Spice Girls delay Strictly performance - Dec 14 2007
The Spice Girls have pulled out of this weekend's Strictly Come Dancing after Emma Bunton sprained her ankle, but they are due to perform on the dance show a week later.

Baby Spice, 31, was injured following a tumble on stage at the Las Vegas leg of the band's tour.

The mother-of-one has told fans she is "sure" she will have recovered by Saturday night, the date for the first UK comeback gig.

A spokesman for the group has insisted the injury would not affect the band's 17 UK concerts at the O2 in London.

The Spice Girls were meant to have recorded their Strictly Come Dancing performance on Friday, for broadcast on the Sunday show.

They will now perform their classic single, 2 Become 1, on the final of the BBC One show a week later.

The group's own professional dancers will also take to the stage while the Spice Girls perform.

This weekend's performance would have marked a victory for Strictly Come Dancing, which has been going head-to-head on Saturday nights with Simon Cowell's ITV contest X Factor.

But X Factor will now have finished by the time Emma, Geri Halliwell, Mel B, Mel C and Victoria Beckham appear on Strictly Come Dancing.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The Spice Girls performance on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing - due for transmission on Sunday December 16 - has been postponed as Emma Bunton has sprained her ankle badly and will not be able to perform."

Spice Girls wow critics as tour kicks off - Dec 4 2007
Their comeback single may not have been the chart success they hoped for - but the launch of the Spice Girls’ world tour has wowed critics.

The five Spices opened their reunion show with hits Spice Up Your Life, Stop, and Say You’ll Be There.

The group, whose co-ordinating outfits were created by designer Roberto Cavalli, were backed by an eight-piece band and male dancers.

The reviewers agreed that the Vancouver gig showed Girl Power was "intact".

The Evening Standard wrote: "There seems no diminution in the energy they are prepared to expend, or the lengths they will go to please the audience."

Critic Pete Clark wrote: "Watching these five tiny figures belting it out over two hours, and giving every impression of having a high old time in the process, one has to conclude that this is ebullient pop music of a very high standard, presented with panache and highly unlikely to provoke any attendance at the refund window."

The Vancouver Sun wrote: "It appears the Spice Girls haven’t lost their kitschy cool pop idol appeal... Just as it was ten years ago, the show wasn’t about great singing or dancing.

"But it was about great entertainment. And the girls delivered the spice."

The Vancouver Metro wrote: "The Spice Girls launched their world tour with a nostalgia-coated shot of pure energy."

The Canada Globe and Mail wrote: "The Spice Girls returned to the stage with the first concert of their reunion tour in Vancouver ... wowing fans with a tightly-staged and choreographed show."

The return of the Spice Girls - Dec 3 2007
The Spice Girls kicked off their reunion world tour with a show-stopping performance in Vancouver.

More than 15,000 fans flocked to General Motors Place for the Return Of The Spice Girls Tour.

The Canadian gig saw Victoria, Emma, Mel B, Mel C and Geri take to the stage together for the first time in nine years.

Their last tour date as a five-piece was in Birmingham shortly before Geri Halliwell left the group in May 1998.