Island Life Magazine Ltd June/July 2012 | Page 155

ENTERTAINMENT

Melanie C:
'Let's all have
a great Festival!'
Exclusive by Peter White
Former Spice Girl turned solo
recording star Melanie C admits
she can hardly wait to be back at
this year’s IW Festival.
Melanie made her Festival debut
in 2007. Now she returns for this
year’s spectacle, which takes place
from June 21 to 24, and she will
be performing on the Garden
Stage.
Melanie said: “I am so excited.
The Isle of Wight is my favourite
Festival, and it is a lovely Island.
When I was last at the Festival it
was one of my favourite ever gigs,
the crowd were fantastic and of
course the weather was fabulous.”
Melanie is delighted to be part
of this year’s multi star-studded
line-up that also includes Bruce
Springsteen, Tom Petty, Pearl
Jam, Elbow and Noel Gallagher’s
High Flying Birds. She said:
“John Giddings (promoter)
always gets a really interesting,
eclectic mix of artists, and this
year is no different. There is always
a great atmosphere and the whole
Festival feels so welcoming and
family-friendly.”
So much so in fact that Melanie will
be bringing along her three-year-old
daughter Scarlet to join in the fun. She
said: “We will be coming down on the
Saturday because my little girl wants
to see Jessie J – her favourite singer,
mum's only her second favourite!
Then after I have done my gig, I am
planning to stay down on the Sunday
night just to enjoy the atmosphere. So

let’s all have a great Festival!”
Although a member of the Spice
Girls from 1994 to 1998, and again in
2007 and 2008, Melanie revealed that
she rarely performs any numbers from
those days, but picks songs from the
five solo albums she has released.
She explained: “That gives me plenty
of material to draw from, and I have
had a lot of success throughout Europe
as a solo artist. It is difficult to fit it all
in, but hopefully there will be lots that
everyone knows, including ‘I Turn To
You’ and ‘Never Be The Same Again’,
which are my two biggest British hits

to date.”
Reflecting on her days as a Spice
Girl, Melanie smiled: “Sometimes it
feels as if it was someone else’s life, and
other times it feels like only yesterday.
It is only when you start talking about
it that all the good memories come
flooding back. We always look back
romantically, don’t we?
“I was a bit reluctant to take part
in the Spice Girls’ reunion in 2007,
because so much time had passed since
we formed, and I was happy just being
a solo artist. But I am so pleased I did
it, because it was so much fun.”
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