People: Do we really, really want this?
It’s official: the Spice Girls are back together.
Members of the original Girl Power group of the 1990s announced Thursday that they’ve agreed to reunite for 11 concerts around the world in December and January.
The shows will be their first concerts since breaking up in 2001, and the first with all five of the original group since Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career in 1998.
“Imagine you got divorced and you’ve got back together with your ex-husband,” she said.
“She just appreciates the fact we’ve let her back in,” joked Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham.
There also will be a greatest hits album and the group’s first official TV documentary.
“It’s going to be the most honest story that you’ve ever heard,” Halliwell said. “You get to see the dark side of the Spice Girls, the gritty side, the tears.”
Their first single, “Wannabe” (with its “I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want” chorus), was released in 1996 and topped charts in 31 countries.
They went on to sell more than 55 million records, but their last album, 2000’s “Forever,” fared poorly.
Well, imagine that
Elsewhere in the world of musical reunions, half-brothers Julian and Sean Lennon have begun speaking to each other again.
Their reconciliation follows an eight-year feud over comments Julian made about Sean’s mother, Yoko Ono. Julian is the son of the late John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia.
Order of the phonics
Japan rolled out the red carpet Thursday for the world premiere of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”
Hundreds of young fans, many wearing witch costumes and holding magic wands, screamed when star Daniel Radcliffe appeared.
“Japanese fans are the best!” he replied in simple Japanese.
Living history
“Die Hard” hero John McClane’s dirty undershirt is moving in with the rest of America’s favorite movie memorabilia.
Bruce Willis, who plays the fictional McClane, gave the Smithsonian Institution the sleeveless shirt and other items from the latest film, “Live Free or Die Hard.”
They will be displayed alongside Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” and Rocky Balboa’s boxing gloves.
Full-Borat ahead
Michael Moore says Sasha Baron Cohen – aka Borat – helped him muster the nerve to sail into mined Guantanamo Bay for his new health-care documentary, “Sicko.”
Cohen told Moore he had drawn inspiration for his film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” – in which he wrestles naked with his portly producer, among other bold stunts – from Moore’s no-holds-barred films.
“If he says I was an inspiration for those things, I now have to up the ante for him,” says Moore.
The birthday bunch
Actor Gary Busey is 63. Comedian Richard Lewis is 60. Actress Maria Conchita Alonso is 50. Actress Sharon Lawrence is 46. Actress Amanda Donohoe is 45. Singer Nicole Scherzinger (Pussycat Dolls) is 29.