TORONTO - Sporty, Ginger, Scary, Baby and Posh announced their world reunion tour with much fanfare last year, but are ending it amid anger from Spice Girls fans who live in cities cut from the tour.
Protest songs, expletive-laced denunciations and even a CD burning -- filmed and posted online -- emerged when the campy quintet said earlier this month that they would forgo expected appearances in Australia, China, South Africa and Argentina.
Still, their final show Tuesday in Toronto promises to be a massive love-in, with dedicated fans blithely dismissive of rumoured strife among group members.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of glad they're finishing in Toronto because that way I get to see it," says 18-year-old fan Patrice Vandenbos, convinced the group is ending their brief comeback on a high note.
"People are always going to have them as a part of their childhood and that's a really important thing to a lot of people."
Nevertheless, the cancellations have not sat well with dedicated fans on the other side of the globe.
A homemade video posted on the file sharing website YouTube is entitled "Spice Girls CD burning in OZ" and features an assortment of Spice Girls CDs, DVDs, books and solo releases engulfed by flames.
"With this situation they not only lost thousands of fans but they also lost any credibility they had built with the reunion and they gained a lot of backlash from the media and fans," one of the more diplomatic posts says in response to the YouTube video.
"This video doesn't represent 'one crazy fan' but represents what thousands feel."
Celeb watcher Elaine Lui says she's baffled by the backlash, saying she never believed the later concert dates were solidly booked.
"I covered this quite extensively, it didn't ever sound to me like it was going to be this non-stop tour," says Lui, a Vancouver-based gossip columnist for ETalk and blogger for laineygossip.com.
"To me there was nothing really locked down on a lot of locations, there was just the hope."
Those who did get to see the group in the United States, Canada and Europe have largely embraced the over-the-top production, a two-hour cavalcade of lasers, shimmering costumes, male dancers and confetti.
At the Vancouver launch in December, fans turned up in replicas of Geri's famous Union Jack dress and sang along to a kitschy parade of hits that included "Wannabe," "Spice Up Your Life" and "Stop."
Officially, the Spices say they've had to cut the tour short because of family obligations. Posh, the mother of three boys, says it's time to get back to school, while Mel B, Emma and Geri each have babies.
Unofficially, gossips speculate about infighting, but Vandenbos doubts there's much truth to the rumours.
"They have like seven kids between five of them. They all have husbands ... and boyfriends and kids and the kids need to go back to school," she says.
Lui suggests a much simpler reason for the end: "They're bored."
"They've done all these shows, they've gotten to wear the outfits, now they just want to do other things," she says.
"Victoria's like, 'I'm missing the Oscars for this, I'm missing Elton John's party. It is not cool anymore. Katie Holmes is getting all these great outfits.' "
As for where they go from here, the individual fates for each of the Spices looks a lot like it did before the reunion, says Lui.
Despite efforts to promote her solo material with side concerts along the tour route, it's unlikely Melanie Chisholm has garnered much traction for her post-Sporty career, says Lui, adding that Emma Bunton, a.k.a. Baby, will likely fade from the spotlight.
On the other hand, Victoria Beckham, arguably the most high-profile member of the group, has walked away stronger than ever, she says, noting the rail-thin celeb defied critics who had hoped to see her flounder on stage.
Beckham, a.k.a. Posh, is the face of designer Marc Jacob's spring 2008 fashion line and is expected to focus on her denim and eyeware fashion company, DVb.
The popular Geri Halliwell, a.k.a Ginger, is poised for a solid solo comeback and possible fashion line herself, Lui predicts, while Melanie Brown, a.k.a Scary Spice, is set to work for the gossip show "Access Hollywood" as a correspondent focusing on the new season of "Dancing With the Stars."
Regardless of where they end up, the women are assured a healthy bank account when the tour comes to a close. Rumour has it they each made nearly $20 million from their 17-show run in London alone.
The last show will almost certainly feature the Spices' kids brought up on stage with their mums, just like in New York and London, says Lui, adding some reports suggest that famous fans Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are angling to attend the final farewell.
