Why 100% Melanie C?

Oh, you want the long answer. Ah...

Think back to a dim and distant past, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and no-one had heard of the Spice Girls...
...actually, not quite that far back. Just as far back as November 1996, when the question on everyones lips was "who's your favourite Spice Girl?". Now, the thing is, most of the people asking this question weren't really fans of the Girls, but it was just the question you had to ask. So, when I'd answer "Melanie C", most people would go "Huh, who's that? Is that the posh one?" or some similar variation on the theme. Fact is, back then, Melanie wasn't the first Spice Girl you'd think of. She wasn't even the second or third... Fourth? Perhaps. But to most people, if they even remembered that she was in the group at all, she'd be the last Spice they'd mention.
So, slightly miffed by the lack of attention the world at large was giving her, and armed only with a handful of photos, a bit of information, and a couple of megs of webspace, I decided that no matter what the rest of the world thought about her, there'd be at least one part of it that was dedicated solely to her.

But that was then, this is now. Hardly anyone is now unaware of who the Spice Girls are, or how many of them there are (even though the Girls try to confuse us by changing the lineup :-). As the Girls have become less of a novelty item, and accepted as part and parcel of everyday life, those people who're still interested in them are starting to re-evaluate their choice of favourite. And in doing so, more and more people are realising that Melanie really is worth a second look. Partly this can be attributed to her gradual image changes, which have made some people think of her as something other than "Plain Spice". But mostly, I think it's because, as the Girls have been doing more and more live performances around the world, one thing has become quite clear. Melanie is the Spice Girl with real talent.

Anyway, why's and wherefore's aside, the fact is that, now, Melanie is quite capable of attracting all the attention she needs by herself, so there now has to be some other reason why this site not only continues to exist, but continues to grow and evolve...

You really want to know?

Sure?

OK then. It's really quite simple.

I love her.

I'm not sure exactly when I realised it, but it was somewhere inbetween the release of Wannabe and Say You'll Be There. And since then, through all the changes she's made to her image and appearance, and even knowing far more about her now than I did back then, I still feel the same way about her.

Why... Well, let's consider the obvious starting point, her appearance. Don't ask me why, because I can't explain it, but I've always had a thing for women with longish hair. And although the media would have us believe that men are only interested in blondes, the truth is that plenty of us much prefer dark hair. Furthermore, I'm particularly fond of long hair when it's done up into a ponytail... So, let's see. Long, dark hair, in a ponytail. Sound familiar to anyone? Thought so :-)

Then there's her eyes, which unlike some people's, really do seem to be windows into her soul. (Now where have I heard that before :-) Look into the eyes of some people, and all you see is iris, pupil, cornea... Look into Melanie's eyes, and you see Melanie. And if you can tear yourself away from her eyes and lower your gaze just a touch, there's that smile. I swear that in all my life, I've never known any other woman who's smile can make my heart miss a beat. But whenever Melanie smiles, my heart stops, my knees go weak, and I feel all at ease with the world. I suspect that if her smile was a drug, it wouldn't be one available at the local pharmacy :-)

And ignoring those narrow-minded people who think that, just because she doesn't have a body with more curves than the Sydney Opera House - or to put it in their own words "the body of an adolescent schoolboy" - she can't be attractive, the fact is that to some people, myself included, she is attractive. Beautiful. Gorgeous, even. It's in the eye of the beholder, and my eyes say she looks lovely...

Yeah, but there are stunningly good-looking women everywhere, I hear you say, what makes Melanie so special compared to them? Well, let's see... Getting the last of her physical attributes out of the way, there's her voice. Who can honestly say they didn't feel something when they heard her sing "boy who thinks he can..." in Too Much, or the closing lines from Viva Forever, especially in the live version, as her voice mixes with Mel B's to form the most beautiful of endings to any of their songs. And when she stops singing and starts talking, that lovely accent comes out to play. Someone else described it as "honey-soaked", and I can't do any better than that...

Then, finally, we get down to the biggie - personality. It doesn't matter what someone looks like on the outside, what makes someone truly beautiful and fanciable is what they're like on the inside. And although it's not easy to judge personality, Melanie gives enough away in how she acts for us to have a good try :-)
Take, for example, the Wannabe video. All of them were dancing away, sure, but which one of them looked like she was giving it everything? Having trouble? Here's a hint... it was Melanie! OK, so that wasn't so much a hint as a giveaway, but hey, I was feeling generous :-) Anyway, back to the plot... So, there's Melanie dancing away, giving it loads, whilst the others just seem to be going through the motions. It didn't take much thought to realise that she really was determined and dedicated - two personality traits that we now know for certain that she posesses.
So, using stuff like their videos, their TV appearances, and by reading what other people had to say about her, I started to build up an idea of what she was like. And that idea was really quite a pleasing one, because I got the impression that she was really just a down to earth, likeable young woman, who anyone would love to have as a close friend, or something closer, for the rest of their lives...

OK, this is all well and good, but it's all long-term stuff. Paying attention specifically to her in videos, following the media coverage of her, whatever, it's all stuff that you do after you get that initial spark of interest in someone. So what exactly was it about her that grabbed my attention and stopped this site from being called, say, 100% Geri?

Again, we go back to the Wannabe video. First time I've seen it, first time I've even heard of "Spice Girls", and I've got no idea what the song is going to be like. But hey, the video starts with five good looking young women running around, so I might as well watch it at least once, right ;-) And whilst the song might not be doing anything for me, I found myself really enjoying the video. Then the cute one with the ponytail decides to get up on a table and, quite casually, do a backflip...

Attention quite comprehensively grabbed.

And that's it. From such small beginnings, mighty empires may grow. Or in this case, one man's love for that young lady from Liverpool, Melanie Jayne Chisholm.