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suzie

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About suzie

  • Birthday 10/31/1973

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    Me myself and I

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  1. It does not work like that - luckily. It was a good indicator of the value of the UK entry (not even making it into the local top 100) but people outside Western Europe don't tend to buy music online and singles charts are based on airplay. Even if the majority of the audience was the same as the record buying public of Europe, in Eurovision it is the performance one votes for, so many different things, including the visual elements, the running order the songs, local commentators' comments...etc, influence the decision. In terms of entering the sales charts, it is songs like the Swedish entry that would get high - it already sounds familiar to many other trendy songs.
  2. I understand what you mean but the fact that all the other songs practically sounded the same (catchy, memorable pop tunes, most of them written by the regular Eurovision songwriters from Sweden) made the Ukrainian entry stand out. There were so many well-performed, typical Eurovision songs stripped off of any charisma that the few that had it in one way or another, really stood out, in my opinion. For the Russian song it was the visual elements used that helped the performer (rather unfair, I must say) whilst for the Polish song it was both the look of the performer and also the fact that the song sounded grandiose. All in all, I am not surprised at all by televoting results and most definitely don't think it is only due to geo-political voting or conspiracies. In fact, I am hopeful that in next year's contest there will be more performers inspired by their own cultural heritage rather than trying to recycle Western pop tunes.
  3. Congratulations to Jamala from Ukraine! Great song, singing and performance. I never vote but if I had decided to, I would have voted for her as well, performing the most original song in the whole competition. She also came top in the televoting in my country, followed by Russia and Poland. What the jury heard was obviously different - like in most countries. I have just had a look at results from all countries and the funniest results are from UK: jurors voting Georgia as No1, voters ranking them as 19th best only. That speaks volume about the people running this industry and the way these 'experts' shape our musical tastes.
  4. And how useful is it to play the kind but misunderstood fan whose opinion is not considered because of nothing but language issues? I know my earlier post left open doors in interpretation, so I hope my recent response to Yang made it all clear: I was wondering about the strength of an argument in which a native speaker is asked to bring down the level of convesation so it pleased fans posting mostly pictures with 2-3 misspelled words. I have acknowledged that I have jumped to conclusion soon and, at the same time, I also recognize how it easily one can take it out of context and play the victim card. So, this is my last attempt to explain what I meant and I am mainly writing this for the newbies so it is clear: everyone is encouraged to post here, no matter what their level of English is
  5. Hi Yang, Thank you very much for your detailed explanation. I must admit I jumped to a conclusion too soon - I literally only checked posts from you for a few minutes when I 'jumped in' - also in someone's defence. I am really sorry for that. I understand your point now and also your explanation that it pinched a nerve. I often end up in similar situation and it happened to me as well this time: I have seen many similar debates on this forum with similar argumentation with Christine / a group of 'old fans' on one side and another group who felt they were somehow excluded on the other. I do believe no-one is excluded here by default. This is an ideal forum where any fan from anywhere in the world can find their safe place: we have topics for those who love to discuss music / lyrics, separate threads for concert discussions, pieces of news, artwork, foreign language threads...etc. A real diverse place. When I first joined I remember I felt that fans who did not know me hardly ever answered my posts and it was also a bit difficult for me to find friends. However, I did not give up and followed the conversation of the very talkative native speakers and just by reading those posts I understood a lot and eventually I made friends with a lot of people here. So if you could help make fans who currently feel excluded make understand that essentially all these talks actually are FOR Mika and not against him, that would be great... I know it does sound like one big debate with some people slashing him but everyone on this forum likes him and we are just analysing his actions without even hoping anything will ever change. If we didn't care, we would visit this site.
  6. @mariafrancy, I really liked your post, perhaps because I can totally relate to your point of view: if I were your age and a fan just joining, I would most likely have the same view and understanding of events as well as what Mika is all about. I also have the same perspective on songs in other languages ( I do like them and to me it makes no real difference) but with a note that usually it is non-English native speakers who write pop songs in their own language. They do so partly because that is the best way they can express themselves and partly because their lingustic and cultural background will influence the rythm and the structure of the music itself. The way I perceive Mika's French songs is that they are essentially English pop songs with a French guy, Doriand, writing the lyrics. That could pretty much be the reason they don't appeal to me as I can see no point in listening to a Latin-rhythm song in French and especially not at a concert with a predominently English speaking audience. Naturally, Mika has all the right to sing that song anywhere and in a way he did his best to explain it all in his own cheeky manner, so as far as I am concerned, it fitted the setlist. Opinions can't hurt anyone, no need to apologise for that. Long posts are welcome, especially if they make sense like yours
  7. Exactly. That is why I was totally taken aback by his comments on the 'intolerant' reaction. There was no sign of intolerance witnessed by me, either. This is no longer about the 'issue', actually, just general discussion. I haven't checked when you joined but this type of conversation used to be the norm on MFC, whether the topic was a song, a gig, whether the colour of his jacket was blue or purple..etc - anything. I believe many of us actually enjoy it but no worries, it will soon turn peace and quiet again as Mika is pretty inactive outside France and Italy, so not much to talk about - not for me, at least.
  8. Ok, so obviously my post did not make it obvious why I was using the words I did, so let me give it one more try and explain the background.... When I started to read this thread I found a string of funny comments by you, posting from the US and asking a native speaker not to use words you don't understand. I also found you engaged in some utterly ridiculous conversation about the meaning of a phase unknown to you that you tried to understand with the help of Google pictures ... At that point I was about to step in and recommend you refer to a dictionary or an online Thesaurus to figure out meanings of words rather than sticking to your interpretation that was based on some cartoon. In the end, I didn't do that but checked your MFC posts in the news section to see who is the group (the 'WE') you are talking in the name of. I did not get closer to the answer but the picure captions I saw from you did make me draw my conclusions. However, most certainly I would not have not pointed it out had I not witnessed a conversation on this thread in which you practically wanted other members to adjust their English to the level you understand. I hope it is clear now. Any learner of a second language gets my appreciation by default (I am one as well) but preaching native speakers about the vocabulary they are meant to use when you also have significant gaps calls for nothing but the urgent need for a reality check.
  9. haha. Sorry, I really have no time for that. I can live with a few not understanding what I say or mean or even me not wording it the right way. Have a nice day. That is also how I see that, especially because of the way he brought this up at a gig in France shortly afterwards and also the way he is pointing out how international the audience was vs one voice 'demanding' he sang in English. The two are not directly related as most of his international audience speaks no French, either. Yes he needs to handle the national audiences really carefully as in some countries he clearly created an expectation already and it could be difficult to live up to that.
  10. Please read the edited post with the quote and consider if people speaking proper English would need to apologize from others apparently also living in an English speaking country for using words that are outside a basic / beginner's vocabulary.
  11. Well, I did not mock anyone, I just asked how you define the 'we' you are talking in the name of. So it is that group then, I see. Thank you. So who needs to read guidelines?
  12. Hell-o I hardly ever posted here in the last few years but since I was at the Adelphi gig I did ask myself what I would have done if I had been the target of Mika’s unexplainable and unreasonable response. First of all, I would have sold my (also 2nd row) Palladium ticket to some random fan who is willing to pay 200 GBP more just to get 2 metres closer and laugh at people’s desperation in disbelief... Jemma did not do that, of course. She was offended publicly two times already and in situations where she could not respond so she recoded an impromtu video response – one any professional speaker could envy for its coherent yet heartfelt message. So where does this ’intolerant’ label come from? As you can see from the video posted here, he asked the audience if they spoke French and the response was yes / no mixed. That is all I heard as well, 12 rows back. My response was also a ’no’ but naturally, no one in their right mind thinks this question is more than just a warm up to the obviously French song he had already planned to sing. At the same time, anyone who has ever been to his UK gigs in the early days knows that he does deliberately trigger all sorts of responses from the audience and engages in some kind of conversation that usually stays one-sided unless you are really loud. He typically laughs and talks back – sometimes even rude things, just because he can. There have been many examples of this happening at gigs where front row was not merely a line of standing statues / bio scenery. How he arrived at the ’intolerant’ label and being ’hurt’, I can’t understand. He does know that a certain percent of UK fans can’t stand him singing in French for several reasons and in my understanding ,it is not merely the language itself but also the fact that it reminds them of Mika having practically abandoned the UK to succeed in two, also very large (and less competitive) European pop markets: France and Italy, with the help of his language skills. Well done for him: he seems to have done a great job on these shows and it seems to have been worth it. That view changes though when it is looked at from the perspective of fans in other areas. How he does not understand why his fans in the UK react like that when they are reminded of him ’leaving them behind’ is beyond me. Even I can relate to that, despite not living in the UK. Also, there seems to be a general belief that the French songs are not liked because they are in French. I can obviously speak for myself only but I do like a lot of French songs, actually, just not Mika’s, with the exception of L'amour Fait Ce Qu'il Veut perhaps. They just don’t appeal to me the least. If I liked them I would travel to his concerts in France but instead I choose to fly to shows where the setlist is more likely to include songs I like and he will speak in a language I understand. So when I hear him say at a UK gig he’ll sing a French song, my first reaction is : oh no. I do get over it and enjoy myself , of course, just like when he sings WAG, Starting at the Sun or Talk About You - songs I don’t really like, either, but that is my problem. I practice my ’tolerance’. What I don’t tolerate is twisting stories and playing the victim. His only excuse may be that he is making it up for the press and not realizing it can be tracked in other places as everything is recorded and appears on Youtube. No, Jemma is not a random fan with 3 Mika Tofu dolls on her shelf and posting ’I love you Mika’ messages on Facebook. To me she is the fan who I watched speaking highly of Mika’s music on Skynews back at the first album launch party, sounding really excited about him being a breath of fresh air in the pop scene that was lacking fun and creativity back then. And yes, Mika WAS that, at least the promise of it. He paved the way for Lady Gaga and all the other pop acts that followed and whom he saw rise way higher than him. Those days are gone and so is the Mika who he was back in 2006/7. And perhaps that is what hurts the most.
  13. I'm sorry, but who are the 'we' in your example? Those who reduce their forum activity to posting pictures only with some random and often misspelled comments? ... which is exactly what happened to MFC.
  14. Hi everyone, It was my first gig after 3 years (with the last 2 being only festival appearances), so I feel I need to post a short review as well. To be honest my expectations from the gig were more related to a kind of nostalgy and was more excited about meeting my friends than attending the gig. I still looked forward to it, of course, but not with great excitement. Someone even asked me beforehand: 'What if he disappoints? ' to which I responded confidently: 'he would not - he can't do wrong with a live show'. He proved me right, of course. I can't say it was one of his best shows ever etc, but it was as enjoyable as most of the other nearly 20 I attended several years ago. The reason it is always worth attending his shows are still the same: great songs, extreme energy, unbelievable stage presence and continuous effort to improve / change the performance a bit. For the old songs, like Lollipop and GK, I must say I appreciated the effort more than the end result, but still, I'd rather listen to him experimenting than being stuck with past sound. The most 'annoying' innovation I found was the acapella elements put at the end or sometimes even to the beginning of the songs. It's not that I don't like the idea, but it was just added to too many songs. Even if all those bits had been sung perfectly it would have been too much / 'too theatrical' for my taste, but as a couple of these went rather off, my conclusion is that less is usually more. Anyway, it did not impact my overall gig experience as I really enjoyed the show. For me, the way I measure the most outstanding songs of the night is to list the one I recall right after the gig and the ones that 'get played' in my head in the coming hours and days... So using these indicators, the best songs for me were Over My Shoulder, Promiseland, Hurts and Staring at the Sun. (The latter a funny choice as otherwise I never liked that song. ) One change also noticeable for me vs previous years is his confidence on stage and interaction with the audience. It was a gradual change, I know, but most likely these tv talent shows he is doing must have added to it. (So one positive aspect of him becoming a tv star noted ​ ) Let me note, though, that when he split the audience into three I expected we'd sing in 3 parts, so after all that long preparation and just that simple task made me slightly disappointed . If I needed to take one song out to replace with another one, for me it would have been BBB as well, since I can't sing along to that. I really don't understand why he chose to sing it despite knowing right from the start it won't go down well with most people. Most likely he did that 'just because he can' and because he had no more other songs in his current repertoir to add. To me, it was still a better choice than EMD. So, my overall experience reassured me it will be worth booking a ticket for the London show when album No 5 comes out , or, hopefully- if his busy tv star life allows -, if and when he does something special sooner.
  15. suzie

    Hello again

    you all are welcome - says someone who hasn't visited this site for 1.5 years btw, hi Bexx!
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