Blackpool got an injection of girl power as Spice Girl Mel B pulled the switch to trigger four months of Illuminations which will run until 5th January 2025.
A nostalgic return by Mel B to where her career started
The singer made a nostalgic return to the place where her career first started, to light up the Blackpool seafront at the end of a spectacular show, delivered in association with Hits Radio. This featured Ella Henderson, who was the former Pussycat Doll, plus Kimberly Wyatt and Britain’s Got Talent winner, Sydnie Christmas. As a million lights lit up the six-mile display, a burst of fireworks exploded above the Blackpool Tower, accompanied by a laser display and a projection show, set to Mel’s solo single, For Once In My Life.
Mel started her career as a 16-year-old dancer in the Mystique show at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, before rising to global fame as a member of the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Scary Spice. With more than 100 million records sold worldwide, they became the best-selling female group in history.
Blackpool’s talent at the Illuminations’ switch-on
The switch-on celebrations started with some of Blackpool’s brightest young musicians taking to the stage with a non-stop series of performances. The Upbeat Rock Academy, which organises rock music tuition for more than 300 students from across the Fylde Coast, presented Blackpool Introduces, a 90-minute showcase of local talent. The young people were joined by Blackpool-based House of Wingz, an award-winning hip hop dance crew that has already been featured on prime time national television.
Great two-hour main event
Blackpool Introduces was followed by the main event – a two-hour show hosted by Leanne and Joel, presenters of Hits Radio breakfast show. It opened with the Massaoke show, performed by Rockstar Weekend, a unique mass participation touring production, featuring lyrics from some of the greatest crowd-pleasing hits of all time, projected onto giant LED screens. With the huge crowd eager to join in, it created the biggest family singalong that Blackpool has ever seen!
Upcoming stars and old favourites
They were followed by Sydnie Christmas, the first woman singer to win Britain’s Got Talent, who performed a short set of three songs. Sydnie was making her Blackpool debut ahead of the release of her first album, My Way, and the start of her first national tour. Then it was the turn of American-born Kimberly Wyatt, who achieved worldwide fame with The Pussycat Dolls, selling more than 15 million albums and 40 million singles worldwide, becoming one of the biggest-selling girl groups of all time. She thrilled the crowd with her high energy, fun DJ set, featuring some of the biggest tracks of the noughties, dance hits and other pop classics.
Headline star Ella Henderson took to the stage to perform an extended set from her extensive catalogue of hits. Ella, who last year joined the prestigious list of Brit Billion winners, having achieved more than a billion digital streams of her music, has had a succession of top 10 singles to her name, including Ghost, Alibi and Crazy What Love Can Do, which she performed to an enthusiastic audience.
“Mel B switching on the lights was the icing on the cake”
After the show, Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, added: “This has been another extraordinary night for Blackpool. We have witnessed some fantastic performances from chart-topping stars, as well as giving some of our own young people an opportunity to perform, in front of such an amazing huge audience. Watching Mel B turn on the lights was the icing on the cake. It was a real pleasure to welcome her back to Blackpool, the place where she started out on what was to become a truly superstar career.”
Blackpool Illuminations will now be shining every night until January 5, 2025
