Spice Girls Fans Snub Homecoming....

The Spice Girls touched down in England to a lukewarm reception from fans - after only half of 500 competition winners bothered to turn up to a special London event.The reformed fivesome - Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and an injured Emma Bunton - made the appearance to launch Virgin Atlantic's new terminal at Heathrow Airport on Thursday (13Dec07), but were only greeted by a small gathering of supporters.Around 500 fans who won a competition to see The Spice Girls at what was billed as a "secret location" were Heathrow-bound after meeting at a hotel in Hammersmith, but only 250 showed up at Terminal 3 to watch the girls alongside Virgin supremo Sir Richard Branson.Having flown from Los Angeles on the newly-christened Spice One Boeing 747 jet, the band further infuriated those in attendance by taking to the stage for only a brief chat - almost an hour after schedule.An event source says, "We'd been working on this event for eight weeks - ensuring the health and safety for the large crowds was all up to standard. We had expected at least 500 fans - that was the amount who won the chance to see the Spice Girls - but less than half came on the day. These are supposed to be the band's die-hard fan base - and we struggled to fill the small closed-off area at the airport. It was a bit embarrassing."You would think the Spice Girls' homecoming would whip up more excitement...but evidently not".On Monday (10Dec07), the band played to a half-capacity crowd in Las Vegas, despite claims the tour was "completely sold out".

Meanwhile in related news THE Spice Girls have installed a creche at the O2 arena in London, England, so their children can be cared for during their two-hour performances.The group, who have seven children between them ranging from seven months to eight years old, have requested the facility so their army of childminders can keep the children occupied for the 17 gigs which start on Saturday (15Dec07).

Other requests have included a daily supply of edamame soya beans for Victoria Beckham, scented candles, slippers and flowers for Emma Bunton, and light salads, fresh fruit and steamed fish for all.

An insider told London's Evening Standard, "They all want their babies close by and looked after, so their nannies also come with the package".

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