suzie

Thank you! I forgot about Mikasounds So the deluxe one is only released on Monday - I am not too late for that then.

Funny, as to me, Good Wife has the Paul Simon type of touch to it (Graceland) at the beginning and to me this is more George Michael-ish (Faith), because of the rhythm. Thinking about it, you do hear influences from the same group of artists on Mika's albums but usually not in the same form. I personally find it reassuring since I like his infuences as well.

I absolutely love this song. I have just watched him say a few words about each song and he says there are 2 versions of this song on the album - perhaps on some delux edition (?). Has anyone listened to the other version as well or knows which edition would contain it?

Did he really credit Ricci e Poveri on this song? I would have never guessed that in a hundred years.

I first came across this song on Facebook about a month ago or so and whilst I totally adored the song I was horrified at the thought of him possibly singing about himself as the song has such a decadent, end of the world / we'll all die of AIDS type of feeling... So I was pretty relieved when I watched another FB link with his explanation the song is about Freddie Mercury Yes, it totally makes sense Even the themes and the vocabulary remind me of some of Freddie's songs from that era (end of 80s) so I feel the song does capture his thoughts / attitude / state of mind that time. Overall, the whole song is a really a fitting tribute with the intelligent build up of the song in tempo and volume (key characteristics of Freddie's songwriting), yet keeping the sound itself very 'current'. This is definitely one of my favourites on the album

Thank you I did feel guilty not showing up for quite a while - got other things to focus on. Still pretty busy but did manage to download all the songs today - good music does take priority . I am really pleased with this new album but I can't believe there is no link to buying a physical album... Maybe I am not looking hard enough or I am one of the very few old fashioned people who prefer to listen to music on hi-fi now and then.

I think you may be referring to another song, 'Hurts'. I understand the similarity you mean in the violin played with pizzicato in Owen Pallett's song and the piano part in Hurts. The songs themselves are rather distinct, like you say. I love them both.

My first thoughts as well. The song itself is pleasant to listen to but not particularly special to me compared with the rest of the new songs I have just come across accidentally.

Don't let politicians spoil your joy! That is so exciting. Austria needs to be back in the European pop music scene.

Oh, this thread is so empty compared to previous years... Anyway, hi everyone

He may be planning to record the rest of his demos pre-2007 You may be right but I don't think it had anything to do with his perceived ethnicity. I always felt like it was all about him not being 'cool' or willing to mingle with self-important people in the business as well as simply acting different than the rest in general. In this interview it gets revealed clearer than ever that he feels 'hurt' by how he has been treated in the UK over the years. However, burying his head in the sand does not help. Maybe these talent shows, in which he can act like a respected artist whose opinion counts, help him regain his confidence.. That is his problem, though. I am disappointed by how he seems to be neglecting music making. He should book some sessions with Jodi Marr & co.

There are many active Hungarian members but their activity is closely related to Mika's activity in music... Let me know if you need any help via PM or on our thread. Here it is: http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18906&page=99&highlight=calling+Hungarians

It is going to be aired tonight on the West Coast - in a few mins.

... It is pretty subjective. As long as some fans are willing to pay £20 for a poster they are going to sell these special editions. So for them it is worth it.

You are welcome. I actually was excited to read and translate these reviews from my own country and I was pleased to see how unbiased they were, after all the drama of the quality of 'Sziget' going down. Apparently, previously many mentioned Mika as an example of that and claimed that the festival has turned into a circus. However, they all turned silent after Mika' gig: no-one had a bad word about it - you can't question his professional stage performance and charisma that make the crowd interact and have a great time. At the same time, these reviews also reveal all the prejudice against him: he is believed to sing shallow pop songs to overweight teenagers, since he has this colourful, 'boy next door' image. Yet, when seeing him live these people do understand the humour and the self-irony in the songs, despite them not speaking the language properly. Anyway, that's a note from me as I do think he has / had an image problem that made people turn away from him before they listened.

Thank you for this .. I can spot Zsina, Betti, Timi, Pati, Nina, Saskia and even my hand over her head at one of the pics ... I was so pleased to meet all the Hungarian fans again. and glad many from abroad came to see him here. See you at the next gig when Mika is an old man already.

http://index.hu/kultur/zene/fesztival/2013/08/11/a_srac_akinek_a_nyoman_a_britek_piros_nadragot_kezdtek_hordani/ We kept screaming for confetti like kids by MK - 2013.08.11. 13:21 Those frowning upon the idea of Mika headlining Sziget festival on Saturday miscalculated what would be coming. Mika made sure he proves the can rule the mainstage.. So, what happens if, with a slight concern, we put Mika to headline Saturday night at Sziget, following his 2011 performance at Balaton Sound still in daylight and an earlier Sziget performance in around the same time zone? Well, English singer treated as a secondary, standby act proved all unbelievers wrong with an undoubtedly strong concert. To be honest, I was expecting screaming teenagers taking pictures of themselves and the stage but mainly themselves and that during melancholic songs there’s be people hugging, sad loser on stage, iPhones in the hand, disinterest in 20 minutes.... Not at all. Mika showed he has self-irony and if he concentrates he is a bloody good showman. At the beginning of concert it seemed as if there were significantly fewer people there than at Blur’s gig the night before but the first few chords of Relax signalled the arrival of Mika with a shout “Hello Saiget!!!” (*) , and Grace Kelly following it brought in the crowd: the space in front of the main stage got filled up. The concert was practically a string of hits. Those who had not dismantled the field by “I hate days like this” (Rain) certainly did so when it came to ’I (only) love you when i’m drunk’ and ’Elle me dit”. Mika had some discredible words to girls as well (**): he sang Big girl (you are beautiful ), the anthem of fat but sweet girls where it is only what is inside that counts. (***) His piano solos had nothing to compare that of Damon Albern but were not bad and he knew exactly where the balance was between kitsch and irony. And like at every good concert we had a happy smile on hour face when your head almost banged into the camera above the audience or when everyone go sprayed on with coloured confetti, even the lazy VIP section. Love Today was bombastic: Mika threw himself into the audience with his braces down, like only truly professional performers so. It was no surprise, of course, except for the ones who were unaware of much Mika loes playing with the audience. This time it was not Mika’s sister we needed to sing Happy Birthday to but had to overshout the keyboard player (****) running amok, only to listen to the huge hit with the audience singing the truth in Lollipop: “Love only gets you down”. Mika came and proved himself again, no-one is to utter a bad word on him. Suzie’s notes: (*) proper pronounciation is 'siget' ('i' like in ill). Apparently, he pronounced it almost perfectly the night before (**) This bloke clearly needs to show off his (probably dimishing) masculinity (***) Surely not everyone can get the meaning of simple pop songs that actually go beyond the regular theme of love. (****)that was the bassist, but never mind finishing comment: the link reveals that the original title of this review was: 'the one who made the Brits wear red trousers'

http://www.quart.hu/quart/fesztival/...beszamolo.html Aesthetics cheated by love By Adam Lang 11.08.2013 Many have complained that the more and more ‘insignificant' Mika would be headlining Saturday's Sziget festival. He, however, was not so concerned: he gave probably the best party at Sziget this year with a smile on his face - just like he did 3 years ago. Although I do not consider the three albums Mika has released so far perfect, I find it really preposterous that negative reviews on him tend to conclude that Mika’s songs are not good because he is not merely capable of singing a certain number of octaves but dares to do it as well and that is over the top and annoying…etc. Seriously, it’s like picking Tom Waits because he has a scratchy voice. The Lebanese born singer was even turned away from a talent show because of that, at the beginning of his career. (*) Nevertheless, the very tall yet slim Mika keeps singing his catchy, camp pop songs like a mischievous child, with an innocent smile on his face. At his concert it was worth noting that this guy sang his own hits for 1.5 hours. Well, not of of these were released as singles but even the song ‘Live Your Life ‘ sounded familiar from the past somehow. (**) The songs from last year’s (not so successful) album that I missed out on, also worked really well. (Origin of Love, Emily, Love You When I'm Drunk etc.) Mika is most likely competent and talented enough to produce songs with more depth that would impress critics looking for more serious content but seemingly, all Mika wants is to release poperatic cartoon disco and hits hits hits.(***) After all, there is not much difference between Mika’s songs. Typically, they start with a piano into and somehow end up in stadium disco pumping with large scale chorus that takes the song to the top.(****) Still, this can be really entertaining, partly because of Mika’s personality. Really, this cartoon- like character acts as if he found much love somewhere and is distributing it in the form of a bunch of songs. Making the audience clap or sing is not a boring and cheap part of the show to impress the audience with. He can somehow stay true to himself as you can tell he is enjoying himself a lot and loves partying with these couple of thousands of people. It was also very impressive when he asked the audience during ‘Underwater ‘ to close their eyes. It was like cheating on aesthetics : With Mika, being over the top with emotions does not turn to kitsch but love spreads around. It was really sweet to watch everyone sing the Take That-like ( ) Happy Endings ( ) with a smile on their face or jumping up and down to Big Girls (You Are Beautiful). The stage spiced with illuminated apple, heart and circus flags, the bulb hanging from 10 meters above, the giant balloons thrown to the audience halfway through and the rain of confetti during We Are Golden made you feel like it was the idea of a child. In the meantime, we learn that this was Mika’s last concert in his twenties and next time he will be thirty, so pretty old, he jokes. But by then everyone knows that in this tale no-one gets old. Suzie’s notes: (*) Note to Mika: there is no use repeating the same thing again and again, people are going to misread, misunderstand and mistranslate in any case (**)mega LOL I guess the familiarity has another reason. I consider it a ’non-Mika’ song in any case (***) b**ls**t (***) mega b**ls**t Finishing note: I am really happy to read positive articles on Mika but lacking talent in both understanding music and writing, why does one write gig reviews?

Ennél szebben csak az édesapja ejti azt hogy 'magyar'

A végén már szeget-nek hallottam.... Az egyik rajongó, aki ott volt a koncerten, beszélt vele előző nap egy másik koncerten, és akkor még másképp ejtette: 'Ziget'-nek. Az egy fokkal jobb:teehee:. Gondolom, izgult, és akkor az ember mindig összekavarja még azt is, amit amúgy tud.

I will print, read and translate that Quart article later - I just have no time to at the moment. In the meantime let me translate these: Title: 'Aesthetics cheated by love' . I need to read the article if that is the right translation but the first paragraph reveals it is a really positive review: "Many have complained that the more and more 'insignificant' Mika is headlining Saturday's Sziget festival. He, howeve, was not so concerned: he gave probably the best party at Sziget this year with a smile on his face - just like 3 years ago."

Yes, it was, thank you It turned out to be a really special one, especialy considering that I was not even particularly excited about going first. It basically reminded me why it is always worth to see him live now and then. As usual, I will start with a few words on the other acts as they contributed to my overall experience. I decided not to stand in the crowd until the first act, Enter Shikari was over, as heavy metal is not my kind of thing and I knew the audience will get replaced by 90% (basically all, other then front row). It happened exactly like that, so when I joined the audience at 6pm, I could easily secure a comfortable 2nd row place right in the middle. I was actually interested in the performance by the Fratellis as I remember them starting out the same year as Mika and with some really catchy singles. Their performance totally explained why they never got further in their career. Despite their melodic tunes the performance was so boring and dull, the lead singer so uncharismatic and the instrumentation so unimaginative that I basically kept yawning after the second song. After the 'color party' (people thowing packs of paint around), against which I protected myself with a raincoat, I was really looking forward to the Editors but to my surprise, I did not enjoy their concert as much as I hope I would. The only two songs that stood out for me were You Don’t Know Love and Papillon as they were not so strongly, annoyingly amplified. That is such a shame as I like their sound on record. Maybe they sound better in a small club. There were 2 tracks the lead singer performed on his own but they also left me unimpressed. There was also little movement on stage but at least they put on more of a ’show’ with lights. Nevertherless, audience enjoyed themselves as they were crowd-surfing left and right - I guess they would have done so to any rock band’s thumping sound, playing no matter what in any case. So, I can’t say I was in a really upbeat spirit for Mika’s show but as soon as he got on stage I immediately realized why he stands out from the rest when he performs live. His music has depth, despite being easy to remember, in his arrangements you can hear instruments, not merely the amplified bass, the songs are so catchy you want to sing along and those who don’t, will get encouraged to participate in one way or another. He is in full control of the band as well as the audience: he almost puts a spell on the latter with his charisma. He was at ease, enjoying himself and so was the audience that was much different from the typical Mika concert crowd that is shrinking by the minute: this time I saw lots of gay guys front row on the other side and they surely enjoyed him changing the lyrics of Billy Brown running off with President Putin..etc. Whilst before the show there was some pushing near the front row, it stopped immediately as soon as everyone started to move and jump around to the music. You can just forget about everything and concentrate fully on ejoying the show. I am really happy to have witnessed such great performance in my country, with an audience of at least around 30,000 – in front of main stage only. I always wished I experineced him having such success at Sziget as my country is not a particularly open-minded one but if given the chance he can charm anyone with his talent, so I am sure festivals like this will contribute to his longevity. I have no time to write about the songs themselves but you can watch it yourself, so that is needless, I guess. It was nice to meet all the MFCers there as well.

So far all is good, inluding weather.

The weather is lovely in Budapest this morning : it is windy and cloudy- a relief from the burning hot of the past 2 weeks.. Thank you for the weatherforecast. I hope it is reliable:) i was not planning to leave for the festival before 3pm, anyway. So there will be a live stream of the concert? Mika seems to be in a position that he is cited as one of the key headliners this year. Organizers have obviously had great experience with him already twice ( plus he would have performed in 2007 as well originally, and on the same day, I have just realized), so instead of inviting 'much bigger' names this year, the went for the less expensive option, I believe, as this festival sells out every year in any case. I have just read that there was no crowd before Blur, either, yesrerday - the audience is spread across 6-7 different stages, which I think is really healthy. I haven't seen any of his performances this year and neither have I read threads so I am looking for some nice surprises:) Besides, I always wished he'd be a headliner at Sziget one day, so I hope weather or audience won't disappoint - he surely won't.

It won't rain all day: there will still be nearly 30Celsius but there will be storms and you don't know when that is coming. Last time when Mika was at Sziget the storm came after the headline act (30 secs to Mars). Imma even tweeted about it. Or maybe it was him - can't remember. Now the rain is most likely to come towards the afternoon though, so I recommend everyone with a ticket to look at the indoor concert options as well, before Mika's performance. I wouldn't count on a M&G at a festival. At Balaton Sound there was one but at Sziget it is not so obvious where the artist exit is..etc.