Sometimes when groups reform, they realise that there's still a camaraderie and shared joy of performing despite all the years apart – and other times they just keep crying and ordering slaves to carry a glass of champagne for them all day.
Guess which one of these categories the Spice Girls fall into. Go on, guess. It's been reported that the video shoot for the Spice Girls' big comeback single Headlines (Friendships Never End) was a near-disaster, with the group all angering each other by crying, moaning, champagne-slave ordering or bizarre meditation for the duration of the shoot. At this rate we're furious that we didn't pick up any Spice Girls reunion concert tickets when we had the chance, because it's starting to look like we'll miss out on the inevitable five-way, eye-gouging, hair extension-yanking catfight that'll happen 15 seconds into Viva Forever in their first show. And, trust us, we take any missed opportunities to see Geri Halliwell getting punched in the face very seriously.
Even though you probably can't hum any more than a couple of their songs, there was a while when the Spice Girls were one of the biggest acts on the planet. So why has it taken so long for the Spice Girls to reunite? It can't be because they wanted to concentrate on their solo careers – all of the Spice Girls have seen declining album sales and have resorted to ever-more desperate offshoots like dancing or children's books or pig-chasing or getting knocked up by Norbit – which only really leaves they option that all of the Spice Girls hate each other.
That's just speculation of course, but it goes some way to explaining why the Spice Girls reunion plans kept falling through. But even though they're doing a rather good impression of a group constantly on the brink of ego-led implosion, the Spice Girls know that they'll be cashing in bigstyle from the reunion, with concert revenues, supermarket adverts, exclusively-designed sofas, CDs sold in bra shops and all kinds of other sponsorship deals promising to earn them more money than they could ever have dreamed of. And all they need to do is smile sweetly and not let Geri Halliwell's demands for a solo set tear them apart again.
But, judging by reports from the video shoot for the Spice Girls' comeback single Headlines (Friendship Lasts Forever), that's going to be harder than it looks. RTE reports:
The reformed five-piece were shooting their first video together in seven years at Pinewood Studios for their new single 'Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)'. But it has been claimed that Emma Bunton cried over the late running of the scenes, Melanie Brown complained about jet lag and Geri Halliwell held up filming by meditating. Meanwhile Victoria Beckham allegedly demanded that an assistant constantly give her fruit and champagne and even Mel C was reportedly finding the shoot difficult and wanted to go home as soon as she could. A source told The Sun: "Things were very delayed. The director was tearing his hair out and threatened to walk.
OK, maybe we'll admit there's a chance that the Spice Girls' video shoot went awry for a reason other than all of the Spice Girls hating each other. Maybe all the tears were down to nerves or pressure, or even because the universal truth of the lyrics to Headlines (Friendships Never End) simply reduced them all to tears. And who can blame them – all of the Spice Girls have been negatively affected by headlines in the recent past. All except Mel C, of course – whose happy six months of selling the Evening Standard outside Charing Cross station last year effectively means she's profited from them.
Read more:
Spice Girls At War On Video Shoot? – RTE
