Melanie C spiced up everyone’s life as the British pop singer helped ring in 2026 Down Under with a Spice Girls medley.
Australia is, of course, one of the first countries to welcome the New Year. And Sydney typically plays the role as global party starter with an all-star concert, the countdown and a striking fireworks display.
For such a grand occasion, Melanie C (aka Sporty Spice) had a solid gameplan. “I thought it would be very rude of me to come all this way and not sing a Spice Girls song,” she told the crowd gathered for the ABC New Year’s Eve 2025 Concert at the Sydney Opera House.
She didn’t disappoint, hitting a nine-minute-long showcase of “2 Become 1,” “You’ll Be There,” “Spice Up Your Life,” and “Who Do You Think You Are?,” with a full backing band. Watch below.
The Spice Girls — Posh, Scary, Sporty, Baby and Ginger — formed in 1994, and had a global phenomenon two years later with their debut single, 1996’s “Wannabe.” The catchy track notched four weeks at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1997, and is one of the group’s nine U.K. No. 1 singles. Their debut album Spice reigned over the Billboard 200 (for five weeks) and Official U.K. Albums Chart (15 weeks), and followup Spiceworld led by U.K. list for three weeks in 1997.
The group went on hiatus in 2000, returning in 2007 for a global tour and again in 2018-2019, though without Victoria Beckham (aka Posh).
The fivesome reunited briefly in April 2024 at Beckham’s 50th birthday party at the swanky London private club Oswald’s, where they sang an impromptu mini-set of “Stop” and “Mama”. Prior to that, the last time all five members performed together was at the London 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.
Melanie C has actually settled into life in the great southern land. She served as a coach on The Voice Australia in 2025 and she is regularly spotted out and about with her boyfriend Chris Dingwall, a Sydney model.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, more than 4.6 million Aussies tuned into the NYE special, which also featured performances by Matt Corby, The Cat Empire, Peach PRC, Marcia Hines, Casey Donovan, Don West, Jem Cassar-Daley, Ayesha Madon and others.
