Pandora_Z

I guess I don't know for sure. I just assumed they were different entities because of the email addresses. For website problems, I would email info@mikasounds and for problems with the point system, I would email Push Entertainment. So I guess I was under the impression that they were separate. And I have never received an answering email from Mikasounds but I have always received an answering email from Push Entertainment. This leads me to believe that they are separate as well.

Quote: Yes, that is the same thing that happened to me. From November 2nd until November 6th, I wrote at least three times a day...which sounds needy but it was really bothering me that I couldn't log in. I wanted to know WHY! Here is how I found out. Earlier, I had problems with my Mikasounds profile in regards to the validation of points and I had a very, very nice person from Push Entertainment help me. And they always answered me promptly. So even though the problem with logging in wasn't a Push Entertainment problem but a Mikasounds problem, I still wrote him an email asking him if he could find out what the problem was. He wrote back right away and said that he would have someone from the technology team get in touch with me. Less than 5 minutes later, he wrote again and said this (his exact words, I still have the email)... Hi You have been banned for being a persistent spammer. There is nothing I can do to help Sorry. I'm not going to say his name because I hope he doesn't get in trouble for helping me. I don't think I would have ever found out if it hadn't have been for him. I know it was not his fault that I was "banned". But I know that no one from the Mikasounds website would have ever answered my emails. I would have just gone away which is what they want. I think it is terribly rude of them to not answer emails. The thing that bothers me is how it is going to reflect on Mika in the end? A casual fan who becomes angered at the management of the website would not have good things to say about Mika. Even though Mika is not the one doing it, he is represented by the website. And I don't blame you for feeling upset about it...it doesn't feel good to be ignored and rejected.

Quote: I had a little over 100,000 points and was in 6th place when I was banned on November 2nd. And I didn't abuse the system by posting 20 smiley faces on one profile. I simply said "Hello" or "Welcome" to each person when they signed up. One time per profile. Sometimes the website would duplicate it but that was not my fault. I made points this way because I live in the middle of Montana and there is no way I could get points for videos or pictures of Mika. I purchased all I could purchase (I would have done this anyway in support of Mika) and saying "Hello" to everyone was the only way I could think of to make it fair to a fan who has no access to a Mika gig. I wasn't going to steal photos or video off the internet and post them as my own. I was trying to find a way to make points without doing something wrong. It just sounds fishy that they didn't tell me anything until a week after I informed them that I had reached 100,000. And I had no access to my profile in order to tell anyone what happened. I may be paranoid, but I think they don't want anyone to know what they are doing. I think they will give away a couple of the larger prizes just to make it look legit and then ban most other people for some other vague rule that they just made up. And they will end the contest before anyone gets to 500,000. I am sure that Mika did not intend for the contest to go this way but I don't think he has much control over it anyway. I can't see him advocating the excommunication of someone from the Mikasounds community. That's very un-Mika like. Yes, take away my points if I did something wrong but banishment from the community....? A little extreme unless you are hiding something. Everything in life happens for a reason and it is up to us to discover the good in every experience, even the bad ones. I met a girl from Germany in the Mikasounds community and we wrote briefly back and forth on the site. But I lost that communication when I was exiled. Luckily, I was able to get my email address to her and we have been emailing back and forth since. We have a lot in common including our love of Mika's music. Our friendship might not have developed if not for my being excommunicated from the community.

I did write an email to Sandbag and they responded quite quickly. My order was on hold because they were waiting for more items to arrive in order to ship it out. This was a relief! The "spamming" I was supposedly doing was saying "Hello" or "Welcome" to everyone who signed up. I went to each individual profile and said hello. If the profile contained information such as their name, I would say Hello (their name). It took a great deal of my time to do this. I also made other comments as well and always tried to be positive to everyone. It's funny that it didn't matter that I was doing this in order to receive the smaller prizes...it was when I notified them that I had reached 100,000 points that, all of the sudden, I was a "spammer". I am pretty much over it now. I still love Mika's voice and always will. And I will always support him and his music. No one can take that away from me.

An afterthought....the only thing I wanted from the Magic Numbers was the signed, framed artwork. I knew the free concert was not going to happen and the other things I didn't really want. But the artwork...artwork by Mika, signed by him would have made me incredibly happy. I have a feeling that if anyone gets close enough to 500,000 points they will discontinue the contest. According to the rules, they have the right to cancel at anytime. So I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen as well.

Thank you Suzie. You are right. I know the whole idea was to reward people for buying Mika items and going to gigs. But how are we who live in the middle of nowhere...the closest gig I went to was still 800 miles away and took 2 days to get to...supposed to support Mika? I would love to go to every single concert but can't. And I do buy all of his music. I do not copy any artist's music...it is just wrong. I actually purchased 27 copies of TBWKTM to give away to friends to try and spread his music and the magic numbers only counts for one of those CDs. So I did that out of my love for his music not because I made points for it. I would have done it anyway. It just hurt to be called a spammer and have my profile suspended. They could have just told me to stop and I would have. They could have taken away my points but left my profile alone. I would have understood. But to call me a "persistant spammer" really hurt. I am not a bad person. I did make friends on the Mikasounds site and now I can't contact them to tell them what happened. So what do I do now? I also ordered some T-shirts and bags from the Mika store at about the time my profile was suspended. They had no problem debiting my credit card but my order is now "On Hold". I wasn't ordering for the points...they were for Christmas presents. Last year, I gave all my friends Mika's Paris DVD for Christmas (I purchased 10 copies of it with no magic numbers involved)...it's like a Pandora thing to give. Now, am I going to get my order? And when you try and contact anyone from the website, they never answer back. Believe it or not, I am feeling better about this. I just can't go on the Mikasounds site for awhile. I think it helps to come here and just vent a little. Thank you for listening!

Maybe this is the wrong thread to post this in but I am having an issue with the Mika Points as well. I figured it out and I knew that there was no way anyone could get to 500,000 points unless they spent tons of cash. But I thought if I worked on it and said Hello or Welcome to everyone in the Mikasounds community that I could make a few points. Somedays I would spend hours on the site because I did it one profile at a time. I made a lot of friends and had lots of comments on my site. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong by being friendly. Since Monday, I haven't been able to access my profile on Mikasounds. After 4 days of constant emails, all of which were ignored by the way, I was finally told that I was a "persistant spammer" and had been banned from Mikasounds. Banned! I don't even care about the silly Mika points but I lost my friends list, all the nice comments others wrote and my ablility to post anything on there. They could have just taken my points away but to ban me seems a little extreme. I am really hurt about this. I have supported Mika's career in every way that I could since 2007. I have purchased everything I could, I have told everyone about him (which is difficult in Montana because absolutely no one knows who he is), drove 800 miles to see him in concert... I have sung his praises from the tallest mountain. Now, I am banned from the website. Maybe, I'm taking it a little hard but I cried today for quite awhile. It was like a kick in the gut. Here you are, you supported the guy, now get out. I actually think if Mika knew that this had happened, he would be pretty upset about it as well. I wasn't trying to cheat, I actually liked meeting others and by greeting them seemed like an awesome way to do that. The whole idea of "community" seemed to be a very Mika-ish thing but when the Magic Numbers started, things went downhill fast.

Believe it or not, my friend and I are back home in Montana after driving for 14 hours after the concert. (We both have to work tomorrow!) But we were so wired and happy and excited and joyful that the miles just flew by. We spent most of the ride home listening to Mika's music over and over and singing along (with what little voice I had left!) and talking about the great time we had in Seattle. It was really nice to get to meet a few of the other MFCers and I know we will meet up again soon! I couldn't help but notice how gracious Mika was to his fans after the concert. He had just finished giving us the greatest gift imaginable and on one foot, no less. You could see he was hurting....he looked tired...but yet he kept on giving. He could have pushed past everyone and hopped on the bus without looking back and who would have blamed him. Heck, most other artists would have simply cancelled the concert if they had one foot in a brace. But not our Mika. Even though he needed to get on the bus and he was obviously having discomfort, he still treated his fans with kindness and gentleness. I am off to wash glitter out of my hair...yes, we drove all the way home with our glitter on! And then off to bed!

I am past halfway to Seattle...staying overnight in Spokane. Should be there tomorrow for some sightseeing since I have never been to Seattle before. Is there usually a meet and greet after the concert to meet Mika? Do we just hang around after the concert? Not quite sure what to do... I have been to many concerts by other bands but I can't recall any concert where the artist actually came out and personally met the fans. But I hear that Mika does make the effort. If so, this is an opportunity that I would not want to miss! Does he normally do this at every concert?

OMG! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it or not but come tomorrow morning I will be driving to Seattle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to meet all of you! THIS WILL BE AWESOME!

I have to say that I am totally impressed with this video. It is not the same tired video that has been made countless times...it has character and beauty (even if it is a nightmarish type of beauty!) As usual, Mika has placed his own stamp of creativity on it and turned it into a work of art. Bravo!

I have to admit that I have been to the fan club website often but have never joined. I have decided to come clean and sign up! I heard Mika's voice before I saw him. It was early 2007. Music videos were playing on the TV. I just had them on for the music, I wasn't sitting and watching them. I happened to be in another room when the video for Grace Kelly came on. I heard this voice...honestly, it was the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. I ran into the TV room and watched the rest of the video. After the video, I said "Who is this? I need to find out!" I have been a rabid fan ever since! I live in eastern Montana where Mika is never played on the radio. Absolutely no one knows who he is. It's very sad but I have been introducing my friends to his music and they introduce their friends and so on... And the funny thing is that all of them LOVE Mika's music and ask why they don't play him on the radio! So that is my mission; to spread Mika's music to everyone I know...one person at a time!