I swore ...but...

I swore I'd not watch another season of American Idol after 2009's debacle.

Indeed, indeed, Repentance of before
I swore--but was I sober when I swore?
And then and then came Spring, and Rose-in-hand
My thread-bare Penitence apieces tore.
(Omar Khayyam)

I guess I wasn't sober. Actually, after watching last season's finale when Adam Lambert was placed as runner-up instead of winner, I wouldn't have been sober! As it has turned out though, it was all for the best - and probably all part of The Fix.

We watched the opening shows, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. It'll be Simon Cowell's last season, Paula Abdul has already absconded, replaced on Tuesday, temporarily, by Victoria Beckham, late of The Spice Girls, wife of soccer player David Beckham. I posted about her when she first arrived on these shores ("Oh No! Posh Spice is Here!"). Victoria wouldn't really be suitable for a permanent post as Idol Judge, in spite of her musical background. This is AMERICAN Idol, so to have 50% of the judging panel British would be silly and unfair. Wednesday brought in Mary J. Blige as the temporary fourth judge. She is definitely unsuited for the job. She giggled without control at more than one hapless auditioner, without contributing anything useful. I'm beginning to think that singers are simply not going to make good judges. Mentors ? Perhaps. They certainly have their own talents, which are quite different from the skills needed for judging amateurs.

Ellen DeGeneres is reported to be joining the judging panel in February, for the rest of the season, after the rag-tag auditions are over. That fact alone makes it worth our while to watch one more season. Neith at Real Astrologers has a piece on Ellen's astrology "Ellen DeGeneres, Quirky Aquarius".

I shall no doubt be waffling about characters who stand out from the Idol crowd as the weeks go by, and searching for birth dates. I accept that its all A Fix, stage managed, phoney as a $3 note, but there's something addictive about it, and I still love the idea of giving The Great Unwashed a chance to shine and, at the very least, experience a few brief seconds of "fame".

Oh no! "Posh" Spice is here!

I wonder what America will make of Victoria Beckham. I thought I'd exchanged "Posh" and her razamatazz in the UK media for Paris Hilton and Britney Spears when I moved to America. Now I discover I'll have to shield my eyes from three directions!

Jeff Jawer wrote a profile of Victoria, aka Posh Spice, aka Mrs David Beckham, HERE.

I note from other sites that her birth time might be in question. That's not surprising, birth time is not recorded on birth certificates in the UK, so many folks have only a vague idea what time they were born. Astrotheme has a "time unknown" 12 noon chart. Astrodatabank is wisely silent on the matter. Some websites say she was born in Harlow, Essex, others in Hertfordshire. I don't think this matters a lot chart-wise, there are not too many miles between the two locations.

I've set up the chart for Harlow, Essex at 12 noon.




Jeff Jawer has things pretty well covered, of course. I'll just add that Mrs Beckham has no planets in Earth signs in her natal chart - perhaps her feet, and ideas, are not anchored too firmly to Mother Earth - even so, flights of fancy have been turned into reality in her case. She has a dream lifestyle many would envy (not me!) Mercury is trine Neptune and Venus/Jupiter is square that planet of dreams, as Jeff Jawer pointed out, these aspects are significant in a lifestyle such as Mrs Beckham's.

Mercury in Aries and Venus/Jupiter in Pisces are semisextile - as I mentioned last week, I find that a tricky aspect to get to grips with. Aries and Pisces are so dissimilar, yet there's that connection between them - which can result in a life-long anomaly. In Mrs Beckham's case, the anomaly may be a very useful one professionally, bringing drive and ambition to her more dreamy side. The Pluto/Mercury opposition will add yet another facet, possibly making the anomaly even more noticeable to those who know her well. We can't really even surmise about her true personality, the one the world never sees.

Natal Moon at 12 noon is in Aquarius. With a birth time of 5pm or later though Moon would have moved into Pisces. The 12noon Moon forms a lovely Air Grand Trine with Mars/Saturn in Gemini and Uranus in Libra - but somehow I don't think that fits. Victoria Beckham may be a sharp lady, but not THAT sharp (for instance she didn't grasp that many Americans do not appreciate ironic humour, and her spoof documentary about her lifestyle did not go down well - see HERE). I wouldn't be at all surprised to find her natal Moon in Pisces, along with Venus and Jupiter.

You know, I think old "Posh" might eventually fit in well in California, she was made for that lifestyle. Had she been deposited in Oklahoma though - well, that's another matter entirely!