Under the spotlight

It has been nine years coming, but some early reviews of the Spice Girls' world reunion tour that kicked off in Vancouver, Canada, on Sunday said it was worth the wait."The solid gold Spice Girls," said London's Evening Standard, a reference to golden outfits the "girl power" quintet sported during the show, one of several costume changes on the night.

The reviewer called the performance "ebullient pop music of a very high standard, presented with panache, and highly unlikely to provoke any attendance at the refund window." Despite the sassy young singers who stormed the pop world in the 1990s all now being in their 30s, four of them with children, they had yet to pass their sell-by date.

"There seems no diminution in the energy they are prepared to expend, or the lengths they will go to to please the audience." The Vancouver Sun noted the crush for Spice Girls merchandise, underlining the lasting appeal of Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, Melanie "Sporty" Chisholm, Geri "Ginger" Halliwell, Melanie "Scary" Brown and Emma "Baby" Bunton. "Just as it was 10 years ago, the show wasn't about great singing or dancing," wrote the reviewer. "But it was about great entertainment. And the girls delivered the spice."

Not everyone was convinced. London's free daily the Metro headlined its review: "Spice Girls: Embarrassing and Lackluster," although it conceded that more than 15,000 fans attending the sold-out gig seemed to enjoy the night nonetheless."While the hits were all received with enthusiasm, there were definite lulls in the performance," said the review.

"New single 'Headlines' was as lackluster live as recorded, and a Las Vegas-style cabaret sequence was as bewildering as it was embarrassing." It went on to describe the solo performances as "hit and miss," adding that Beckham, who has faced criticism of her vocal ability, uttered not a note during her spot in the limelight. The women took control of the group in 1994 and their debut single "Wannabe" was a global hit in 1996. But their success was short-lived, with Halliwell walking out in 1998 and the remaining members went their separate ways after releasing the album "Forever" in 2000. The Spice Girls have sold an estimated 55 million albums worldwide.

LOS ANGELES – Silver-screen sprite Julia Roberts is fed up with intrusive paparazzi, and she's letting them know it. The slightly built star who played Tinkerbell in "Hook" was videotaped Wednesday in Malibu wildly tailing two videographers, flagging them down and lecturing them for taping her near a school.

The footage, taken by freelance videographers for the celebrity news and photo agency Splash and broadcast by "Inside Edition," shows Roberts driving in a Mercedes SUV behind the men, honking and waving them to stop."I'm going to talk to you about the fact that you're at a school where children go. Turn it off," Roberts, 40, said in the footage, standing outside their car and pointing at the videographers after they pulled over.

While driving, the Oscar-winning star of "Erin Brockovich" crossed over a double yellow line, and did not have children in her car, Splash media sales representative Amy Wiwuga told The Associated Press on Friday. Wiwuga would not reveal the videographers' identities, citing the agency's policy on freelancers. Calls to Roberts' New York-based publicist Marcy Engleman were not immediately returned Friday.

Roberts has 2-year-old twins and an almost 6-month-old son with her husband, cinematographer Danny Moder. The TV show "Extra" reported that the incident occurred after Roberts was followed to her children's school. Roberts told the program that taking her picture is one thing, but a school is "not the place to wait to do it." Roberts was the second A-list celebrity in two weeks to be videotaped admonishing the paparazzi on the road.

A video clip posted on TMZ.com showed actor George Clooney riding his motorcycle November 16 in Los Angeles, then pulling off to the side of a street, telling photographers: "You can drive all you want, you can take my picture all you want, but what you cannot do is put people in danger."