Rizchi3

I just got my tickets in the mail a few days ago for his February 5th performance in Chicago!! I'm sooooo excited! I got a chance to see him in Chicago last June (which I almost missed) so I made sure to get his tickets well in advance this time. Counting down the days

I have to say, not only does he look quite yummy (as usual), but I definitely like the 5 o'clock shadow he's sportin'

When I met him after his concert in Chicago, I was practically speechless (he's even cuter in person!!!), but I managed to squeak out that his concert was the best concert I've ever been to. He was signing my shoe at the moment and he looked geniunely touched that the concert meant so much to me. He smiled and said thank you. That moment was enough for me

I absolutely loved their interactions. I wish I could have a spray paint fight with Mika

Although Kanye West is one of the smarter rap artists out there, he's still an arrogant, self-obsessed performer. If I was Mika, I wouldn't have just "walked out that door", I wouldn't have even been there in the first place! And I disagree with the columnist, saying that Mika seeks to imitate dead people. Sure, he has gotten inspiration from other artists (who hasn't), but he's too much of his own person to ever imitate anyone.

I'm not gonna lie, that was pretty hilarious . Poor Mika. I think what was really funny was how quickly he recovered and kept jumping around again. He's just such a trooper. The show must carry on!

I burst out laughing when Beth said about coming in her pants a little bit when she met him. We all know the affects Mika can have on us

I found this article/interview of Mika on one of our radio stations in Chicago listed as an emerging artist. Some things we already know, but it's always nice to hear anything about Mika Enjoy! “I grew up listening to every thing from Joan Baez and Dylan, to Serge Gainsbourg and Flamenco,†says Mika, a 23-year-old singer, songwriter and producer whose sparkling debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, has just been released. “My musical tastes have become more eclectic as I’ve got older, but I'm always going back to great artist songwriters, people who make great records to their own vision. Prince, Harry Nillson, Elton John, even Michael Jackson. These people make amazing pop records that couldn’t be performed by anybody else, and that’s what I always wanted to do.†Fun, smart, musically adventurous and thematically provocative, the thirteen songs on Life, all of them written and produced by Mika, combine euphoric rushes of melody with darker unexpected elements. They range from bright daytime melodramas to night-time tales of love, loss, abandonment, hope and happiness. Each is a splendid blend of fresh imagination and deft pop craftsmanship. They are songs, Mika says, “about transitions,†about people in the process of becoming whoever they want to be. Sort of like Mika himself. “Transitions are important, because that’s when everything gets destabilized, and that makes you question and re-evaluate everything,†he explains. “For songwriting, that’s an endless source of inspiration, because it makes you look at things. You can’t take anything for granted.†A self-taught piano virtuoso, gymnastic vocalist and born entertainer, Mika has music in his bones. His four-octave voice, which he knows when to restrain and when to unleash, needs to be heard to be believed, and he uses it to powerful effect on Life. Whether praising the delights of the larger-framed woman on the funk-rocking “Big Girl (You Are Beautiful),†describing the journey of a married man who discovers that he’s attracted to men on the burlesque “Billy Brown,†or simply celebrating the joys of being alive on “Love Today,†he is unafraid to revel in the pleasure he takes in making music. “I wrote ‘Love Today’ when I was happy, really happy,†he recalls. “When you’re on a buzz, you assume that everyone in the world feels the way you do. So I put it in a song.†Motorola has licensed “Love Today†for online and mobile-phone spots in its RED campaign The moods on Life in Cartoon Motion swing wildly – as do the rush of musical surprises that continually tumble forward. That sense of delirious unpredictability accounts, in part, for the album’s title. “Inevitably when you put certain subjects into a pop song, a cartoon-like quality arises,†Mika says. “It’s like how Homer Simpson can talk about anything from politics to Michael Jackson’s weirdness to homosexuality and get away with it because it’s a cartoon. That’s where the title comes from.†Mika’s background, however, wasn’t always so playful. He was born in Beirut in the mid Eighties, and his family moved to Paris at the height of Lebanon’s brutal civil war. His father was subsequently taken hostage and held at the American embassy in Kuwait, and the family eventually settled in London. Mika found himself lost in the chasm of these wrenching and frightening events. “It was the combination of moving as well as a horrible time I had at school in the first few years of living in London that led me to forget how to read and write, and stop talking for a little while,†he says. “I was pulled out of school for over six months; in order to sort myself out. This is when music really became important. It got me back on my feet.†By the time he was nine, Mika knew that songwriting was what he wanted to do. “After I started singing, I started to get jobs everywhere,“ he says. “I did everything from recordings with the Royal Opera House to a chewing gum jingle. One reason I got so much work was that I was insanely cheap. My mother and I had no idea what I was supposed to get paid. Looking back on it, 45 quid for an Orbit chewing gum jingle could have been a little too cheap!†When he was eleven, Mika catapulted onto the stage of a Richard Strauss opera, and the glamour of that environment instantly seduced him. “It was a magical world that you could live in,†he says. “A parallel universe for people that is illusory and enchanting.†When it came time for college, he enrolled at The Royal College of Music. An obsessive songwriter, he would crash parties, hijack the piano and start performing his tunes. One such occasion led to a development deal, which, unfortunately, only ended up crushing his spirit. “The executives would try and twist me into a direction that went totally against my nature,†he recalls. “Basically, they wanted me to follow whatever was popular.†To fend off depression, Mika wrote "Grace Kelly," a hilariously bold operatic spoof set to a technicolor pop backdrop. “It was a ****-off song to the people I was working with,†he explains. “That’s where the line ‘Shall I bend over/Shall I look older,/Just to be put on your shelf’ comes from. I was so angry. That company had every resource except a soul.†The infectious pomp and catchy chorus of “Grace Kelly†became a benchmark for the kind of music he wanted to make. “You can’t be afraid to stand out,†he says. “If no one was going to take a punt on it, then so be it. I would do it myself.†He found himself in Miami, recording demos with anyone who was interested, in any studio he could get for free. Eventually the right deal came along, and the result is this startlingly appealing album. These songs all reflect Mika’s distinctive touch – they are simultaneously theatrical and intimate, accessible and gleefully subversive. “’Why not?’ is one of my mottoes,†Mika says, laughing. “I always knew that the first album I ever made would have to be a completely ‘No apologies’ album. There’s a kind of youth to that as well. This is the kind of record that I knew I would only be able to make once in my life. It’s my coming-out-of school, leaving-university album -- that whole transition period from childhood to adulthood. That energy keeps it alive.†And it is just the beginning of what Mika is capable of delivering musically. “Playing live is where it all comes together for me,†he says. “I often get stressed when recording -- it’s so full of decision making. You’re constantly deciding what should stay on the song forever. I love undoing all that in my live sets, and going places where I wouldn’t necessarily go on the record.†January, 2007

His real name is Micaella (horribly misspelled most likely!). Called Mica as a nickname. Check this video out. One of the questions he answers is in response to someone asking what he real name is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIpq32ihsPE

He is sooo sweet in person, very down-to-earth. I hope everyone who loves him will get a chance to meet him one day!!

Hey Suzy, just to let you know, I got the other red bottle from the concert that Mika didn't drink from. My friend practically begged a crew member to give it to her while security was pushing us away from the stage Since he didn't drink from it, we both tried it and it was very interesting (in a good way). It tasted like some kind of tea that was cranberry flavored. Considering how parched we were after the concert, this was a good refresher. It must be something that he enjoys drinking during his concert and it kicks ass to drink something that Mika actually likes Plus, when we were leaving the concert, I found it funny that we almost had to have the bottle inspected by security because they thought it was alcohol that we snuck into the concert:)

I also was kicking myself with things I could have said, done, after I met him. For instance, I wanted to ask him for a hug, but I completely choked. I was so nervous about meeting him, after completely falling in love with his music over the past few months, that I couldn't really muster up the courage to ask him. That's okay though. At least I had a kick ass time at the concert, and got my shoes signed (which I'm wearing right now, lol). I also got less than 4 hours of sleep last night so I'm a bit delirious right now

For anyone's who's interested, here is a pic of my shoe that Mika signed

No I'm sorry, I didn't take any photos, I forgot my camera!!! But, trust me, it's all in my memory. Since it was general admission too, I was just behind one person, center stage, so I was basically three feet away from him!! It was such an unbelievable experience, and he was such a sweetheart while signing my shoe too. You could tell he was tired but he was so willing to keeping signing. Very personable and very down-to-earth, which is why I love him so much. I hope he never changes

Honestly, Mika's concert in Chicago tonight was the best concert I will ever attend in my entire life!!! He had sooo much energy and was jumping around like a madman throughout his songs He kept smiling so much throughout the concert too because of how much we were cheering him and how he was so taken aback by how much we loved him I also got my shoe signed by him after the concert!! Woohoo, never washing those shoes again! I felt like a 12 year old little fanatic schoolgirl. But honestly, I have not been this happy in such a long time and I have Mika to thank for that I will definitely not be able to sleep tonight

Thanks for the translation! Ha, I wouldn't mind if Mika wanted world domination....

Wow, he's very talented with those cartoon voices. If he ever wants a side job, I think he'll do very well in voice over work. That would be a very interesting concept, hearing Mika's voice in cartoons......?

Absolutely hilarious! I love what type of jingle you can come up with when you add a few beats in the background. Mika would be the coolest person to hang out with

Hi, everyone, my name is Deanna and I live in Chicago, Illinois, United States. I absolutely LOVE Mika and I first heard of him in February when I caught his "Grace Kelly" video accidentally on one of our MTV video channels. I normally never ever like a song the first time I hear it but I loved "Grace Kelly" the moment I heard it. Spent the rest of the day humming to it as I have been a Mika lover ever since. Hope to talk to you guys soon!