Wannabe (song) - Music Video

Music Video

The music video for "Wannabe" was the first for director Jhoan Camitz. Camitz was hired on Fuller's recommendation because of his commercials for Volkswagen, Diesel, and Nike. His original concept for the video was a one-take shoot of the group arriving at an exotic building in Barcelona, taking over the place, and running a riot—the same way they did when they were looking for a manager and a record company. A few days before the shoot on 19 April 1996, Camitz was unable to get permission to use the building, and the shoot was relocated to the Midland Grand Hotel in St Pancras, London.

The video features the group running, singing, dancing, and creating mischief at an eccentric bohemian party. Among their antics is Chisholm's back handspring on one of the tables. Because the video needed to be taken in one shot, the group rehearsed the routine several times through the night, while a steadycam operator followed them. About the experience, Halliwell wrote: "The video I remember as being very chaotic and cold. It wasn't very controlled—we didn't want it to be. We wanted the camera to capture the madness of the Spice Girls". Virgin's executives were horrified with the final result: "the girls were freezing cold, which showed itself in various different ways", Ashley Newton recalled. The video was later banned in some parts of Asia because of Brown's erect nipples. Additionally, the lighting was considered too dark and gloomy; the best takes showed the girls bumping with the furniture and looking behind them. Virgin was concerned that old people appeared on the video, the part when they jump up on the table, and Halliwell's showgirl outfit would be considered too threatening by music channels. Virgin immediately opened discussions about a re-shoot of the video or creating an alternate one for the US, but the group refused. The video was sent for trial airing in its original form.

When the music video first appeared on the British cable network The Box, it was selected so frequently that it reached the top of the viewers' chart within two hours of going on air, and stayed at number one for thirteen weeks. It was aired up to seventy times a week at its peak and became the most requested track in the channel's history. The video won Best Dance Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, and Best Video at the 1997 Comet Media Awards. It was also nominated for Best British Video at the 1997 BRIT Awards, and was ranked at number forty-one in the Top 100 Pop Videos of all time by Channel 4.