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Pick at the pops: 11 February 2008

Our weekly round-up of the weird and wonderful world of pop music...

So in the end the dream couldn’t last. The Spice Girls were just too beautiful for this world. Did the tour end in acrimony? No, according to Mel C, there were just too many commitments: “We’re very sorry we’ve not been able to get to other places that we really, really wanted to.” Did it end in confusion? Yes, Geri adds: “The tour’s gone actually longer than we anticipated.” Surely someone showed them a schedule? Otherwise it would only amount to some sort of record label-driven marketing junket. Hang on, this just in – it did end in acrimony. Reports suggest that Victoria spent half the time muttering under her breath about Geri not having a man, and Geri would flip out and end up looking bad. Goodbye, Spices. Classy to the finish.

Speaking of sophisticated ladies, Dame Natasha Bedingfield has been hastily covering up her cancelled UK tour with a few pleasantries about the British music scene: “When I was in England last year [N.B. is of course huge in the States right now, darlings] it was all about girls with cockney accents – Lily Allen and Kate Nash… I’ll be happy when normal voices come back.” We’ll give you a bell, Nat.

Amy Winehouse continues to enhance the international reputation of English roses, last week flirting with US customs for a visa that came too late for the Grammys. In the end, she marked her glorious night in absentia with a performance via satellite feed which raised intriguing possibilities for future last-minute no-shows. Could this be the way forward for cancelled Winehouse gigs, as she transmits live to her fans from the loos at the Dog and Duck while she “recovers from exhaustion”?

The record industry is nothing if not prepared for what lies around the corner. Indeed, US r’n’b overlord Timbaland announced last week that he would be releasing a mobile phone-only album. But what’s new? Anyone who has travelled on a bus since Timbaland’s Shock Value was released thought he’d done it already.

Matthew Horton

• 04/02/2008: Winehouse and Spears - will the madness end? >>
• 28/01/2008: Oh no! Simply Red and UB40 have split up! >>
• 21/01/2008: Annie Lennox and The Verve won't pave streets >>
• 14/01/2008: Robbie and Coldplay turn on EMI >>
• 07/01/2008: Out with the old, in with the new >>
• 2007 archive >>
• 2006 archive >>