Grrr. கேள்விப்பட்டேன் இந்த விஷயத்தை, என்ன சொல்றதுன்னே தெரியலை நல்லாயிருந்தா சரிதான். இந்த உலக சுற்றுப்பயணத்தில் இந்தியா இருக்குமா தெரியலை. ஸ்பைஸ் கேர்ள்ஸ்-ன் Good Bye ஆல்பத்தில் இருந்து ஒரு சாங் இணைத்திருக்கிறேன்.

The long-threatened Spice Girls' reunion will be confirmed next week, with a world tour predicted to gross £100 million ($235 million).

Victoria Beckham, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown, whose brand of "girl power" shifted 55 million records, have set aside their differences for a lucrative "farewell" tour.

A decade after their peak, the individual Spices have suffered mixed fortunes. Posh is about to launch into Hollywood society with husband David Beckham, while Mel B is locked in a paternity battle with film star Eddie Murphy.

Simon Fuller, the band's original manager, was behind the comeback, securing a deal that will earn each member £10 million.

Five separate private jets for long-haul flights will be available if tensions resurface. But Mr Fuller said reports that he had told the women not to become pregnant in the coming year were untrue.

The reunion will be confirmed at the O2, formerly the Dome, on Thursday, with a press conference to be beamed around the globe.

The original five Spice Girls have not performed together since 1998.

The tour is expected to begin in London around Christmas. It will alsoinvolve stadium concerts in the Middle East and Far East.

On top of ticket sales, £50 million will be sought through sponsorship deals, DVDs, mobile phone clips, downloads and television rights.

The "tweenies" who snapped up each piece of Spice merchandise during the group's mid-90s heyday now have considerable spending power.

There will even be some new music from the last British group to dominate the US charts - they sold 11million records there and had a box office hit with their Spiceworld film.

The band members have visited London recording studios this week to add vocals to two new songs, which will be included on a new greatest-hits album, along with chart-toppers such as Wannabe and Say You'll Be There.

Mr Fuller, the man behind the top-rated American Idol, is expected to cross-promote the group in the program and create a behind-the-scenes television special around the tour.

The band was formed after a 1994 advertisement in magazine The Stage asked "R U 18-23 with the ability to sing/dance? R U streetwise, ambitious, outgoing and determined?"

They sold 18 million singles - thelast artists to capitalise on the classic three-minute form before the slump in CD sales - and had nine British No1s.

- From The Times in London