riotnikki

I will firm up as it gets closer - will all the young folks mind have an oldie like me (41) around?

I lived in Key West for 8 years, Fort Myers for 8 years and Ocala for 3 years - so I am definitely a Florida girl! Please include me!

And they thought he was too flamboyant? Excuse me? Someone else already said - they just don't get him. But that worries me. It worries me that I never hear him on the radio. And that my 22 year old niece didn't know who he was (I know she is a bit of a dingbat though). Could it be that he is not commercially viable?

My Mom is not a fan. She thinks he is ok but looks young. She can understand why I like him but I swear she acts like I am cheating on Freddie Mercury because I enjoy Mika. She keeps saying things like, "He can't hold a candle to Freddie." "He's not as good a singer or songwriter." "I Don't like his dance music." To be fair she was a huge Queen fan, especially Freddie, so she really hates to see the comparison. I have made the comparison before but truly see Mika as his own unique persona, frankly a bit healthier than Freddie emotionally I believe. A little more optimistic. But anyway - loving Mika, his music, his art - in no way detracts from my connection to Freddie and Queen. This is just different. Another facet of my personality at another time in my life. As for Mika's art, my Mom isn't too interested in things like that, so she would never comment on it. And yes she has pronounced him gay since "Grace Kelly" and somewhat harps on it (not in an intolerant way) but just that she thinks it is silly for me to be attracted to a bisexual man. (Um, hello, and what was Freddie - but since he is gone, he is elevated to Godhead around here.) As for other family members, my brother doesn't know who he is and until I played "Grace Kelly" for my sister-in-law and 22 year old niece (who must be living under a rock) they had never even heard of Mika. That seriously floored me. I just about went berserker and blurted out, "How can you not know who he is? He sold 5 million albums!" My sister-in-law liked him but my niece didn't seem that impressed. She has horrific taste is music though, so it was not unexpected. My husband (a musician himself) thought Mika was really talented and appreciated his songwriting abilities (for being able to write songs that won't get out of your head) and musical and vocal prowess too. High praise coming from him since he was a studio musician and played and toured with bands in the seventies like Pure Prairie League, The Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffett.

This one. Oh, man.

This is one of my fave pics of Mika. Wow.

Nice. Very nice. Great photo.

This is gorgeous - where did you get it? I want!

No offense to those who loved it but this video is ridiculous, dismal, poorly conceived and executed. At least with Blame It on the Girls it looked as if someone went to the trouble to do the costumes and a little choreography. This one - oh man, where do I begin? I'm confused about the Gypsy-thing he's doing, on the one hand I liked his outfit and how it all looked like a Romany campground. Perhaps the creatures have something to do with magick of some kind, not sure, someone else posted about symbolism and that's fine but since this was a song supposedly taken from a break-up letter, I was expecting it to be a bit more literal. And yes, I get that Mika wants to be artistic and unique and do the unexpected and it would just be so BORING right to have a song called Rain that had a video with actual rain so lets do fireworks instead? Sometimes an artist reaches and fails and Mika has done that here. No one should sit there watching a video actually WAITING for it to rain and then NOT have rain. Sometimes to do the expected IS the best artistic statement after all. Overall I have not been impressed with the last two videos. Blame It on the Girls looked like it was done on the cheap in some empty warehouse in Encino. Rain looks like it was done in a field on the edge of some airstrip or something. Just a wretched location. Ugly, terrible lighting, absurd costumes which you never even get a good look at. Mika's videos have never been his strong suit but We Are Golden really raised the bar. That is a stunning video that I never get sick of watching because it is electrified and the best part is the eye candy which is Mika himself. Also I think Rain was a weak pick for a single since it is patently my least favorite song on the record. I don't see it getting a lot of airplay in the US but then none of his songs do, which really bites. If you think I'm full of crap go ahead and say so just tell me WHY you think the video is good.( or the song for that fact).

and boyfriends and friend friends too. He's a 26 year old pop star! How many females right here in MFC would jump at the chance to have a go with Mika? The guy stumbles down the street and probably has a hook-up every third step!

Thanks for posting those. I have not seen them on youtube. I am only just now discovering all the videos and things out there on Queen. I haven't listened to much since Freddie died truth be told. Yes, I've been in mourning (and still am) since 1991. But now there is so much available, all these wonderful interviews I never saw, photos etc - things that were never seen here in the US. You wouldn't believe how dreadful it was that Queen stopped touring here after Hotspace.(Yes I am that old that I have seen them in concert!) That was practically the only way I could get any information on Queen - going to see them in concert and hooking up with other fans! I should have moved to London like I wanted to when I was 15!