Publication: Digital Spy (website) Name: Richard Stuart- urner Date: !" #ebruary !

$%&

Catchline: Review

Music Review: The Big Reunion 2014 live at London's Hammersmith A ollo

he stars o' ( )!*s !$%& series o' The Big Reunion too+ to the stage at the ,ammersmith -pollo last night and all si. groups gave impressive per'ormances/ -'ter last year*s run o' the show included 'ormer pop heavyweights 0lue1 #ive1 -tomic 2itten and 034itched1 the li+es o' " and 5irl hing in this year*s line-up initially seemed rather underwhelming/

he big draw this year was the return o' girl group 6ternal/ he 72*s most success'ul all-'emale band o' the %88$s1 until the Spice 5irls came along1 6ternal had a long string o' hit singles and two million-selling albums/ -'ter a bitter split in the late 8$s1 a reunion loo+ed unli+ely/ 0ut it happened (minus 9ouise Red+napp1 who le't the band in %88:) and the trio stole the show/ 9ead singer 6asther 0ennett*s power'ul voice hasn*t dimmed over the years and she was by 'ar the strongest singer o' the night1 with a set o' lungs to rival any o' the big -merican divas/

Girl group Eternal gave vocally impressive performances

hey delivered the overall best-received per'ormance o' the night with their classic %88; 72 No/% single I Wanna Be The Only One/ he group were <oined on stage by gospel singer 0e0e 4inans1 who provided the original male vocal on the trac+1 and the result was an incredibly upli'ting1 vocally 'lawless spectacle/ 6ternal proved that they could still be relevant to today*s music industry/

6nglish-Norwegian band -% +ic+ed o'' the show with an energetic per'ormance o' their --,a cover Take On Me/ he male trio choreographed some impressive dance routines that brought their per'ormances to li'e/

he enthusiastic audience was mostly made up o' people in their !$s and "$s who*d grown up with the bands/ here were also a number o' celebrities watching including comedian 2eith 9emon1 Spice 5irl 6mma 0unton1 presenter )anessa #elt= and many o' the acts that too+ part in last year*s series/

Despite never achieving the huge success e.pected o' them by manager Simon Cowell1 5irl hing*s 'our per'ormances were 'un1 lively and colour'ul and they seemed genuinely appreciative to be given a second chance/

R>0 ?uartet Damage were vocally strong and gave 'our credible well-received per'ormances/ " 1 a trio o' brothers who are more 'amously +nown as @ichael Aac+son*s nephews1 paid tribute to their 'amous uncle at numerous points during the evening1 which resulted in a very warm reception 'rom the audience/

:th Story1 the supergroup o' 'ormer pop stars created especially 'or the show1 seemed relatively slic+ and cohesive/ Dane 0owers1 -dam Ric+itt1 2en=ie and 2avana had good chemistry together but 5areth 5ates loo+ed slightly aw+ward at times/ ,owever1 the Pop Idol runner-up came into his own

'or the show*s 'inale where he led the group*s per'ormance o' pirit In The ky/ -ll o' the other acts <oined :th Story on stage at the end 'or a 'inal ensemble per'ormance o' the song/

The evening ended !ith all si" acts performing together on stage

Perhaps not ?uite the hit pac+ed e.travagan=a o' The Big Reunion #$%&1 this year*s show was nevertheless a highly entertaining combination o' nostalgia1 pyrotechnics1 lasers and con'etti/ he concert will be broadcast on ( )! on !; @arch/

6nds

4ord count: :%$

!etlist: -% - Take On Me 6ternal - tay :th Story - 'reak Me Damage - Ghetto Romance 5irl hing - Girls On Top " - (nything :th Story - I )an Make *ou 'eel Good -% - )aught In The Middle Damage - Wonderful Tonight 5irl hing - Roar " - I +eed *ou 6ternal - ,on-t *ou .ove Me/Po!er Of ( Woman (medley) :th Story - 'lip Reverse/)rossroads/I Breathe (gain (medley) 5irl hing - .ast One tanding 5irl hing - Pure 0 imple " - tuck On *ou " - (nything -% - Everytime -% - ame Old Brand +e! *ou Damage - 'orever Damage - .ove II .ove 6ternal - omeday 6ternal > 0ebe 4inans - I Wanna Be The Only One :th Story - pirit In The ky -ll B pirit In The ky ('inale)