Attack

Melanie Chisholm has launched a blistering attack on Cliff Richard's No1 hit Millennium Prayer.

She said, "It's a complete pile of shit. It's nothing new. It's put together very cheaply and it's ripping off the fans."

Melanie was talking exclusively to The Sun backstage at London's Earls Court just hours before the Spice Girls were due to perform on Saturday night.

She added: "If it was any good, I'd say 'Good on you, Cliff,' but it's not. It's terrible."

Melanie's attack came just 24 hours after George Michael branded Millennium Prayer "vile."

It seems not everyone shares their views. Sir Cliff's hit notched up its third week at #1 yesterday.

The girls, who are playing four Earls Court dates on their Ringside With The Spice Girls tour, also revealed their plans for the coming year.

Melanie Gulzar said, "We're going to finish our third album in the first few weeks of the new year, fingers crossed. When we tour next year we want to go to places we missed out on our last tour. I'd love to go to Japan and Australia."

Emma Bunton revealed, "I know we're still finishing our third album, but we want to do another one. We love doing our solo stuff but we want to carry on releasing material as the Spice Girls as well."

The girls are hoping for another colossal hit with the new album when it is released next year. Melanie C said, "It's going to be different from the other two. There are a lot more tracks from different styles. We've got dance stuff, R&B and ballads: a real mixture which we hope the fans will like. The Spice Girls have moved on and so has our sound. We've worked with a lot of top producers such as Rodney Jerkins, who has worked with Whitney Houston. We played some of our new material at the concerts in Manchester and were really nervous about how the fans would react to it, but it went down a storm and it was such a huge relief. We just can't wait to tour and play our new songs."

Hours later the girls performed their first Earls Court date in front of 20,000 screaming fans.

Despite having played to millions of fans all over the world, the girls admitted that they still suffer with jitters before gigs.

Melanie C said: "It doesn't matter how many times we go on stage, we still get nervous. We've still got our little superstitions. There is one thing we do all together, but I'm not going to say what it is."

Victoria Beckham was happy to reveal her and Melanie G's habit. She said, "We both wear odd socks. We did it on day one and have done it ever since."

Victoria laughed off rumors that she has had the name of hubby David's team, Man Utd, tattooed on her back. She said, "I don't know where the story came from but I haven't. It's a funny rumor, though."

Liverpool fan Melanie C piped up, "If it was, I'd kick you up the arse."

The only problem on the girls' horizon is what to buy their families for Christmas. Victoria has splashed out on matching cars for her brother and sister, while Melanie C has bought her mum a house.

Melanie C said, "It gets harder each year. We try to get presents which top the year before but it's really difficult."