Like most 32-year-old women, I grew up a DIE HARD Spice Girls fan in the late '90s. I had the albums, the Impulse fragrance, a wardrobe full of ~looks~ and a Spice World sticker book that I am only missing three stickers from (feel free to get in contact with me if you have rare Spice Girls stickers lying around your house btw, I'd love to complete the book and finally be able to rest easy at night).
When I heard that we at SBS were airing the VERY ICONIC Spice Girls Live in Istanbul concert , it triggered a deep sense of nostalgia in me that sent me rifling through my belongings until I found this extremely '90s diary entry from the night it first aired on television.
Please enjoy this walk down memory lane and tune in Saturday 12 May at 9:30pm on SBS to relive the joy of watching it for yourself.
Dear Diary,
Today has been so totally groovy! Belinda and I went to the mall with our mums and they let us go shopping by ourselves while they had lunch! It was so much fun!
We went to Shoe Biz and tried on platform sneakers and I found the ones I’m going to ask for for my birthday. They’re black but with a white heel with a black bubble part in them and they’re so funky! They’re just like Emma’s, I love them! Then we went to the newsagent and looked at magazines. I bought Top of the Pops because they always have the best Spice Girls news. They gave them the nicknames Baby, Posh, Ginger, Scary and Sporty! Then we went to some clothes stores and tried on baby doll dresses and tencel jeans with button-up flies, they’re super soft! I hope I can get a new dress before the school disco but I’ll have to talk Mum into it.
Spice Girls Live in Istanbul is on tonight and we talked our mums into letting us have a sleepover, Belinda’s mum has taken her home to get her pyjamas and then we’re going to get Pizza Hut for dinner, yum!!
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I hope they sing “Love Thing” because that’s my favourite song, and I hope Emma doesn’t have her hair curled like it was in the “Who Do You Think You Are” video. Belinda and I wrote to them a few weeks ago when we heard a rumour that Geri was going to quit, and I told Emma that her hair looked better in pigtails. I hope she read it! They better not break up, what would I do without the Spice Girls in my life?! Dad says all bands break up except for some dumb old band called The Rolling Stones. He's wrong, though. Friendship never ends!
I think “Love Thing” should’ve been a single instead of “2 Become 1”. Belinda told me what it’s about, it’s about sex! Next time I’m at the library I’m going to read the Dolly Doctor section some more. Mum still won’t let me buy them which is so annoying. I have some hidden in my cupboard anyway, though!
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We’re going to learn all the dance moves and then at school on Monday I’ll practise them at recess with Jess, Renee, Tegan and Denelle. We’re starting our own girl group and we’re going to perform at assembly soon, isn’t that groovy?! I wish Belinda went to my school, too, but she’s a year older than me anyway so we probably wouldn’t hang out that much.
Belinda is going to bring all her latest magazines to my house tonight and then after the concert we’re going to go through them and swap posters. It’s so good that her favourite is Victoria and mine is Emma because I get all the best posters and she gets all the ones I don’t want! I’m making Dad tape it, too, so that I can watch it over and over again. I’m going to break that bit off the tape so that NO ONE can tape over it! I still can’t believe they taped over my Sabrina tape!! At least I still have my radio mix that I’ve been working on. Every night I listen to Ugly Phil’s Hot 30 and I just tape the songs I like. It has “Say You’ll Be There” on it five times and then also “What’s Love Got To Do With It” by Warren G and “I Want You” by Savage Garden. I really like those songs! I still can’t believe how often “Freak” by Silverchair made it to number one, I hate it!! I didn’t record that one at ALL, it’s so dumb.
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Anyway, Belinda will be here soon so I have to go! I think I’ll wear my Girl Power t-shirt with my pink pyjama pants tonight to watch the concert!
Love always,
Stephanie xoxo
Watch Spice Girls Live in Istanbul on Saturday 12 May at 9:30pm on SBS (You know Stephanie will be). It is also available on SBS On Demand. It's all part of our Very Big Eurovision week across SBS, culminating in the Grand Final on Sunday 13 May (5am / 7.30pm).
