Teresa

Ps: can I just add that I love the fact that in this big and serious discussion about Mika's career choice now and then some posts linked to Roberto Bolle and his body randomly appear? XD

Agree with every word. Also agree with Nina's perspective, which is more or less my own. For the reasons that you wrote I really wish he didn't do a second season of XF (as they say, 'Paganini does not repeat'), simply because he has absolutely made the most out of this experience, and another one I fear might not add something new and stimulating. BUT Mika is an intelligent person and IF he finds that, regardless of what I think, another season might be as stimulating as this one -on a human and artistic level- and he manages to combine these inputs with his new music, I'll be happy. Having said that, I strongly hope he does not do another season, and from all the interviews I've seen/read he looks keen to cultivate these new stimulations and to rielaborate them in his music. He seems really focused. As I always say, I guess we have to wait and see.

Yes he was Roberto Bolle! He is one of the most famous ballet dancers, he has danced in the most prestigious theaters in all the world, and I think in 2004 he was the ètoile at the theatre of La Scala (very, very prestigious title). He is really famous and he is really amazing. That thing with the Vanity Fair interview, maybe the translation wasn't too clear, Bolle was photographed before Mika and Mika ironically said he wouldn't get naked for the photo shoot in order not to look too good compared to him (he was being self-ironic because being a dancer Bolle has a perfect body). Hope it's clear now! I'm happy that they met

I've finally watched it too!! The interview was quite hilarious, Lol, and the performances were really really good! He is really spreading joy from himself, it's such a joy to see and hear him. And I'm glad that he said this was one of the happiest years of his life

I'll post my comment in this thread too I'm so happy Michele has won in the end. He was my favourite from the very first audition, when he sang 'father and son'. I hope he will have a long and interesting career, because he deserves it, and because he has a rare human and musical sensitity that makes him unique. I also hope the other contestants will find their way ) Ps: and it has been such a pleasure sharing with you all, here and on twitter, our opinions on this XF thing. It has gone beyond my higher expectations, Mika couldn't have been more awesome, more himself I'm very happy how all of this turned out!

I'm so happy Michele has won in the end. He was my favourite from the very first audition, when he sang 'father and son'. I hope he will have a long and interesting career, because he deserves it, and because he has a rare human and musical sensitity that makes him unique. I also hope the other contestants will find their way ) Ps: and it has been such a pleasure sharing with you all, here and on twitter, our opinions on this XF thing. It has gone beyond my higher expectations, Mika couldn't have been more awesome, more himself I'm very happy how all of this turned out!

Gooood news!! Fazio (the interviewer) is an intelligent person and the show itself in years has found a very interesting balance between entertainment and culture, so I'm really looking forward to it!

LOL. I even tend to say it aloud in the streets when I see someone who wears them as trousers XD

Ok, I've just started watching the episode......... I had to pause it, I'm still laughing at the first part, where Mika and Elio danced the slow dance on that crazy dance music :lmfao:

Finally watched it! Lovely interview

Three random thoughts! 1- I absolutely love Mika's daily after the ep, when he analyses the girls' performance in a very critic and honest way. You can see he is very concerned about them not only to get to the next round but also to give their best onstage. 2- We have already said what an amazing performer Michele is, but can I just add that he is such an intelligent boy, he has linguistic skills that some adults fail to have (classic high school rules )... I loved what Morgan answered to Elio, who had said that he tends to sing everything in the same way... Morgan basically answered that it was not a limit, because he is just himself, natural and spontaneous and therefore he imitates no one, he's simply himself, and his simplicity and his pureness of soul are his strength, and his personality mixed with his intelligence and vocal skills keep the audience glued to his performances. Mika was more synthetic: 'beautiful'. 3- I'd sooo love to hear Michele sing an old Italian song again, just like he did with Fossati, he's amazing in English too of course, but in Italian he is really really special imo, when he sings very meaningful lyrics, he really has that 'old Italian songwriter' sensitivity, but he does not imitate anyone, he is so fresh and deep. ok end of random thoughts, I still have to watch the full ep, I just watched Michele's performance XD

I think it is very wrong what has been said in previous posts. You can say everything about the judges (btw, I would not be so harsh in judging them especially as persons, since we do not know them, and saying Morgan is frustrated and envious of Mika and hinting at his personal life scandals is something I feel very uncomfortable with. At the same time Simona is not there to express her ideas about harmony or chords, she represents (at least she tries to represent) the 'discographic' side that (whether we like it or not) in a tv programme looking for a so-called 'popstar' is also needed.) Anyway, you can say what you want about them- that they have massive egos, that they are vendicative etc, but one thing that has NEVER been done is to eliminate a contestant who was totally worth staying. After all Roberta, whom I appreciated, objectively had a style gap, therefore Simona wasn't wrong saying that she had not a clear discographical identity (and as much as I liked her, there are better singers.) or the street clerks, I thought they were amazing, but, as Mika said, that competition didn't give them enough freedom. Of course there is competitivity among the judges, but when there is an evident talent or an objectively good performance they are always honest. Btw, if they were so keen on eliminating other judges' good contestants, why would Elio, who is a proper musician, not point out Valentina's mistakes in ragamuffin? Why would Morgan praise Violetta as the most 'brava'? Why would Simona be so enthusiastic about Michele? Why would Elio say that Gaia is the most interesting contestant? Actually, the one that once was not 100% honest was Mika himself a few eps ago, then at the daily he explained that he didn't say anything about Vale's mistakes or he wasn't too hard with Gaia because he was afraid he would lose them. And this is completely and absolutely normal imo, every judge is emotionally involved and wants to defend their own. But That doesn't mean that when there is an evident talent they want to sabotage him/her because he is from another team!! And that is evident in the judgements for example about Michele. I really don't get all this fuss, and what kinda irritates me is that people take as universal truths things said by the media, some of them totally unreliable, especially online magazines, which by nature tend to exaggerate and look for scandals. I have always preferred to think with my head and rationally analyze the situations, and in this situation, apart from a normal competitivity and a lot of passion (we are Italians after all) in defending the singers, I really don't see anything dodgy. But that's just my opinion. Ps: btw, it's not true that no one has ever 'dared' to speak against Simona, I still remember Morgan in the backstage at XF 2 screaming that she represented television, and that televisions should be turned off, then turned off his tv and slammed the door in front of the cameras.

Oh, absolutely! Btw, I've seen a post-elimination interview by the street clerks,they also want Michele to win! (I really hope they will make an album soon, their EP is quite good!!)

Yes, I think you focused the main point. Thing is, at the auditions the under females were objectively stunning, all of them for different reasons, so it was natural that they soon became the very favourite team. But with the passing of time and with different challenges they are showing they are not as perfect as they were: Valentina is not technically impeccable, Violetta is showing a complete different approach from the auditions, and some people are getting quite tired of her way of singing/interpreting, Gaia has not shown even a 50% of the potential she showed at the auditions. Roberta, as much as I liked her, undoubtedly had a 'style gap' (Mika said that too), but she has been, imo, the only one that really, really improved from the auditions, thanks to Mika's advice, and her last performance was probably her best one. So, in the majority of people's minds Mika's girls are still the superfavourite ones, but for me, after making a rational analysis and regardless of the fact that I'm a Mika fan and I'm sorry if he loses a girl of his team, there is certainly no need to talk about complots if, in an episode where 2 contestants got eliminated, one of Mika's girls didn't make it.

I still can't understand all this fuss about this 'conspiracy' (lol). Roberta got less votes from the audience, but her performance was praised by all the judges. Valentina's performance was appreciated by everyone, only thing, Morgan said there were some techical mistakes- true. About Gaia he basically said the mood, choreography and 'mise en scene' were a bit out of place- also true. And anyway she has a lot of people who don't like her way of singing, so she was at risk. About Violetta, they all praised him, Simona didn't particularly enjoye that particular performance- me neither, I think she completely chose the wrong interpretation of that song. Well, Simona got angry because of the street clerks, that's normal, as Elio said at this point the judges are all also emotionally involved, and it's normal they want to defend their own teams. And all this fuss about Mika having the best team, and that he should absolutely win, well that's not said at all; for example, I personally prefer Morgan's team (well, Michele!) although I know that Mika's girls are objectively good. But it's not written anywhere that they should win. I repeat, some eliminations can be, and probably are, unfair, but let us not state as facts suspicions based on subjective perception of things.

AMEN to what you wrote. I am very saddened for example by the fact the street clerks are out, but certainly I'm not talking about conspiracy... I might think it is unfair, just like about Roberta, but that's my personal thought about it, no need to talk about complots or stuff like that. Mika's vocal coach herself said she expected one of his girls to be eliminated, it was a matter of probabilities after all, he had a huge team that no one ever had, and it was actually impossible to preserve it.

But the whole point of the song choice and arrangement was actually to make a new version, more ironical towards the objective 'cheesy' feeling of the original one.. And I feel like he perfectly managed to do it, as Mika said, preserving his artistic identity and peculiarity. As for the 'actor' side, I don't agree, he does not look like he is 'acting' to me,it just feels like he really gets into the song, the lyrics, the atmosphere... In this performance he was supposed to be more ironical and 'light', but if you watch for example the first performance of the Fossati song, you can see his total understanding and consequent compenetration in the song, you can feel every single word he sings has its importance. He does not sing for the sake of singing, but in order to convey and express something, imo. I really like him, he's my favourite, he has this 'old Italian songwriter' mature approach and depth, but at the same time he's so fresh, young and 'pure'... Well, that's just my opinion! It's good that we don't share the same views, otherwise it'd be boring!

Yes, you got it right, but he is supposed to say it during the XF live show tonight, he is the host it's quite funny if you know that before, last times he managed to say very weird words suggested on twitter inserting them in a normal context... I wouldn't really know how to use this word during the live show though XD

Thanks for the details,Marina! I'm sure the interview with Cattelan will be good, they know each other by now!

Tomorrow Mika will be live at Deejay Catteland, a radio programme hosted by Alessandro Cattelan, the host of XF don't know what time though

When/ if you can, watch the video of Morgan assigning the song to Michele.... I'm still laughing :lmfao:

Morgan said he's gonna sing a trash metal version of that song, from what I have understood soooo curious!

I have sent it to you on twitter, I don't know how to upload it here

I can't find it here, maybe I skipped it, but has the video of the backstage been posted here? It's on the SimonaVenturaTV online, and there's also Mika talking about how dangerous eating chicken can be ....

About Aba yes, he basically said that the choreography and scenography negatively affected the performance, it made it lose its 'power' (I agree, I would have preferred a more bare setting). On his Facebook Mika has just apologized about the maybe too harsh way he said those things to Luca Tommassini: A volte non mi esprimo mika-tanto-bene e mi dispiace di aver usato le parole brutte, ma di questo sono sicuro: Luca Tommassini, tu hai davvero la stardust, la polvere di stelle! Nessuno saprebbe far splendere le mie ragazze e me sul palco come fai tu Mika never ceases to amaze me, he's so sensitive