ENTERTAINMENT DAILY: ENT1- MEL C MOSCOW

(19 Mar 2001) English/Nat STORY: MEL C IN RUSSIA LOCATION: MOSCOW DATE: 17th MARCH 2001 The huge hall built by Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev to house Communist Party meetings this weekend (17March2001) hosted a completely different kind of event, the solo concert of Spice Girl Mel C. On her first trip to Russia, Melanie Chisholm played in the grand Kremlin Congress Hall to a gathering that would never have been tolerated under Brezhnev. The concert was almost overshadowed by the continuing confusion over the fate of the Spice Girls. Earlier this month Mel C told the Reuters agency she was leaving the band. "Really I've not been comfortable being in the Spice Girls for probably the last two years. It doesn't really feel that natural to me anymore, " she said. Scary Spice Mel B and Posh Spice Victoria Beckham reacted by saying they would continue the band with Baby Spice Emma Bunton if Mel C was to leave. But at a Moscow press conference she seemed to have changed her mind. "As for the Spice Girls, nobody has left the Spice Girls, they are still together, we are all pursuing solo careers and that is all I am about to say on the subject." Her fellow Spice Girls have all released solo records, but Mel C has been the most successful solo artist to have emerged from the seminal girl band. Her 1999 solo debut "Northern Star" was hit everywhere but the USA and has sold around 2.5 million copies worldwide to date. But Mel's Russian fans didn't seem to care about the Spice Girls debate - they were just ecstatic to her in playing in their country. And after three hours waiting in the freezing Muscovite weather they had a few moments of bliss when Mel C walked out of MTV Russia's headquarters and greeted them with a smile. Mel will play a second concert in St Petersburg before heading home to Britain. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...