Spice Spiked

The Spice Girls, kicking off their first concert tour in two years, have been voted Britain's worst group of 1999, according to a poll of pop fans.

The feisty quartet, who preach Girl Power and fill the gossip columns of British tabloids with their love lives and antics, won the dubious award from the readers of Smash Hits magazine.

Two years ago, the all-girl band was voted Britain's best pop group by the same magazine and sold millions of albums worldwide.

But fickle fans have now turned on them - even if the weekend launch of their latest concert tour was packed with screaming girls who see them as role models.

But the Smash Hits readers added insult to injury in the weekend poll when they singled out one Spice Girl for particular scorn -- Mel C was voted Worst Female Singer, Worst Single, Worst Video, Most Tragic Haircut and Worst Dressed Person.

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