11 June 2003 1756SST - 0800GMT

THE ROAD TO AMERICA, USA TODAY REVIEWS

AMERICA (USA TODAY) - Beck-who? Only in the USA can
Victoria and David Beckham stroll the streets
unnoticed, as they did in L.A. last week. While some
celebrities might relish such anonymity, the English
couple, wildly famous everywhere else in the world
aren't used to being ignored.

The Beckhams are eager to change all that with a
well-orchestrated British invasion, aimed at raising
their U.S. profile. Last month they met with New York
fashion editors and music execs about Victoria
Beckham's new album and her plans to launch a
fashionline, they did a joint interview on ABC's
20/20, appeared at the MTV Movie Awards in L.A. on May
31, dressed in matching Dolce & Gabbana.

The couple have enough appearances and work lined up
to keep them here most of the summer. Victoria hits
Manhattan again late this month to record final tracks
for her still-untitled album, due in September. She'll
also continue negotiations for launching her
fashionline.

The couple, young, fit, attractive, successful and
obscenely rich are to Britain what Joe DiMaggio and
Marilyn Monroe once were to America, a glamorous prom
king-and-queen merger of macho athleticism and
feminine sex appeal. But conquering America may not be
so easy.

On their side, they have a head start here, thanks to
the sleeper movie hit Bend It Like Beckham and her
heyday in the '90s as pouty Posh Spice. And overseas,
he's a fashion trendsetter, especially his hairstyles.
And against them, in the USA, soccer, known as
football everywhere else, is popular with suburban
moms but not NFL fans. Posh's first solo album was a
pop-flop, and she's hardly a red-carpet fashion
favorite.

"They are this new, hot, incredibly good-looking
couple, and we've OD'd on Ben Affleck and Jennifer
Lopez. But we don't watch soccer, so that's a
problem," says Merle Ginsberg, entertainment editor at
W and Women's Wear Daily. Robert Thompson, professor
of pop culture at Syracuse University, says he'd be
"surprised if they became our new royal couple. After
the smoke clears and this whole coming-to-America
party is over, we'll still be talking about Brad Pitt
and Jennifer Aniston."

News compiled by Spice Girls Asia News Team

=====
Spice Girls Asia. The Asian Insights Into The Spice Girls.
http://www.spicegirlsasia.cjb.net

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