UK: SPICE GIRLS WAR AS GERI HALLIWELL AND EMMA BUNTON SINGLES RELEASED IN THE SAME WEEK FIGHT FOR THE NUMBER ONE SPOT

Record ID: 388818

  • Title: UK: SPICE GIRLS WAR AS GERI HALLIWELL AND EMMA BUNTON SINGLES RELEASED IN THE SAME WEEK FIGHT FOR THE NUMBER ONE SPOT
  • Date: 6th October 1999
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 1, 1999) (REUTERS TELEVISION ACCESS ALL) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) EXTERIOR SHOT OF HMV OXFORD STREET VARIOUS OF FANS WAITING FOR GERI
  • Embargoed: 21st October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAB5C475TAF96LGBS7FZ2KSMJ0O
  • Story Text: Two Spice Girls face off for the battle of the UK's top chart slot.Former Ginger Spice AKA Geri Halliwell and Baby Spice Emma Bunton have both released their new solo singles in the same week, but Halliwell got off to a head start in the play-off when she turned up in a London record store to sign copies of her latest single 'Lift Me Up'.
    The clash of the Spice Girls began when Geri Halliwell stepped onto a platform in her skintight sexy brown leathers to the cheers of her fans at a London record store on Monday (November 1).
    Halliwell, though, seemed unfazed by the simultaneous release of the two singles by herself and her former Spice colleague 'Baby'.Halliwell played the marketing move down, saying she was only here for her fans.
    Halliwell says: "No matter what anybody says the most important thing in the world to me is you guys.Because without you I wouldn't be here today.I am so thankful to you guys for what you've given me, I really am.Because you have the power to life me up.You're so good, thank you.That's why I wanted to see you guys today because I feel vulnerable every time a single comes out.I need reassurance from you guys that you still love me.And do you still love me?"
    And of course they did...
    Lift Me Up is Geri's third solo single and with her catsuit unzipped to reveal her cleavage, Halliwell was doing her utmost to raise her profile.
    Halliwell says:
    "Lift Me Up is about how you want to have someone reach inside your soul and connect with you.
    Lift you up and talk you down when you're up there and also, call me an old hippy, but I think we should love each other more.We keep on talking about the millennium is going to be this whole big change the only change that is going to be made is from you from within.And that's a cliché, I know, but it's true.(REPORTER SAYS: "SO YOUR FANS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU") "Oh completely.With this new single I don't expect anyone to buy me single just because they're a fan.They should love the song and get value for money.There's two 'B' sides on there 'Live and Let Die' (is one) hence the leather cat suit."
    Halliwell wasn't the only one to play down the chart battle, record companies for both Bunton and Halliwell said the dual release was a 'coincidence'.But coincidence or not, the move has guaranteed maximum exposure for the two girls as the media played to the hype, casting them both as rivals.
    Halliwell says: "Well my single was scheduled a long, long time ago, always planned that way, but I can't speak for Emma.But it was a great cover what she's done and I love the original and I wish her luck.(ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE COMPETITION?) You know what, I don't see it as competition.
    At the end of the day I'm on my own little journey, whatever the outcome I'm so grateful to be here.If I get in the top ten then it's fantastic."
    No doubt she will, because the fans were behind her every step of the way on Monday with chants of 'Geri' they made the record shop closer resemble a set for the Jerry Springer show.
    But despite the attention Halliwell has been receiving, Emma Bunton has been declared by English bookmakers as the four to six favourite to enter the charts at a higher position.
    The single, Bunton's first solo effort, is a cover version of Edie Brickell's hit: 'What I Am'.Bunton has promoted her new record in a more sedate fashion, limiting herself to a brief appearance on stage with her collaborators, the trendy producers Tin Tin Out.
    The competition has been hotting up between the Spice Girls and solo Geri since Halliwell resigned from the Spice Girls last year in a miasma of rumours.
    Halliwell's post Spice career was launched earlier this year amid a multi million pound marketing campaign that spanned five continents.But despite the publicity, her solo debut has not been as successful as she might have hoped.Her album Schizophonic dropped out of the charts soon after its release, and although her first single 'Look At Me' made it to Number two in the UK charts it stayed in the top ten only briefly.Her second single fared better getting to Number one.
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