Gatagordinha

I'm just gonna sit here until Friday and wait for the sh** to hit the fan when we find out Celebrate is only a single en France

Certainly very catchy chorus. I've only listened once and already it's replaying in my head Kind of puts me in mind of that Dizzee Rascal song, Holiday, which was a huge hit here. That kind of ultra summery vibe (without the rapping). No idea yet whether I prefer it to MYH, it's too early to say.

Yes that's a good point! I hope he has thought that through and got his answers ready.. he went over to the Dark Side And now I have started to get flippant so I'm off

This sort of thing happens on every other fan forum I've been involved in, too. It does seem to be linked to not feeling included, which of course in the real world can be a form of bullying (if done systematically and in numbers against an individual with the express purpose of making that person upset). But it feels as if it is being applied with way too much sensitivity online. Maybe in the case of younger people, who don't have as much life experience, it's wise to take into account their age and the fact that they may perceive situations differently. I know from my own experience of teenagers that bullying is now a big taboo (all the anti bullying projects that have gone on in schools in recent years have made it so, quite rightly) and it seems to me that they may have difficulty sorting bullying situations from normal disagreements and misunderstandings between people on the internet and therefore they cry 'bully' every time something upsets them. It's the way kids are programmed these days. Not sure what the excuse is for older people who should know better, though

I am sick and tired of the term 'bullying' being bandied around the internet willy-nilly by people who just can't cope with either following rules or having their opinions disagreed with. It is cheapening the term 'bullying', which is a very serious matter and does happen online of course. However, it is now being used by insecure and self righteous people to defend themselves when they feel they aren't being validated every second of every day on the internet. Disagreements and fights happen all the time on internet forums and 99% of the time it is NOT 'bullying'. Save the term for REAL cases of victimisation and malicious persecution. Spoken as one who was bullied in real life as a teenager and knows what bullying actually is, and isn't.

I think I know what you mean about wanting him to go that little bit more hardcore with the electronic sound. I like Make You Happy, but it feels as if he's holding back a bit, to me. I almost want to get my hands on it and remix the song a bit, turn up the volume so to speak, to give certain parts a bit more oomph and conviction. As for the live rendition of this song (and maybe any others he may have in the same vein), I don't think we need worry. I think he will find a way to deliver the songs live that does them justice, and showcases his voice, and shows that there are solid tunes behind the studio whistles and bells. He's been generally good at that kind of thing in the past after all.

Could not have put it any better myself The BIB is hard fact, especially in pop music now. Mika's done it well enough in the past but I've always thought he could do it even better if he pushed himself more, and that's what I hope for from now on.

let's wait and see..

Anyone else think it would make a great closing track for the album? It just has that sound, for me. Especially if the album version was a little longer, with an extended coda. If it does turn out to be the final track, remember where you read it first (if not, ignore all the above )

Melachi is a lovely dog but it's a sign of how I'm really not a 'dog person' that the first thing I admired in that photo was the beautiful rug

I've listened to the song four times now and whilst not exactly blown into next week by it, I do like it. It's subtly catchy with that cool Scandinavian vibe to it (do we know who his collaborator(s) is on this one?) I don't object to the autotune/"robot" voice at all. I'm a fan of electronic music and actually really love sampled and modified voices in songs provided they are done wisely. My favourite part of the track by far is the end part, the 'never gonna give you up' bit. That actually makes the hairs on my neck stand on end as it's so definably Mika *coughfalsetto* and yet something new too.

I totally agree that he has done his childhood and adolescence to death now. He's almost 30 now for goodness sake and I already feel as if I now know more about his growing pains than I remember about my own . I'd like to hear him use the third person a bit more now, or at least reference himself in a more oblique way..which leads me to: So true (just had to use one of these newfangled smileys) Writing good lyrics is a particular skill and although Mika has a nice turn of phrase at times, it's not an area I see him as particularly gifted in. So there's no shame in getting help with this. I'm glad to see he is embracing collaboration more than ever now. I just had to comment on this, because the idea of someone like Olly Murs (sorry, Murs fans..) laughing their ass off at the expense of Mika is supreme irony as far as I'm concerned.

I hadn't thought about it in quite that way before, but now you mention it, it makes a lot of sense.

I agree with every word of the above. I've never been too attached to any of the band members either, in fact at times I have felt slightly annoyed that some of the focus has been taken away from Mika during routines etc. I guess I am not one for too much 'band interaction' and all that goofing around on stage etc. Important to have a good musical chemistry of course, as I always felt Mika and Martin had for example, but that's as far as it goes really, for me. If I want to see a band, I go and see a band. When I go to see a solo artist I'm only going to see that person and the rest is window dressing. I do understand why people get attached to backing band members in any fandom, of course, but I don't share those sentiments. I do wish all ex band members every success in the future though

Oh so am I. Even if I hate it, I welcome it

Hmmm news indeed! Must be, if I'm posting . Sad to see Cherisse move on but I'm absolutely not surprised. I've had a feeling for a while now that this next phase of Mika's career and this next album was always going to require some radical changes.

I can't see the album being out before September. Summer is a notoriously awful time to release stuff, and it's too soon for a Spring release (I think). Which leaves September onwards. But what do I know One thing I am glad about is that despite the obvious frustration for fans, Mika has thus far managed to hold back too much detail/snippets of the songs.. I really believe there needs to be a surprise element with this album. In fact nothing would please me more than if the release date were announced a week in advance or something. How great would that be? I don't know. I just want something different and a little bit less 'industry' this time around. Looking back, I don't think the release of TBWKTM was handled too well.

Glad to see Mika doing a show in the UK this summer. It might be a nice low key way to introduce his new material into our market. It would be really nice if his new album got good word-of-mouth publicity here. I can't see a media hard sell working at all this time round. Time to change tack. For that reason, this choice of venue/show might just be perfect at this point in time. I won't be going, but good luck to those who try to get tickets.

Wasn't this show supposed to be about two the finalists? It's been on over an hour and they have been on for about ten minutes so far I think they said he's coming back to do Rain and Elle Me Dit. But I'm not 100%

Are they gonna do the whole of LICM

Shame I will have to go to bed before Mika comes on (probably) but I just put the stream on out of curiosity, and I might watch a bit longer as I love listening to quebecois French

Exciting announcement? Mika's drawn another doodle?

Right, thanks Christine. Glad I haven't missed anything too major. I do intend to start paying a bit more attention in Mikaland now the album is getting close.