How will the planets align for the 2022 Juno Awards?

March 1 marks the official kickoff to the 2022 Juno Awards, which will be held in Toronto on May 15. If everything goes as planned, it will be the first in-person Juno Awards since 2019. A successful Junos show and broadcast could signal a full-on return to live music and large-scale arts and culture events. It's a momentous and tantalizing possibility after two years of COVID-related public health emergency protocols. 

This year's Junos also features several new categories, massive Marvel movie star Simu Liu, and loads of potential surprises and big names among the nominees. But will the planets align to make it all come together? Phil Booth, astrologer and CBC Life astrology columnist, spoke with CBC Music via Zoom about what the next few months look like. 

Below are the three main predictions from Booth's astrological forecasts for the nominations day, the broadcast itself and how Liu's own birth chart might influence his hosting abilities. 

Lots of new faces among the nominees

Looking at his astrological chart for March 1, Booth observes a 90-degree squaring off between Uranus, which brings unexpected change and disruptions, and Mercury, which is all about communications. But combined with the sun in Jupiter, Booth predicts "expansion, growth, opening and new opportunities." 

This will be reflected in the new categories and genre diversity, but also in the look of the show and its image, as well as the literal faces of all of the new and first-time nominees. 

"It looks really good there, the Jupiter Sun," Booth says. "New images, new faces, new people involved…. When you look at someone's chart, you can see Jupiter, doing something like this to them. And then you think, well, there's a new career coming up, but there's opportunity, or it's pretty precise as well, too.… So when you see Jupiter and the sun together, it's like opening up the image, the face and the look of it. There aren't any hard angles, there's nothing really to hold it back." 

The most diverse Junos yet? 

The strong presence of Pisces in the March 1 chart indicates compassion, feelings, emotion and sharing, Booth says. The Pisces influence might show up in an overarching theme of introspection in the nominated music, but it will also likely show up in other areas of the actual broadcast or performances, too.  

"There's kind of healing and justice in there, too. Because there's been a lot of bad news … but Pisces is a healing sign and it's a spiritual sign, too. So there's a sense that there's a spiritual healing going on … Mercury and Saturn are also in conjunct, so it's a perfect time to make plans and set targets."

The chart for May 15, the actual Juno Awards, highlights Mercury, the thinking planet, Saturn, which is focused, and Aquarius, which is sociable and friendly. Venus, which rules the arts, is in a great position, as is Mars, which is giving the Earth strength and power as well as Neptune. The sun in Taurus indicates stability and reliability. It's a harmonious alignment, according to Booth, with the introspection showing up again, but also real excitement.

"It's actually very good," Booth says. "I'm surprised to see a chart looking so good, especially now the way it's been lately…. And this cluster there sure looks like the pandemic is under control. I mean, maybe we have to wear masks or whatever, but there's a hopeful quality there."

Booth also sees a strong indication that many of those new faces from the nominations will show up on the actual awards day. "Jupiter brings diversity, magnification, openness, open doors. Neptune is like, again, the spiritual thing, but the introspective like we're interpreting it that way, and Neptune is kind of giving new faces a chance to get in there. And with Mars, it's giving it the thrust and the push. So I think it's going to be [that] we're gonna see some new things coming in there."

Simu Liu will transform the Junos

The thing that jumps out at Booth immediately in Liu's chart is how Pluto squares the sun. 

"That's a transformation of our image and our personality and our appearance. For some people, that can be a disaster. I mean, if they're in a negative frame of mind…. [For others] it's a positive thing. He's having success. He might even be having a little trouble trying to handle it. Like, 'What the hell do I do with this?' But it's showing a complete change." 

The Marvel movies put Liu in the limelight, but Booth anticipates there will be more in a couple years. As an Aries, Liu is a go-getter and very adventurous, with the personality to go along with both of those traits. 

"It's a year of transformation," Booth says, for both Liu and the Junos. "So I think having him on there is going to be an extra boost for the show. And I think it'll also be a transformative time for the Juno Awards."

Wherever you are in the world, you can tune in to the 2022 Juno Awards on Sunday, May 15. You can watch live on CBC-TV and CBC Gem, listen on CBC Radio One and CBC Music and stream globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos. Use the code CBCMUSIC to access presale tickets on Ticketmaster starting Thursday, March 3 at 10 a.m. ET