Sarah_Lou

Did you also know that the intro and some of the tune for the song is inspired by the Eighties power ballad 'I just Died in Your Arms Tonight'. You can listen to it here and see the resemblance.

http://www.radioblogclub.com/open/112402/i_just_died_in_your_arms_tonight/Cutting%20Crew%20-%20I%20Just%20Died%20In%20Your%20Arms%20Tonight (Just click the link and it plays automatically)

I've always loved that song, but I love Relax.. even more!

Mika is such a genius.

For every nasty review there's a load of geat ones. Like this that I read in a free music mag that I picked up in a bar, it finishes with:

"Life in Cartoom Motion is simply the most captivating moment in British pop this century." .... Wow

Have you seen this?

http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/9109

One male friend said "Mika? He's as a gay as a window isn't he?"

My Mum said, after reading an article about him, "Ah, he's Lebanese and a trained opera singer, I can see why you like him."

(I once had a thing for a Lebanese guy)

Wow Gemma! I'm jealous! I got the a message about that party through MySpace but by the time I read it, it was too late to reply to the invite. Sounds like a lot of fun!

Mika is the only thing on my profile! Plus, I'm very lucky to have a comment from him in my comments list (wooh!).

It certainly was a very special day!

That's such bad luck about losing your camera, but it's the experience that counts - I'm sure you won't forget the great memories of being so up close and personal with Mika!

He was such a sweet friendly guy.

Here's my translation:

Mika Penniman, the new Freddie Mercury

He’s 23, he was born in Beirut and he’s signed an enviable contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music. His stage name, Mika, is probably one of those which will be most repeated by the specialist press during the coming year, thanks to a song, Grace Kelly, that’s climbing the British charts.

Few will disagree that Mika is an extremely original artist. In fact, this adjective can apply to his entrance onto the market. The first single of his career, Relax, Take it Easy was publicised in 2006 by BBC Radio 1 and shortly after that, the second single, Billy Brown, was available on iTunes. The result of both campaigns was so optimistic that many people turned their attention to the newcomer.

Even without having a CD on sale, commentators began to talk about Mika’s sparkling talents. Later, as always happens in these cases, came the generation readings. Obviously we are talking about a singer with a lot of talent – not only his vocal range on Grace Kelly, but what really demands attention is his expressive confidence, inherited from Elton John, from Harry Nilsson, from Rufus Wainwright and in particular from Freddie Mercury.

More than outrageous brilliance, Mika has an amazing confidence which is a result of a classical training that’s unusual in the world of pop. And although many want to see him as a follower of the Scissor Sisters, what’s certain is that his vocal play is sharper and more colourful. The definitive example of everything that’s brought about by the theme chosen by Universal for his launch. It’s certain that Grace Kelly is a song clearly indebted to the musical chapters of the Vaudeville, and it makes us await with much interest future deliveries of the style. In this way, there is a stronger sensation that Mika connects well with the Queen tradition: material with a magnificent texture in which the elements are intertwined without any apparent coherence, tripping over in a game where the crossover is the most coveted goal.

Master of notable technical skills, the English-Lebanese artist has a biography which helps to explain his musical style. Emigrating from Lebanon at the age of 9, he and his family found refuge in Paris and later in London. As a student he passed through the Charles de Gaulle French school, the Westminster School and the Royal College of Music. Dyslexia made it difficult for him to fit in and in the extreme caused him serious communication problems. The torture which his classmates subjected him to helped build his character. As a form of therapy, his mother made him study music with a rigid discipline which, it seems, had a great effect.

The eccentricity he demonstrated during his adolescence – scarlet clothes, dandy behaviour – was all a symptom of what would come later. He alternated his seasons at the Royal Opera House (high culture) with writing advertising jingles for British Airways and chewing gum (culture for the masses in its most popular form).

Thanks to production by Greg Wells, Mika’s first album, Life in Cartoon Motion, (Island Records, 2007) conveys something that the performer summed up in an interview: the reasons why the independent labels rejected his melodies and the major labels didn’t trust his strangeness.

Once they got over their reservations, Mika made a firm step into show business. The warmth of his music and his spectacular results justify that he has become a media product. It’s not a coincidence that the designer Paul Smith has chosen him as the face of his fashion label. In that, it’s certain, our young singer-songwriter also follows I the footsteps of Freddie Mercury.

Sawako, I think your husband's a great writer. There were some nice poetic sentences that were really difficult to translate!

And, Penniman, is that Mika's surname?? I'd never heard it before. How did your husband manage to find it out? I thought it was a closely guarded secret!

I'd love to do a tranlation, if that's ok with you Sawako. I like any excuse to practice my Spanish, especially if it's Mika-related.

I'll be wearing my Mika rosette, just so you'll know I'm one of the gang.

It's on Great Portland St. You got the email with the details yet?

Yes, let's meet somewhere before. I think the audience is a 'standing around in a bar' type affair, so I'm sure none of us will want to look like a billy-no-mates.

There's a Pret a Manger on Regent St, between Oxford Circus tube and the BBC place. We could meet inside/outside there at 9?

Good plan. Make yourselves known!

Ah, well if there are other fellow fan club members there maybe I'll just go on my own and strike up a conversation with one of you. Yay! Roll on Tuesday!

There was an announcement on here from a woman at the BBC who was trying to get some Mika fans to be in the audience of a show he's recording a performance for.

I got in touch with her and said I'd go with a friend. My friend now says he can't come, I was considering going on my own, but I wondered if I could find anyone one here who may want to accompany me.

The thing is, it's in London on Tuesday morning from 9.30am. I know most people have better things to be doing on a Tuesday morning (except maybe unless you're a student, like me.)

There's some joker on eBay selling a pair of Mika tickets for £275. What cheek!

Yeah, Mika is wonderful, but I hope no one gives the evil ticket touting son of a bitch that much for them.

There's just so much to keep up with! I can't cope! All the TV and radio appearances, all the posts here, things on MySpace. I mean it's great but I remember when he just had a MySpace page with a few comments now and again - not one thousand comments every hour! I want to keep up to date with everything about Mika, but I think I'll have to admit defeat. He's already too massive.

Ooh yeah. Please get a recording! I want to see him speaking French! He does speak French doesn't he?

Hey, I didn't even know my Mika was going to be on this show! I watched the beginning then switched over because it wasn't very entertaining, if only I'd known....

Anyway, no matter, thanks to the wonderful Mika fanclub I get to watch it anyway. Cheers!

(Oh, but what's with that American bloke at the end of the vid!?!?)