell, who has a boutique in London's Covent Garden.

Belinda Carter from the boutique says, "Alex is a very brave designer, his clothes are only for gutsy people and Victoria isn't shy." Campbell's most costly item is a $312 (£195) leather jacket - a snip compared to the price of Gucci clothing.

Emma the Judge

In a TV studio in North London a panel of "experts" is discussing which five promotional videos, out of the hundreds that were made last year, are to go forward as the nominations for the Best British Video category of the Brit Awards.

"Ooh, I don't think my Mum would like that," says Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton, explaining her dislike of Aphex Twin's Windowlicker, an obscure video whose sexually ambiguous, art-house pretensions have clearly impressed some of the other members of the panel.

Tim Booth, singer with James, gives even shorter shrift to Simply Red's Ain't That a Lot of Love. "Hate the song, hate Mick Hucknall," he says tartly, before regaling his fellow judges with an anecdote about an ill-tempered dispute he once had with Simply Red's manager.

The veteran video director Tim Pope offers a more informed critique of a Chemical Brothers video ("brilliantly choreographed and executed, very dark") while the TV presenter Jamie Theakston initiates some intriguing discussions on the function of the promotional video (advert or art?) and the precise criteria by which it should be judged. But any attempt at critical rigour flies out of the window when Geri Halliwell's Look At Me comes up for consideration.

"I couldn't watch it," Emma says. "She tried to break up a great group and I just couldn't sit through this." Some of the other judges praise its unusually striking imagery, but basically Geri's video is dead in the water.

It was Rob Dickins, chairman of the BPI (British Phonographic Industry), who suggested making a TV programme out of the judging process for the Best British Video award. Dickins says he got the idea after seeing Simon Frith, year after year, announcing the result of the Mercury Music Prize.

"He always comes out and says that, after much passionate debate, the winner is . . . and I wanted to make a programme that showed what actually went on when the judges were having that passionate debate," Dickins explains.

Doubtless, all the most entertaining and scurrilous exchanges that take place during the judging of the Best Video shortlist will have been carefully edited out of the programme which will eventually be shown on VH1 and MTV next Monday, the day that the Brit Award nominations are announced. But the exercise does raise some intriguing questions about the way in which arts awards are judged. How impartial are the judges? What makes them better arbiters than the people who vote with their purses and wallets? And what exactly are the criteria for deciding who takes home the trophies?

Having been one of the judges on the Mercury Music Prize and on the voting academy for the Brits, I can naturally vouch for the scrupulous standards of integrity that apply to those events. But behind all the lofty talk of rewarding artistic excellence, celebrating lifetime achievements and recognising popular appeal, the fact is that awards shows are sophisticated and highly effective marketing devices, and all sorts of pressures are brought to bear on the organisers to produce the "right" result.

The Brits are intended to sell British music around the world. It is essential that the programme is a bright, slick, showbiz-friendly affair and that the acts who win are a strong reflection of contemporary trends. The composition of the voting academy and the rules of eligibility for the artists are constantly being tweaked to reflect this need, no doubt prompted by memories of the dark days when a small cabal of industry insiders invariably voted for Kate Bush and Annie Lennox irrespective of anything they had or hadn't done in the preceding year.

The Mercury Prize is the most elitist of all the music awards, depending as it does on closed-door discussions of just nine or ten hand-picked professionals. But it is actually designed specifically to stimulate CD sales during summer. If the panel produced a shortlist comprised entirely of obscure critics' favourites, support at the big retail outlets would swiftly erode and the Prize would lose its way. While the panel is not told this in so many words, much depends on recruiting a mix of judges whose tastes and enthusiasms embrace all areas of music, including the populist.

All awards shows stick to the basic premise that you don't give prizes to artists who aren't going to show up on the day, unless they are American megastars or Paul Weller. Q magazine has made its annual awards lunch into one of the most eagerly awaited events on the industry calendar by carefully stage-managing the occasion to guarantee the maximum turnout of celebrities. Some of the awards are voted for by the readers, but the most prestigious accolades fall into such woolly categories as "Special Merit Award", "Inspiration Award" and "Classic Songwriter" and are "elected" by the in-house staff of the magazine. While stars such as Keith Richards or Phil Spector or Patti Smith are eminently worthy of receiving such awards, there will have been long and detailed negotiations to ensure they will actually attend the event before those honours are bestowed. Even Paul Weller showed up to collect his Q Classic Songwriter award in 1998.

Back at the meeting to discuss the nominations for Best British Video, things are getting sticky. We all agree that Robbie Williams's skating fantasy visualisation of She's the One is a masterful piece of work, but owing to some blatant tactical voting it is in danger of being ousted by the X-rated Aphex Twin offering.

Surely, a Brits without Robbie on board would be like a Big Mac without the bun. Maybe so, but on this occasion the eventual, surprise result may well mean that Emma's Mum is not going to like it.

Mel C and Geri Make Up

According to Virgin Net, Sporty Spice Mel C offered an olive branch to Geri Halliwell at Friday night's cancer fundraising concert, ending more than a year of bitterness between the ex-Spice Girls pals. The Spicy duo had a "girly chat" for 20 minutes before going on stage at the charity concert to do their own acts. They appeared on the same bill for the first time at a cancer fundraiser organised by Manchester radio Station Key 103. The girls' first meeting since Geri walked out on the band in 1998 had been billed as Spice Wars II - but peace- making Mel was determined the reunion wouldn't end in tears. So she broke the ice by approaching Geri, and they sat and chatted about boyfriends and what they'd been up to. Mel C explained: "Everyone thought there was going to be a cat fight, but there never was because there was never any animosity between us. We have spoken and we are still friends." She added: "We were very close before and there is no change. We didn't talk about work at all - we talked about boys and things."