Pandora_Z

But then it gets back to what I said originally in that if you couldn't even go to gigs or be involved with the fans who do, how much do you call yourself that kind of "fan"?

 

What if Mika started focusing his entire career around South Korea? Only touring Asia, releasing half his songs in Korean, doing all his interviews in Korean, our only contact with fans who have access to him are Koreans who are busy with their Korean-speaking communities, etc.

 

How long are you going to maintain an interest in that? I mean this is what is happening with France versus English speaking North America. You have to invest an inordinate amount of effort trying to stay connected to that and most people can't be bothered because there's so little payoff.

 

Yes Mika sold out the NYC shows but so many of the hardcores from 2009 didn't turn up. The Canadian contingency was there because I encouraged them to go. I'm the one who keeps them up to date on Mika news. I'm the one who tells them when there are gigs. I ask them if they want to travel with me and that's why they come.

 

These are fans who have followed Mika since very early days but life goes on and most people are not going to go to the trouble of trying to keep up with an artist when there is nothing of interest going on for them 99% of the time. When Mika disappears and doesn't communicate with his fans or spends 18 months pandering to France instead of getting an English album on the shelves they just can't be bothered with it.

It seems as if MIKA does spend more time pandering to France but that doesn't make me any less of a fan just because he doesn't tour in the US. I guess I am confused as to what makes someone a fan. Because of certain situations, I would not be able to go to many of his shows even if he did tour the US. But I can still be a fan because I love his music, I love his voice, I purchase his music, I give his music to friends as gifts, I follow what he is doing...I am his fan because of what he has given to me. Beautiful music, an angelic voice, hope and joy. He could be anywhere in the world and I would still be a fan.

Anyway, to throw a little reality on this...how do you really know the person on Twitter is the actual star themselves. You assume it is but...

As I tried to explain before (obviously badly ) I mean something else when I use "Mika fan" in quotes. It's something that barely even existed in the 1970s, at least I never experienced it. It has come about due to the internet that has lead to strong and informed fan communities, the changes in the music industry and the changes that all celebrities have gone through in interacting with the public.

 

The thing is Mika is a high maintenance pop star. He wants people to follow him wherever he goes. To promote him on Twitter and Facebook. To plan surprises for him. To give him gifts. To be in his choir and know all his lyrics and moves. To be in the front row and know all his lyrics and moves. Etc., etc. It's a symbiotic relationship but it's also one that cannot be switched on and off like a faucet. For those who really participate in that they have to be tuned into what's going on - with Mika, with other fans. It's a big investment of time and relationships and you can't just walk away from it for a couple of years and come back to pick up where you left off.

 

Will I still be listening to Mika's music in 20 years? I hope so. Will I still go to a gig if it happens in Toronto? For sure. But that's not really what I mean.

Yes it was very different to be a fan of someone in the times before Internet, Facebook and Twitter. If you were especially lucky you could go to concerts but the first Barry concert I went to was in 1982. You used the radio more and your own music. You read articles in magazines and maybe if you were lucky you could see them perform on television.

Now, I have only been to two MIKA concerts but I can watch almost every performance on YouTube. Of course it isn't the same as being there. I wish I had the means of following him around the world but I don't. But I am still a fierce fan!

I had waited 27 years for "Tears for Fears", the UK duo from 80's coming back to Japan to do the show. We are quiet but patient, I think. Japan is so far from Europe. Listening to his interviews, I also understand that MIKA wants to write songs, not just touring as he did before. BUT I hope MIKA will come to Japan next year

I completely understand. This is going to date me but I have been an avid Barry Manilow fan since 1974. I went though the good years of the 70's and early 80's and also supported him wholeheartedly through all the jokes and cracks made about him in later years (and today). To me, Barry is one of the world's greatest performers and he is still performing and selling albums!

http://www.billboard.com/column/chartbeat/barry-manilow-scores-50th-hit-on-billboard-1008019332.story#/column/chartbeat/barry-manilow-scores-50th-hit-on-billboard-1008019332.story

But I have only seen him perform live twice but I own every piece of music he has ever put out there. That is what makes a true fan. To be able to stick with someone through the good times and the bad, the ups and the downs, and be there with them even when they make mistakes. Sort of like a marriage.

That is how I feel about MIKA. I will always be his fan no matter what he does. Even if he stops performing and simply writes songs, I will still find a way to support him in any way I can. I can wait 27 years for him if that is what it takes.

Well I think, as far as the interpretation goes, the way random folks would see it, the bag of light is Mika's treasure. It could represent love, and probably does, for MikaFreaks, but for the ppl who are not so familiar with Mika as we are, it could just represent light, or something else valuable.

So even though the merpeople can breathe underwater, they want that love, or that light, whatever the object represents. They are jealous that Mika has it, and are willing to pretend to love him in order to steal it. So Mika begins to trust these people and isn't holding on hard enough to his lifeline, as he was before, so they take it from him and he dies.

Having watched it again, I think the uw sequence does save the video, and after that, watching it again, knowing more of what to expect, I think you do see the contrast between the "Fake" above water scenes, and the "Real" Underwater world.

Maybe that was what Mika was trying to convey, that the world above the water isn't a real place anymore. Because he is, at heart, an artist, I imagine that was his idea. But whether the public will latch on to it, I can't predict really. We'll have to see.

I still say, if the water had looked more real, the boat scenes would have been better, and I also agree with others, that he should have fallen overboard at the first chorus.

I like your interpretation. Very good.

Okay this is going way out there but did anyone notice how the mast of the boat is a cross? The bag of light is on one side and the cross (religion) is on the other and he is trapped in between on a too-small boat. All he wants is to be away from it all and be alone with his love. Maybe the storm represents his struggles in regards to religion and how he was raised. He struggles with the mast during the storm representing his struggles trying to understand. He finally falls overboard (or jumps overboard) to actually try to save himself and his love. He is in under his head with his love and all these people (mer-people) come up and want things from him. That is why they are taking his clothes. Everyone wants something from him and eventually his love is taken from him as well.

Too deep...?

 

About the meaning... I think it´s clear that the lighting ball is Mika´s lover and then, when he needs him the most (to breathe), he is taken from him by a hot guy who likes to show his naked torso too much (in other words, his lover cheated on him and the poor Mika died ). I agree with Kaito, I don´t think that random people would understand it at all

That's the way I understood the video also. He was on the boat trying to protect his love from the "storms of this life" but when he needed his love most of all, when he actually needed him "to breathe", his love was stolen from him by someone else and the loss of love destroyed him.

I thought the video was beautiful in an artistic sort of way. About the product placement...there was also product placement in Rain but it didn't ruin that video for me. I love that one as well.

I can't believe he's beating everyone! Katy Perry, One Direction...even McCarney and Brian May. And not by a little but by a large amount! So exciting! I hope it gets him some much needed exposure!

I wish he could somehow become more well known in the US. When I first heard his voice in 2007, I told everyone I knew that he was going to be as popular as Madonna or Michael Jackson. His voice is a gift, he is charismatic, his music is beautiful, and his live shows are awesome. I just knew deep down that he was the next "one".

But in the area I live, you do not hear his songs at all. The only way anyone knows about him is because I will not shut up about him! In the city I live in, I found one shop with only four copies of TOOL. I realize that most people probably don't purchase physical CD's anymore but instead use something like iTunes, however having a physical CD in a store is still a reminder to people that he is still around. This just seems like a lack of support from his label.

I still feel his time will come. I still believe in him, in his talent and creativity, in his foresight, and in his beautiful angelic voice. I have to believe. A world without his music would be a very dull, lifeless place.

Grace Kelly was popular because it was on every radio station in the UK so it shot to #1 a week after it was released. He had been touted as BBC's Sound of 2007. There was tons and tons of hype. The first time I heard GK I was paying close attention because the DJ was going on and on about how Mika was the second coming of Freddie Mercury, etc. before he played the track on London's #1 pop radio station at that time.

 

You know there could be a million factors to explain why Mika is having difficulty promoting right now. Poor choice of single, not enough backing from the record company, etc., etc.

 

But it still comes down to one thing IMO and that is disappearing and waiting too long between albums. If he had retained that audience of millions of people who bought LICM he wouldn't need to win them back. He wouldn't need TV adverts to remind them that he's still alive. He wouldn't need a strong single because people would give the album a listen based on the strength of his previous songs. Happy Ending came out in late 2007 and was still being played on popular radio stations in the UK. If he'd had another single in early 2008 it would have been played as well whether it was WAG or Celebrate or whatever. He would have just been able to continue riding that wave that started in 2007. Just like Rihanna and Katy Perry and Justin Bieber and all these other pop stars with less talent who keep it going all the time.

 

He is starting over from scratch every time and every time he is going to lose a little bit more of that core audience and will need more and more resources to try to win them back.

I totally agree, Christine.

Beyrouth is the French spelling.

Oops! I did not know that. I learned something today and any day you can learn something makes it a good day!

I don't know the French language but if anyone needs to know how to speak in Crow or Northern Cheyenne, I can help there!

talking about his dog... apparently her name is Spinee now

 

http://en.mediamass.net/people/mika/dogrecovery.html

Where in the world did they get the name Spinee?

Oh and he was born in Beyrouth, Lebanon. Either that was a joke or someone does not know how to spell!

I don't know . . . this one seems legit.

http://en.mediamass.net/people/mika/sexiest-alive.html

I agree!!

Now this is just me thinking this because I am a mother but I always worry about the health of his vocal chords. Back in June he tweeted "@mikasounds: At the vocal doctor. About to get a camera stuck down my throat. All quite a regular afternoon for a hypochondriac" So the mother in me starts worrying if something might be wrong with his voice and I had this nagging feeling that he was having problems singing. So maybe he needs to take time off because he is having problems and needs time to heal.

And I am probably just being hysterical and melodramatic!

OK, straying off-topic here, but I found this one hysterical!

 

http://en.mediamass.net/people/mika/married.html

 

 

And with that, I'll stop because we're giving this site way more traffic than they deserve!

Yes, I agree. That site doesn't deserve any more traffic. But I was laughing hysterically at the one where MIKA's wife is pregnant and she has a baby bump! She??!!

I found this one funny mainly because it was so obviously not true. But if you didn't know much about MIKA and didn't follow him on Twitter, you wouldn't know the difference....

http://en.mediamass.net/people/mika/dogrecovery.html

I found this article which appears to be a site that creates stories about celebrities that aren't true...satire....

http://en.mediamass.net/people/mika/new-album.html

So I don't know what to believe. I simply cannot imagine him not performing since it seems like he enjoys performing so much. But I don't really know him. And it took 3 years to get TOOL finished...I can't believe he could rush back in the studio and crank another one out in a year. Unless he is going to release an EP or something like that.

I watched. I was so worried at the beginning of the song. It seemed so... lacking. Lacking all that sound and depth that I associate with the song. I'm so pleased the second half of it seemed to contain all that. I hope the audience all appreciated it.

I don't know how I feel about OOL. I don't feel it worked quite right on Jay Leno. I understand what he is saying in the song and the story he is trying to convey but I feel most of today's audience wouldn't bother to stick through the entire song and wouldn't really try to understand what he is saying. It's too deep.

Of course, all of us who love MIKA will dig deep into his songs and try to discover what he is telling us. But the casual listener just wants something simple they can sing with. Underwater would be good as a single and IOLYWID and Popular would be perfect singles. They aren't too deep...just catchy...with lyrics that are easy to remember. OOL is just too complicated for a single. In my opinion.

I can honestly say that I have never heard any MIKA song played on the radio ever. But I live in the middle of nowhere.

Just my opinion... I think they will release UW in the US. I think they are a little cautious about releasing TOOL as a single here. I never give much hope to ever hearing a MIKA song on US radio. He just isn't mainstream enough and that's what I love about him. He stays true to who he is.

A little later, they called us back on stage and there is the man himself. I literally forgot my first name when he asked.

I would have done the same thing!! I probably wouldn't have remembered how to speak English!

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It is exciting to hear what goes on behind the scenes. And I am so happy for you to have had this once in a lifetime experience. I screamed extra loud for you when he had the choir introduce themselves!

The only part that makes me sad was that I was not able to meet you in person and give you a great big hug! Hopefully, we will be able to meet up at a future Mika show when he comes back "to do a proper tour" like he promised.

Great to hear that you had an amazing experience.

 

What was the opening act and how long did it last?

The opening act was "The Dolls". I hadn't heard of them before. They didn't play very long, maybe 20 - 30 minutes. They were not bad and they exuded abundant energy. I didn't mind them though they weren't necessarily my cup of tea but my husband didn't care for them at all.

It's funny, I asked my husband what he thought of MIKA after the show. Keep in mind that my husband does not listen to MIKA at all and has never even seen a video of MIKA performing. He said he actually liked MIKA's music but that MIKA reminded him of a little boy. I didn't know what to make of that!

The concert was simply amazing! It was so exciting to see him again after three years.

We sat up in the first row in the balcony. I know Mika waved a few times in my general direction because I was standing and screaming out the lyrics to every song. (Along with everyone else!). I tried to take a couple pictures but I was just a smidgen too far away for them to turn out decently.

I wish I could have stayed after and met everyone. I really wanted to but after waiting for 45 minutes in the rain, the opening act and then almost two straight hours of Mika, my husband had exhausted his supply of patience. There was no way I could stay any longer. I had even brought my TOOL CD for Mika to sign but that didn't happen. Oh well, we all do what we can to keep our significant other happy.

But I was walking on air when we left. Mika's shows are nothing short of amazing!

I got news today from TEAM Mika that I will be participating as part of Mika's Polkadot choir tomorrow night! I can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me. What a once in a lifetime experience! Can't wait to see you all in less than 24 hours!!

OH MY WORD!!! I am so excited for you! I can't wait to see you up on that stage!

Hi guys I see there is some talk about saving spots for other MFCers but this is generally very bad etiquette especially later in the day. I mean if someone gets to the queue at 3 pm and one of their friends turns up at 4 pm people are probably not going to care, but if there are people who have been there all day long and suddenly are pushed back by people who turn up right before the doors open it's not going to go over well.

 

We had a situation in NY on Monday where we were not given physical tickets and had to enter with the person who bought during the presale as all the "tickets" were just places under the purchaser's name. This meant that some people who arrived later had to enter with people at the head of the queue since it could not be helped. But it's really not fair to the others and yesterday when everyone had tickets in their hands people entered in the order they arrived.

 

Anyway I hope everyone can be together inside and you find sometimes this all works out in the end but I don't think it's a good idea for MFCers to be planning to hold spots that way. There will be other hard core fans there and if they want to queue from earlier in the day then they deserve a place in line without getting bumped back.

 

Just a general FYI the queues in NYC were not forming until at least around noon and most people were not turning up until much later like 4 pm. I know you've probably heard a lot of queuing horror stories in Europe and even some of the earlier NY gigs but the dyanmic has changed here so please don't panic about getting there at some ridiculous early morning hour to get a front row spot. It's not necessary.

Yes, thank you Christine for the advice. You're right, it isn't fair to save spots. It would upset me if I was standing behind someone who saved a bunch of spots for friends. I will probably be able to find you guys after the show since I'm not going to make it there very early beforehand. I'm so excited and it sounds like the NYC shows were awesome!

If I don't get there until 6, would it be possible for you guys to still try to save a spot for me? I know that might not seem fair to the people behind us so if this doesn't seem right, I understand. But I would so love to be in front of the stage with other MFCers!

What time do you all think you are going to be at the VIC? We want to try and get there early. Even though we live in IL it's about close to a 4 hour drive which isn't too bad. If we are some of the first in line we can save a couple spots. I know not many people on here are RVSP'd so I wish we could all be in front and all together (in a perfect world)

If it was just me, I would be there super early but my husband is coming with me so I think the earliest I could get there would be 6. I think the doors open at 6:30 and I don't know how early I can drag him there. It would be awesome if we could save places for other MFCers and be able to stand in front of the stage all together. I just figured I would see what happens when I get there. If I end up in the balcony, that will be alright as well. If we get there and you still have some spots saved, I would gladly stand in line with you guys. But if it doesn't work out, that's alright. I'm just happy to see MIKA again after three long years!

This song is really beautiful!! And, as some of you have pointed at, Mika's voice combined with just the piano, is perfect! It is definitely sung à la Barbara. There's nothing like this song in France at the moment and it ever gets played on the radio or tv, people would love it!

I know people would love it! I played it for about 50 people where I work (claiming it was the most beautiful song ever written ) and almost all of them loved it even though they could not understand what he was singing. Most of them were so taken with his voice. Even though I play MIKA music for my co-workers on occasion, many made comments that they never realized what a beautiful voice he has. He needs to do more songs with only a piano and his voice.