Ellenowl

Just a little heads up that I'm selling my Songs for Sorrow EP. Not in its original wrapper but otherwise its condition is as new. I know it's quite sought-after by some Mika fans and I was so excited when I found it on eBay back in the day. Times change I guess but it'd be good to sell it to somebody who appreciates it xx https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MIKA-Songs-for-Sorrow-Limited-Edition-BOOK-CD-Like-New-Very-Rare/283514589899?hash=item4202c952cb:g:NVUAAOSw4ENdASnM

Just a little heads up that I'm selling my Songs for Sorrow EP. Not in its original wrapper but otherwise its condition is as new. I know it's quite sought-after by some Mika fans and I was so excited when I found it on eBay back in the day. Times change I guess but it'd be good to sell it to somebody who appreciates it xx https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MIKA-Songs-for-Sorrow-Limited-Edition-BOOK-CD-Like-New-Very-Rare/283514589899?hash=item4202c952cb:g:NVUAAOSw4ENdASnM

As a native British English speaker, he doesn't sound English to me. The first time I heard him speak, I assumed he wasn't actually totally fluent in English because he sounds so different! He has hints of American pronunciation, and other things. I think he went to international school, and he sounds more similar to a couple of people I know who did too than anyone else I've met. He doesn't particularly speak with RP (more associated with higher social status) or a regional accent (lower), but then his family are not English, and he moved to England in later childhood, he was home educated for a while, and didn't go to state school, so his English accent has more influences than the majority of fluent speakers. I noticed on one interview that Yasmine speaks with the same accent which surprised me in a way- I've never heard anything else like it!

I recently started blogging and I wrote today about why I love MIKA. 10 years since LICM, but it's just an excuse to talk about him really. Please have a read! https://lillaconsiders.com/2017/02/09/10-years-of-life-in-cartoon-motion-more-thankful-than-ever-for-the-weird-wonderful-world-of-mika/

Look on eBay. I managed to buy the EP and illustrated book for about £8. There are others selling for over £100 so it was a good deal. I don't like the book though- it's quite creepy! :/

Hmmm... do you think there will be more? I'll be based even further from London than I am already at that point. I also think it'd be a challenge to have to sit in a theatre and watch Mika perform. I'm bad enough at sitting anyway, let alone with Mika there too. Sounds like torture!

And then something about that nobody knows what Golden Donkey is about apart from him... does anyone actually know what the story behind Golden Donkey (Albert?) is? I was admittedly only half-listening at that point...

Thanks for uploading these! He looks very tired in the breakfast interview, but it was much nicer than the 5live one. I tuned into that one live, and found the presenters quite abrupt, like they totally didn't get Mika's style. They said something about him writing a song about goats (seemed disrespectful unless I missed some kind of punch line at the end), then went on to get the the name of his new album wrong (can't remember what they said now). :/

This may be unrelated, but there's some 'big news' coming to the UK from Mika tomorrow. If you're thinking what I'm thinking... YAY!

Hi Everyone! Having won tickets last Wednesday, my father and I had the huge privilege of seeing MIKA yesterday afternoon. We arrived at the main stage just in time to see Years & Years performing. Whilst they seemed good, with a talented lead singer, the acoustics for their set were wrong. It was very hard to hear anything apart from the thumping baseline, which made me worry that mika would be similar. Thankfully I was wrong! After a short wait whilst the stage was set, Mika and his band came on! I was pleased to see Felix, Max and Joy as part of his band, but didn't recognise the rest. Anyway, Mika started off with Grace Kelly, successfully grabbing the attention of the crowd, before sandwiching some of his well-known material between his newer, lesser known songs. Whilst Mika danced on the piano and really worked the crowd up (no surprises there), he didn't really speak much to us. Perhaps he wanted to get as many songs in as he could during such a short time frame, but it was disappointing that he didn't even mention that NPIH was out today. Bearing in mind he really won lots of people in the crowd over- I even heard somebody who didn't even know Mika was playing shout that he was better than Kylie- he really missed out on a marketing opportunity. It was truly wonderful to be able to see Mika again, and despite arriving quite late we managed to get really close to the stage! There was a real mixture of proper Mika fans and general festival goers where we were stood, but we all had a great time, singing and dancing around. Maybe he could have performed some more songs from No Place in Heaven, but then again, he wanted to please the crowd over everything else. He certainly managed this during what was probably the shortest 45 minutes of my life! After Mika, we stayed to watch a bit of Chic, but being neither mine nor my father's cup of tea, we didn't stay the duration. We'd have loved to see Kylie, but bearing in mind a long journey home and my 7 am shift this morning, we weren't able too. I hope Mika does tour the UK this autumn as people over here love him, and would buy his songs if they actually knew he was still making music! And also from a selfish point of view, I really, really want to see him again at a full show! Thanks for reading! Ellen

I should probably know this by now, but could somebody try to explain meet&greet or just stopping to chat with Mika after the show? Are either likely to happen?

Mine's arrived, two days before the actual UK release date!

I think you're right in that he might be deciding upon the venue based on the how well received the album is. Whilst publicity and popularity are great, I actually think smaller venues would be better. When I went to see him at the Ritz, we got so close to Mika with very little crowds- a far more enjoyable experience than being on the other end of the stadium watching him on a TV screen! Either way, I think (and hope) that he will do some form of touring this year in the UK! Oh, and btw, you might be aware already, but NPIH is album of the week on radio 2 next week!

I read somewhere that you could only get so close with the general tickets (presumably what I won), and that there was nearly a nasty crush accident last year. A bit scary for somebody who easily gets claustrophobic, but maybe we'll be ok as mika is on quite a long time before some of the more major singers. I somehow have a bit of a sneaky talent for barging my way through crowds anyway!

Don't worry Marilyn. Mika said, whilst on radio 2, that he would be touring the UK this autumn. On a different note, and having never been to a festival before, will we need to queue for ages to be able to get a reasonable place to see him?

Haha! Me too! I know I asked him if I could enter, but don't think he actually thought I'd win! My dad is at least as crazy as Mika anyway. Haha!

Just been emailed to say that I won tickets through the MIKA Facebook page competition! Buzzing!

I wondered this for a while. About 6 are still up there on YouTube if you search 'mika Rio' then click on the user to get the others. They don't sound too sped up/slowed down either- so I doubt they'll stay!

I agree with you about so much of this. I was thinking today that I first heard MIKA in 2007, the summer before I started secondary school. Now, as I'm about to move on to university, he's releasing his fourth album, and I'm still in love with his music (and more besides! ) . This song is one of my favourites from the new record so far, and reminds me how far he's come since the LICM days. He still has the catchy, joyful yet tragic melody to his music, but now writes about genuine matters close to his heart rather than having to hide behind cartoon characters.

So super-excited about this album now, but annoyed that the release date is 6 days later in the UK than everywhere else! Haha- the album should be amazing!

Is it just me, or are these songs slightly 'chipmunked' even by Mika's standards- copyright thing maybe?

Love it! Haha!

I'm sure I'm missing something here, but how can I listen to these songs ?

I'm sure I'm missing something here, but how can I listen to the album version?! :/

I do know what you mean- it almost has a cool electropop vibe. It's not necessarily a sound particularly associated with Mika, and reminds me a bit of Empire of the Sun's style. Nick Littlemore (of EOTS) co-wrote/produced some of the songs from TOOL but somehow I hear the influence more here! I like the song though, but genuinely think it'd be better placed as a lead single than an album song. It's great, catchy and quite musically relevant in ways that TAY sadly is not.