However, we oh-so-much older and positively wiser college students know that Ms. Montana is more passing tumbleweed (read: shrub or scrub) than pop star revelation. After all, we've seen this type of infatuation before. Remember the dominant pop figures of our youth, the Spice Girls? Of course you do.
Spice Girls fans have recently been given one more chance to see the pop icons live on stage. The Spice Girls are currently on a global reunion tour. But the group recently announced widespread cancellations outside North American and Europe, leaving fans seething.
"The management has been atrocious," said Luke Jozwiak, webmaster and creator of the unofficial Spice Girls fan site, spicenews.com. "They have blatantly lied to fans."
Although the tour originally had an international focus with shows in China, Argentina, and South Africa among others, the Spice Girls kept adding more lucrative shows in Europe and North America. London, originally scheduled for one show, held 17 performances.
The Spice Girls' rise and fall has been a roller coaster for many fans. The late '90s music scene was a melange of flavors brewed into an audible stew -- in which "Wannabe" was an essential ingredient. The Spice Girls dominated the pop charts. But by the waning years of the 20th century they had simmered into the background of the sonic milieu. They were ridiculed by critics for their film "Spiceworld: The Movie" (1997). Ultimately, they disappointed.
Jozwiak said that over the Spice semi-decade he underwent a transition from fanatic fan to a regular, albeit Spice Girls"knowledgeable guy.
"I got involved with Spice news and carried the site," Jozwiak said. "But in 2001 they were finished."
The end was abrupt. Subsequent solo acts left most fans disappointed. Then, in the summer of 2007, the Spice Girls announced that they would embark on an international reunion tour.
According to BBC News, Geri Halliwell, also known as Ginger Spice, said the tour was about "the past, enjoying each other, and it's about our fans."
Many fans saw the tour as a chance to find closure they never had. Jozwiak had initial misgivings about the reunion tour, but came to see it as a chance for fans to say goodbye.
"They never technically broke up," Jozwiak said. "A lot of people wouldn't believe it."
Jozwiak's website has seen a marked increase in hits since the reunion's announcement. During the Spice Girls' heyday the site got 3,000 hits per day. Last year, the number had dropped to 300 per month. Now it's back up to top numbers.
The tour has been well received by fans and critics alike. The New York Times described the group during a performance earlier this month as "absolute pros, ready to live up to the improving aspects of nostalgia."
The troubling pattern of cacncelling and rescheduling tour dates is even more disconcerting given the lengths to which fans go to see the Spice Girls. Some even make plans to travel to neighboring countries for a performance.
"Some people shape their lives around it," Jozwiak said.
Tour dates outside Europe and North America continued to be pushed back. Then, earlier this month, Posh Spice let it slip that the tour would end in February. This cut out the all the non-North American shows. A few days later Scary Spice confirmed the worst: the international dates would be cancelled.
Many fans saw it as a betrayal. While, according to the official press release, a mix of personal commitments and "the phenomenal demand for tickets in the UK and the US along with the touring logistics for such a massive production" necessitated the cancelation, it appeared that the Spice Girls were more than willing to abandon certain fans in favor of cash-cow Western performances.
At the same time, many others, particularly in the United States and Canada, retain their passion and are willing to turn a blind eye to the cancellations. The crowds will surely be undaunted at the remaining shows in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Hartford, Montreal, and Toronto.
In fact, until recently, I was planning to see the Spice Girls tonight in New York City. I even had an elaborate plan to induce jaundice and then implore the Spice Girls to admit me to the group as a sixth member: Saffron spice. Exotic and classy.
While I wish I were not going due to a stand of solidarity with Argentina, I do not pretend to be nor with to be associated with either Evita or Madonna. Rather, I have been saturated with work and decided not to miss two days of school (thanks, Professor). Lame.
