[Red Moon]

Spice Girls' charity single bombs

Cover your other eye, Pudsey! The Spice Girls' comeback single looks like being the worst-selling Children In Need song EVER.

Headlines (Friendship Never Ends) - the first track the five Spices have recorded together since the band split up nine years ago - has scraped into the midweek charts at No.10.

All the proceeds from the sale of the single go to charity. Sadly it has only sold a measly 5,278 copies, despite being available digitally last week and in the shops from Sunday

And it's being roundly trounced by Leona Lewis, Shayne Ward and Kylie.

Despite the Spice Girls' muchhyped return - including a sensational performance for the Victoria's Secrets fashion show in LA last week - the band have failed to whip up any enthusiasm for their new track.

An insider reveals: "There has been a tremendous buzz about the Spice return, but sales for both their Greatest Hits album and the single have not matched up to the hype.

"The fact that Headlines is for charity should have helped boost its performance but that hasn't happened."

The single was deemed so dire by Radio 1 bosses that it was relegated to the C-list and got hardly any airplay.

George Ergatoudis, the station's Head Of Music, didn't mince his words when he told us: "The song simply isn't strong enough... It would have been a B-side in their heyday."

The Spice Girls must be wondering what's gone wrong - recording the official Children In Need song usually guarantees you a chart-topper.

The BBC charity's first official song, Perfect Day, made No.1 in 1997. S Club 7 hit the top spot twice for Children In Need with Never Had A Dream Come True in 2000, and

Have You Ever in 2001. Girls Aloud also made No.1 in 2004 with I'll Stand By You.

Earlier this year Joseph winner Lee Mead's Any Dream Will Do came in at a respectable No2. And even Martine McCutcheon charted higher than the Spices - Love Me reached No.6 in 1999.

Headlines' dire sales follows last week's disappointment when their Greatest Hits album was kept off the top spot by Leona Lewis.

Still, it's not all bad news. The Girls have sold more than 750,000 tickets for their 40-date world tour - with internet touts selling them on for up to £750. Demand is so high, they may even add more dates.

After doing Children In Need, Sporty wrote on the Girls' blog: "Thank you to everyone who has bought the single. It's for a great cause." And a band source says: "They expect sales to pick up."

A Children In Need spokesperson said: "The Spice Girls are donating all profits to BBC

Children In Need. We are very grateful for their support and fantastic performances."

Source: Daily Mirror