Cyprian

So he had a difficult childhood. We can extrapolate from there.

Of course, I hope (and suspect) he is keeping his private life private because he wants to. But then, owing to his ridiculously compact schedule, I'm not convinced he has a private life at the moment. Infuriatingly, he might face just as keen a media gaze in his time off, when he's supposed to be, well, 'having fun'. That's when the invasiveness will probably begin to grate. And at some point there will inevitably be tabloid stories of some sort—he's far too handsome to go single for long, right? So yeah, it's a question we're stuck with, and it will be interesting to see how Mika deals with it as various allegations crop up. The professional response would the one he's giving at the moment ('My private life is private', etc.) But he will do well to keep people curious about his orientation for ten years. Most people will make their minds up quickly if they haven't done already.* On the other hand, even if Mika were to say he was straight/gay/whatever, there's still media attention to be had in who celebs are f###ing. He's in a lose-lose situation. IngievV, I've been trying to avoid news on Brad and Angelina's relationship for as long as I can remember because it was so drawn out and mind-numbing. But you've saved me there from trawling through at least six months of gossip columns. Thanks. ;-) * and I should say this speculation is partly fuelled by Mika himself in various songs.

Oh, well I hope so. That would make a big difference. I have to say the writer of this article used the examples of other singers rather well to describe the dilemmas of coming out (or not) in the music industry, though, as I said, the question of when 'coyness' becomes 'subversive' would've been really interesting. Ja, okay. Perhaps I ought've asked, 'What slant do they take?'

I don't know. Just what *is* the point of gay magazines, Jack? I've never checked. Are they flooded with gossip over the possible alternative sex lives of celebrities (like, 'Did you see the twinkle in Tom's eye when Brad walked up to him and gave him a particularly manly hug?'); are there columns of special gay events/happenings in particular cities?; do they debate the pros and cons of lycra underwear? I need your expertise here. (edit: Which is not to say they shouldn't be asking questions about his sexuality. Indeed, it would be interesting to see more sexually ambiguous figures in gay magazines. It's just that if it's entirely celeb-oriented the format could get tired rather quickly.)

A pity the article ended there; this needed exploring further. Or, at least, qualifying with reference to which culture. B+

Yeah. If there's something resembling a sentence I feel that at least I can have a go at challenging it. I wouldn't even bother trying to convert the "u f4g" crowd. Too much "leetspeak" makes my brain explode. [i've always wanted to use that guy.] Well, my point was precisely that we don't have to be tolerant of morons. Perhaps we're talking about two different types of "respect", then. When you said "respect" I thought you meant that we should tolerate the other person's views, regardless of whether we agreed or disagreed with them, by seeing their opinions on an equal footing as our own. This would be kinda bizarre if we had already decided that they were wrong. But maybe you were talking about respect of them as person, i.e. recognizing that they can type reasonably coherent sentences and that they possess some sort of mental activity, which is admittedly more than can be said for our chimpanzee typists.

Well . . . you can respect the first person's better grammar, but you don't have to respect their views. And I'm not sure those views are all that different anyway. Invoking a higher power to pass the buck to for making decisions on your behalf is pretty lazy. It's better (more "respectable", I suppose) for you if you genuinely believe the slippery biblical logic behind its condemnation of homosexuality (though it's nonetheless still wrong), but disapproving of homosexuality just because your church said so doesn't add up at all. This is where folks often draw attention to their belief or faith, since belief is something that seems to command respect. But then Hitler had rather definite beliefs about what should happen to minorities of various sorts (indeed, some of them were rooted in warped Biblical interpretations), and he was quite resolute on them, too. It doesn't mean that he was a) just as right as anyone else who came up with different conclusions (say, someone who knows a thing or two about homosexuality or bullying) b) not a complete imbecile. The rest of your 'rant' was sublime, though.

Indeed. At least it was reasonably in tune. I'm not much fond of the idea that ONLY Mika (and other people/pets with exceptional vocal ranges) can sing Mika's songs. Consider yourself lucky that I won't unleash a version of myself singing for comparison.

Cartoons, toys & Michael Lau? The guy's a total toy buff. Mika must have a giant room at home stuffed full with them. RIP Zorro, tho.

Haha. The boy looks super hot, of course, but I confess the red shirt/blue jacket/yellow flower combo is more to my liking. I prefer Mika in sweaters knitted by grannies, and plaid shirts left over from the seventies, and ill-fitting blazers with lurid trousers that look like cross between a spirograph set and a tv testcard. . . . so hopelessly overwhelmed by fashion. I know I am.