Teresa

Oh, jeez he really talked a lot XD but he seemed a nice person! He basically said that he wants to make a living out of music, out of his songs, that reflect everything that has happened in his life, the birth of his son, a life-changing experience... He says these things are now a little bit 'frozen' inside him and he wants to extern them in his music, and to live the life he feels he has been made for. Then he goes on stage and asks Elio to tune (?) his guitar, he says he is a tragicomic songwriter, and he performs his song (btw, his voice wasn't amazing but the lyrics were pretty good, the song had quite a deep meaning). Then the 'discussion' with Simona was about the fact that he quit his job, because he felt the moment had come to quit a job that might have given him even a lot of money but that made him come home unhappy, while he wants to come home and give his girlfriend and his son a feeling of positivity. Everyone said yes, Mika said that he thought his song was very valid and believable. Then he said he was very happy, especially because the 4 judges, by saying yes, have made an injection of confidence in him. He was a little bit mad indeed, but he seemed a nice person and his song wasn't bad, and, as Morgan said, he put a smile on their faces

That's really horrible, and what I'd call an 'abuse of power'. That's why I never liked the xfs with cowell as a judge, there's no respect for the person behind the contestant. In xfi it never happened and I hope this year things won't change... From what I've seen the judges have always been professional and sincerely sorry for those who really believe in it and who don't make it, and they have anyway always shown respect, especially during the home visit, since those contestants are all good and really believe in it . So I don't think something like that will happen, hopefully!

On the contrary, I enjoy translating very much! The only problem is that I don't have enough time! feel free to ask anything, I will gladly answer (sooner or later XD)

He was saying that he didn't care about the 4 judgments but he thought that the people behind the judges, the people that will listen to his song, count more, and therefore he wasn't interested in passing the next turn. The other girl (I don't know if she has been cut in the videos you've seen) basically said that it was an hypocrisy because he was lacking of respect for the 4 judges and he was complaining about something he was as a matter of fact using too. He also said that he thought that if a radio plays the same song it gets stuck in people's mind even if it is bad, and mika didn't Agree. Then he said he would perform his own song and made a negative allusion to an Italian contemporary band, and Simona told him that he was being arrogant and disrespectful. He played his song, and Simona told him to be less angry and bitter about those who are successful, but Elio said that it is right that a 20 year old boy should be angry and have the desire to change the world, he said that everything in the 60s has come from a sentiment of rebellion. Simona said it was not a healthy anger, but both Elio and Morgan said they didn't care, because anger can never be 100% healthy, otherwise it wouldn't be anger. Morgan then reluctantly said his song had a chance and everyone eventually said yes except mika. (I agree with him, I share the opinion about the anger, but his singing was mediocre IMO). Then Morgan sang the beginning of a song about a student of philosophy, lol. Edit: sorry I hadn't seen someone had already answered!

Basically Morgan said he had a feeling that Marco was very, maybe too much aware that he was good, and that he was afraid he was not totally authentic. Mika then started asking him questions about how he was feeling, and it turned out that he was feeling not sure at all, and very fragile. Mika said that he also thought he was a fragile person but on stage he showed a lot of confidence, and that he saw a singer in him. Morgan after all agreed and said that he did it to provoke and test him (lol), and everyone said yes in the end I totally loved Mika's sensitivity and ability to search the person beyond the mask

The long-haired "metal" singer had a really amazing voice!

A girl sang a song called "Bastardo", which is a quite "angry" song, originally sung by a female contemporary Italian singer (that I don't really like XD). However the girl sang it well (nothing special anyway from what I've heard, but they just showed a few seconds of her performance): Simona and Morgan said yes, and when Elio said no, Mika shouted at him the refrain-word of the song "bastardooo" , and then he said yes so the girl made it to the next turn with 3 yes/4!

Basically yes, you always use lui/lei. Most of the times in Italian we don't use it at all, it's not strictly necessary as in English, so if I see a singer I really like I say 'è bravo' if it is a he, 'è brava' if it is a she, implying the subject, or otherwise I use his/her name! When you write it's better to avoid both lui and egli as subjects, it would be better to try to imply the subject; a sentence that goes 'Lui è bravo', in a formal context is incorrect and not very pleasant, but in informal contexts it is perfectly ok and everybody use it. And egli/ella, well we never use it: in writing it is not pleasant and in talking it's very weird! So when you write in the MFC for example always use lui/lei, it is perfectly acceptable! but if you want to write something to a lawyer for example you should use egli/ella! Hope I have been clear

Egli and ella can only be used as subject: just like 'he' and 'she'. Lui and lei shouldn't be used as subjects, they are the equivalent of him and her. However nowadays no one uses egli and ella, and the use of lui and lei has expanded and it is now also used as subject (even if it is a mistake, if in school you write 'lui è', that is 'he is', it is considered a mistake, it should be 'Egli è'). But when you talk if you say 'egli' people will look strange at you XD because we don't use it!

Oh, I forgot! This morning at Radio Deejay they interviewed the judge Elio (radio deejay this year is a sort of 'partner' of XF, every Thursday they interview one of the judges, they'll probably have Mika in two weeks). However this time it was Elio's turn! And they spent half the interview talking about Mika XD basically he said that he is really impressed and surprised by Mika's knowledge of Italian music, and that he already has defined and personal tastes, that he is very clever, ironic, and very curious, open-minded, and keen to discover new music and cultures. The radio host (who has interviewed mika several times) also said that he was impressed by his polyglottism. It was so weird hearing Elio say those things, because he is known for being an always sarcastic, quite skeptical and subtly mocking person, so I was really surprised that he said all those good things, and, more than that, that he really meant them. It's a good thing that all the judges esteem and appreciate each other both as artists and as persons!

Lol, she is very weird indeed! but,as someone wrote before, after that performance she sang a Chinese song that unfortunately was cut in the final editing, so the judges' choice was based also on that. And I have to admit that I liked her too XD I mean, apart from the trembling voice (you can see she was nervous!) she could potentially add something weird and new to the programme! but I don't think she will get into the programme XD My favourites of the first episode were Michele Bravi (the guy who sang Cat Stevens' song) and the band 'street clerks', that sang their own song that imo was very beautiful (Mika liked it very much too, he was impressed ). Then I think Galup, the boy who forgot half the lyrics has a lot of potential, and both Roberta Pompa (lol at Mika's reaction) and Fabio (the one with the beatles tattoo, who sang a very difficult Italian song) sing very well. And I enjoyed the folk duo's performance too waiting for tomorrow's episode (I'll watch it on Cielo)!

Ariana Grande's music is very far from my tastes and I don't particularly enjoy her singing either; however from what I've seen she seems to be a sweet girl and the performance as a whole was very cute and I loved Max's dancy moves behind XD

I couldn't agree more, this is exactly my point of view. As I wrote on a previous post, this is just a few months experience, some of us (me included) will enjoy it and some of us won't, and that's perfectly right this way! It shows that Mika's fans are not a group of sheep but individual people with their own opinions. Once we have shared and confronted these opinions (which we have already done, I have written essays on this subject XD), we respectfully agree to disagree, and those who are interested will follow this adventure, those who are not won't follow it, I see nothing bad in this!

The dancing bit will be in the next episode, they already showed a tiny fragment of it in a preview,it happened during the Genoa auditions!

I don't know how to post links I'll try to copy and paste the URL of the videos, I don't know if it works! Part 1 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x159iwb_riassunto-x-f-7-audizioni-prima-puntata-parte-1_shortfilms Part 2 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15a0qm_riassunto-x-f-7-audizioni-prima-puntata-parte-2_shortfilms Part 3 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15c77w_riassunto-x-f-7-audizioni-prima-puntata-parte-3_shortfilms Part 4 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15dpxq_riassunto-x-f-7-audizioni-prima-puntata-parte-4_shortfilms And the other parts haven't been uploaded yet! I hope the links will work!

Thank you very much for the information!

I don't know if someone has posted the videos here already, if so, sorry to repeat! However I wanted to inform everyone that on DailyMotion the user FreakIrishSister32 is uploading in 20 minutes (not in chronological order) bits the whole first episode. You just have to search "X F 7 Audizioni prima puntata", she has uploaded 4 parts by now, but there should be at least another part! Sorry if this has already been posted!

I totally love this article! Extremely funny and extremely clever... as usual! thanks for posting!

Okay, this is my last post on the subject, I think I have written even too much for something like this. I think I have made it clear that I'm not trying to exhalt XF Italia as an “amazing” show, or put it on a “pedestal”: I've illustrated both the negative and the positive sides, I've pointed out some objective differences with other talents, and I've found myself agreeing with Mika on this issue. A show, indeed, but a show that is not completely “impure”. So as I fan I don't feel “fooled” at all. I enjoy the show, with the awareness and the critical perspective that every clever person that decides to watch this kind of show has; I enjoy everything that is singing-related, I enjoy musical research, I am a fan of Mika: these are the reasons I'll watch the show for. What I'm asking is not to give definitive judgements and statements without completely knowing everything: these judgements may be true for a context but not for another. And I'm certainly not trying to convince anyone to watch it: I mean, if he started playing football (lol), I wouldn't be interested and I wouldn't follow him in that adventure. So I undestand those who are not interested, there's nothing wrong with that. After all, this is a break for Mika, it's not that he has decided to do this for life! It's just an experience. Some of us- me included- will enjoy it, some of us no, there's no problem with that. Ciao ciao!

Here I am again, just to explain more clearly something that might have not been clear in my previous posts. When I say that XF Italia is different, I'm certainly not talking about “ethics” or morality, and neither is Mika. If I want to look for something ethically good I'd go to church, not watch a tv musical show. So the only things I can focus on, in order to judge a talent show, are both the entertaining and the musical aspect. And that's where XF Italia differs from the American or the English one (btw, I'm not talking without knowing, I've watched the whole last season of XF America, the one with Cowell and Britney Spears.) Let's make something clear: as I've said before, I do not share the talent-show mentality, simply because I don't like the idea of music as a competition. And on XF America every single singer's concern was not to provide interesting performances, but getting on top of the XF week chart, and their aim was to WIN, and “make it”, meaning having success. For them success is getting #1 on the charts, for me, success is being proud of what you do, regardless of what people think. In Italy a lot of past contestants were indipendent musicians and bands: after XF they certainly didn't become “famous” (which is the only thing that for Cowell has value), but through their partecipation they managed to gain visibility and this gave them the opportunity to keep on working on music as a living. That's the difference: I remember the XF 3 Italia final: there was a very good contestant, Marco Mengoni (who will join Mika as a judge for the HomeVisit in Dublin), who had gone through a very interesting musical path during the whole programme. And when I say interesting I mean that he sang songs by forgotten Italian songwriters, by David Bowie, by Nina Simone, by The Talking Heads, Prince, Duran Duran, AC/DC. On the final Morgan (his judge), him, and the vocal couch, decided to take a risk and let him sing a completely unknown, weird, certainly not catchy song by Morgan (“Amore assurdo”), in order to provide “an interesting performace that will close this circle”, and -his words- “who cares if I win or not, I'm happy to sing this song, it means something to me”. And of course he won, because people realized that he had done something worthwhile, something he could have been proud of. And if he hadn't won, that would still be a “successful” performance for me, because it meant something. That is the spirit of the show, not -as in XF America- to show off their technical abilities. Of course American contestants are generally better singers than Italian ones: first of all, you know, America is a little bit bigger than Italy; then they have much more beautiful voices and impressive singing skills, but -honestly- I have always put originality before perfection, simply because I think perfection is boring. And when I hear an American contestant say “I want to win XF and become famous”, well, that's something that bothers me, because an artist's popularity should be a means for getting people to know his music, not his final goal. And talking about differences, as Mika said the difference relies on the judges' intelligence and honest passion for music. Honestly I don't think Cowell or Britney Spears have ever quoted Dante, or made a lesson to the contestants about Nina Simone, or worked on the musical arrangements themselves, or stimulated the contestants to get to know, and give value again through their performances, to old forgotten artists' songs. And that happens during the live shows, not during the auditions, so you can't judge it by now. About the auditions: I remember some XF America judgements: “I think you can make it/I think you can sell thousands of copies/I think you're terrible/I think you should stop singing”. Where's the critical and clever aspect in that? Mika and the others always motivated their choices in a clever, thoughtful and appropriate way, even with the “willy” girls (the vid on the youtube is not complete btw). And Mika's judgements have always been thoughtful, respectful, witty and smart, believe me. My main point is: it is certainly a show, it is entertainment, so it has by nature a certain amount of “fakeness”, especially, as someone pointed out, in the final editing, but, while – I agree- in America everything is for the sake of the show, and you can talk about exploitation of the contestants, here you can't. The contestants are often means to provide something musically interesting on tv. So as long as the show, the competition, is an excuse to provide sometimes something original, worthwhile, to bring beautiful songs and artists who are not so known to a wider audience, for me it is a good thing. And let's not forget that these people are given the possibility to sing in front of a whole country: Mika himself, in a 2009 Italian interview, said that everyone who had the possibility of partecipating a talent show should grab it. I mean, do you honestly think that getting success through a music label is more “meritocratic”? I do not think so. Maybe it was, 40 years ago, but times have (unfortunately) changed now. At least you have to be at least a good singer to enter a talent show, and you don't have to lick hammers to be successful. I know, It's quite unlikely to find the new Leonard Cohen in an XF programme, but by watching people perform beautiful songs I can enjoy a performance or critically dislike it, and I anyway expand my music culture, and that's good for me, and who knows? Maybe among good singers and interpreters there can be even someone who might be a true artist, who knows! Let's give them a chance. The show gives them an opportunity to gain visibility and to express themselves through music: once they are out it's the contestants' choice and responsability, not the show's. You can stick to the talent label and remain mediocre, or take risks and become something unique and good. As I said a lot of ex Italian contestants are not “successful” in the Cowell meaning, but they keep on doing music on a higher level. So, if you can't bear the amount of “show” in it, that's ok, I undestand, you don't have to watch it. Just do not judge things generalizing. I don't like that aspect either, but I laugh at it and ridiculise it while I'm watching, and I only focus on the things I honestly think have a real value- even in that context- and that I therefore like and that I know can not only entertain me, but also critically stimulate me as both a tv watcher and a music listener. As Mika said in an interview, it is basically a matter of combining the impurity of television with the purity of music. So I'll watch it, with the awareness that I'm watching a tv show, with everything negative that goes with it, but also something that I find interesting and original, both for the musical aspect and the judges' diverse points of view, especially Mika's. That's all, thank you to those who had the patience to read everything!

QUOTE FROM CHRISTINE: (I don't know why it didn't get my quotation! Sorry!) ""The problem is that Mika has put himself in the position of judging others and deciding their fates in 30 seconds which is something that angered and hurt him when it happened to him. "" REPLY: They sang like everyone else for 3 minutes. Then they were given another chance. It's the edit that shortens the auditions. QUOTE: I don't care if these girls had mothers who should have known better. I don't care if the girls have no talent. Mika is no more deserving of human compassion and a little bit of tact simply because he has more talent. He built an entire career out of being mistreated by the music industry but I am sure he was never humiliated and mocked in this way by the people who rejected him. If a label thinks you're sh*t they just won't call you back. They don't point out to the whole world that you're so sh*t you don't deserve not to be mocked on national television. REPLY: The judges have always been respectful. Watch the show if you don't believe me. In this case they told them what was wrong in a polite way; Mika acted immature for 3 minutes, he later apologised. Disrespect is another thing for me. A record label rejecting an artist because he's "too different" is disrespectful and offensive imo, certainly more than pointing out an objective thing in a silly way. But as someone said, he's human. And he can make mistakes. And he apologised for it. And I repeat, Mika's choices, his search for originality, are perfectly coherent with his past. I respect everyone's opinion, but you can't judge a whole show after watching 3 minutes of it, and especially after watching only the first audition, which is by nature the part where the judges can't partecipate on the musical aspect, as they will later on the live show. That's my opinion, you have yours, it's ok to disagree. It's ok to share and confront them, but they are opinions, that is, "personal truths", not universal truths, and we should always keep that in mind. Bye!

I respectfully disagree. First of all: I personally think that a person can be very vulgar without swearing, in the same way that someone can still be swearing a lot without resulting vulgar or offensive. Of course swearing is not a positive thing, I mean, if I will ever had children it's certainly not a thing I'd teach them! But as an Italian speaker myself I can tell you that, at least in my opinion, he didn't sound offensive at all: there are various ways of saying things, and he did it in the funniest and lighter way, and -even swearing- him in tv was a big breath of fresh air, believe me. In the same way you don't need to always act serious to actually be serious and professional; and according to me- and according to the Italian press and audience, for what it's worth it- that was the great thing about him: to express serious, interesting content, in a clever, witty and- when needed- funny way. He was described by a journalist as “a very rare mix of sarcasm and sweetness”, and I think we all agree that that's not “the thing he claimed to despise the most”. The “willy” thing is just a 3 minutes long anedoct of an auditions process that lasted 3 hours per 5 days, and that was edited in two 2 hours long episodes, so I think that's very superficial, judging everything not having watched anything. And we shouldn't do, imo, a too much big deal out of it: it was just a moment of laughter, and -honestly- I find the comparison between the girls' families and Mika's family completely out of place. It was not disrespectful, it was just an ironic way of pointing out something objective. He laughed too much? He's human after all, and he said “I'm sorry” various times at the end of the judgement. So I don't find it “disgusting” at all. I think that the judges are not deciding who to give the Nobel prize, there's nothing wrong, sometimes- I repeat, “when needed” and when it's not out of place- in taking things not too seriously. I repeat, it's just a funny moment, and it shouldn't represent the whole show, which actually was pretty interesting. Of course some people who auditioned were trash, or not talented, but they auditioned, so they have the same right to be put on tv as the good ones. And towards the trash ones the judges have been very harsh actually, but never humiliating, and certainly they didn't indulge on them for the sake of entertainment: they seemed rather bothered by arrogant and not talented contestants. And, btw, I don't feel sorry for the girls' mothers, at all. It's them who decided to send to the auditions three 16-year-old girls, (un)dressed like that, untalented like that: they have nothing to complain about, they should have been clever enough to talk to their daughters, to maybe give them some advice to improve themselves, rather than send them to a show, which has no fault: they let them sing once, they destroyed a Jannacci song in the most disrespectful way. They were then given another chance, and they blew it, that's it, you're not good enough. That's the difference: Mika was rejected not because he wasn't good enough, because he wasn't “normal” enough. And that's why Mika, as a judge, is always trying to bet on originality, wether it is a weird Chinese girl, a rather scary “gothic punk” singer, a boy who forgets the whole song but you can see may have something original to say. He chose them not for the sake of the show, in order to laugh at them, but because he knows that being original, being natural -in good or in bad- is always better than being good but mediocre, so why not give them another chance? That's why I really liked him as a judge, simply because he's himself, and I enjoy him and his personality, which also includes his lighter, sometimes childish, side. That's everything, anyway I respect your opinion, and I know we'll never agree on this XF thing

Lol, btw, that word in Italy is used both with its literal (vulgar of course) meaning, but it is also used as the exact equivalent of the English "f**k". I'm telling you so that you won't freak out when you hear him saying that in the middle of a sentence!(he said that in the press conference for example ) . Mika Mika what are you making me explain? XD However, for the videos, they are on the XF official site, but they are blocked outside Italy. You'd need someone who is very good at technological stuff (not me, I'm absolutely rubbish) and who can somehow manage to make the vids watchable in another format in another platform. But I don't know if it is possible, and I certainly don't know how to do it

Hello everybody! I've just finished watching (at last!!) X Factor on Cielo, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you all. I have always watched XF Italia because of the same reasons Mika has several times declared he joined XF for -freedom, not fake interest in music, a little (not so little!) bit of madness. So I have to admit I had very, very high expectations, because I thought that a personality like Mika would fit in very well, that he would be able to do it while being himself. My biggest fear was exactly that my expectations could have been maybe too high, that I would be somehow disappointed, that maybe I had idealised it a little bit. Well, after tonight, these fears have completely vanished, and I can proudly say that I was right: as a long time XF watcher, but especially as a Mika fan, tonight was absolutely perfect. It was a good mix of proper show, humour, actual musical debate, honest and interesting exchange of opinions, and even a few good singers showed up. (Btw, I love the fact that Mika has completely joined the spirit of the show, the fact that they're looking for originality, and that he'd rather choose a very weird but maybe potentially good Chinese singer (LOL), rather than a good but mediocre singer.) His judgements were exactly a reflection of him: incredibly smart, witty, funny (VERY funny ), always appropriate, always respectful, always honest and clever. And I loved the interactions and the atmosphere among the judges: even when they disagree (which is anyway a good thing!) they do it with passion but also with respect. The entry of Mika has been such a blessing for everyone, he is a constant stimulation for everyone, and you can clearly see that he is very comfortable, that he is having a lot of fun, but, you know, “clever fun”. So I'm very, very happy, and of course very proud of him, for, well, being him . And I'm also very happy that a wider audience is realizing that Mika is not just “the curly guy who sang relax”, but a smart and interesting person and musician, and that more people will get to know his music, which is the most important thing. Well these are my immediate thoughts, I hope the show will continue this way! And I also hope that people ouside Italy will somehow manage to watch it! Goodnight!

http://videoplatform.sky.it/player/css/play.png Does this link work? This video is really funny and sweet Edit: If it doesn't work it is in the same link posted by Mari62, I hope people outside Italy can manage to watch it somehow!