Elwendin

Alyara got on board and Lucrezia already did a part of it so you might get it sooner.

Mika just released an article about his reaction to the homophobic deed against him, I think it's worth to translate it so I'll do it, along with Alyara Mika: «Se non avessi reagito agli insulti avrei tradito il 13enne che sono stato» Quando ho visto su Instagram la foto del poster di Firenze, con la mia faccia imbrattata, mi sono sentito triste, umiliato. Il primo istinto è stato: non dire niente a nessuno, non reagire. Sono in tour, posso girarmi dall’altra parte, esibirmi e stare bene. Spingere lontano gli insulti. Ma i fan hanno iniziato a parlarne, gli amici a scrivermi messaggi. E mi sono reso conto che la mia prima reazione era ancora quella di un tempo, quella di una persona molto giovane che si sentiva impotente. A scuola ero così, inerme. Se allora avessi reagito mi avrebbero picchiato e non avrei ottenuto altro che tornare a casa con un livido in faccia. So che cos’è il bullismo, mi venivano addosso. Per razzismo, per il fatto che mia madre era grassa o perché in quel periodo avevamo problemi di soldi. Soprattutto, l’80% delle volte, per la mia sessualità. Prima ancora che io fossi consapevole della mia sessualità. Quando da bambino ti attaccano pensi che non puoi reagire, perché se reagisci quelle cose diventano ancora più grandi — diventano una montagna.Da piccolo la mia rivalsa è sempre stata lenta, riflessa, spalmata su tempi lunghi. Cercavo di spostare lo sguardo dalla mia condizione, mi concentravo sul futuro. Messo di fronte a quel poster mi sono sentito di nuovo come quel ragazzo. E la mia risposta istintiva è stata leccarmi le ferite, chiudere gli occhi, proiettarmi in avanti. È un riflesso automatico, lo stesso che prende la maggior parte delle persone che sono state vittime dei bulli: girati, tieniti dentro tutto. Poi ho capito. È una delle poche volte nella mia vita in cui sono stato costretto a scegliere il confronto diretto su bullismo e omofobia, mi sono reso conto di quanto le cose siano cambiate, di quanto io sia cambiato.È stato per la reazione delle persone sui social network, per i miei amici e, devo ammettere, per i miei compagni di lavoro. Alcuni tra loro sono gay e sono rimasti feriti, perché sono legati a quello che faccio tutti i giorni: si sono sentiti come se fossero stati insultati in prima persona. Mi sono reso conto che c’era sì la mia risposta automatica, per via di quello che ho subito e i vecchi meccanismi di difesa, ma che adesso io sono in una posizione di privilegio: sono in tour, sono libero e sono circondato da persone libere, ho il mio mondo per fare quello in cui credo e suscitare tolleranza attraverso la musica, i miei concerti. È un lusso, enorme. Rifiutando di riconoscere gli insulti, avrei commesso un errore: avrei dimenticato il tredicenne che sono stato e avrei fatto male alle persone che non hanno quel lusso e quel privilegio. Io posso salire sul palco. Ma quando sei implume e quella parola ti riguarda, se vedi quel manifesto ma non trovi una risposta che ti faccia da scudo, allora per te significa che ti hanno abbandonato. Perdi le speranze e ti ritrovi ancora più debole. Non potevo permetterlo, proprio per le cose che sono cambiate nella mia vita: avrei lasciato solo me stesso e un sacco di altre persone. Non importa se hai 14 o 64 anni, quando vedi una cosa del genere la reazione è la stessa, perché ti tocca. È il motivo per il quale ho deciso di mettere quell’immagine come foto del mio profilo su Twitter e Instagram. Era esattamente quello che mi avrebbe spaventato a 13 anni. Allora non avrei avuto il coraggio, non potevo averlo.Ho fatto l’opposto di quanto avrei fatto a scuola. Per tutta la vita mi hanno chiamato così: io usavo quegli insulti, li trasformavo in musica, li mettevo nei miei disegni. Per la prima volta, sabato scorso, mi sono detto: perché non tirarli fuori e farne una bandiera da tenere alta sopra le teste di quelli che scrivono, che pensano così. Era la grandezza di Oscar Wilde: prendeva le ipocrisie e le buttava in faccia alla gente, a volte non c’è nulla di più appropriato dei gesti inappropriati! Per questo Wilde è uno dei miei Good Guys. Avrei potuto scrivere cinquemila parole, mandarli a quel Paese, dire che non sarei mai tornato a Firenze (ma non per come sono io: io amo Firenze!), buttar giù uno sfogo paragonando l’omofobia al sessismo e al maschilismo.Ma con quella «dichiarazione visiva», con quel graffito diventato bandiera, ho fatto tutto questo senza essere violento o aggressivo, senza perdermi in prediche. Ed è stato bello vedere come un’immagine possa rivelarsi potente. Anche per mia mamma. Non ha detto molto, ma si è specchiata in questo episodio, perché da ragazza ha attraversato un periodo difficile. Lei non è mai stata risarcita per quello che ha passato: questa è stata una specie di compensazione ed è arrivata attraverso uno dei suoi figli. Mi ha guardato, ha stretto gli occhi, mi ha sorriso come qualcuno che finalmente trova pace. La cosa più complicata adesso è capire come andare oltre quell’immagine, proprio per la sua forza. Un gruppo di persone ha voluto replicare il mio gesto: ha preso quella scritta, ci ha messo sotto la sua foto, ha aggiunto lo slogan «ti rompo il silenzio». Facebook ha bloccato i loro profili per 30 ore: è la dimostrazione di quanto quel termine sia ancora sensibile, duro. E dunque: se ti offendono, è giusto trasformare un insulto — che un insulto resta — in una bandiera? Sì, finché questo provoca una discussione costruttiva, finché aiuta le persone a riflettere su come un epiteto malpensato e superficiale possa far sentire gli altri. Ma quella parola è comunque una ferita. È ancora molto forte, ha un sacco di implicazioni negative e può fare male. Non accettiamola come una parola normale. Ma non facciamo più finta che non esista: sarebbe molto più pericoloso.

I think I've made pretty clear during these 2 years in MFC that I have no patriotic feeling, so pls believe me when I say that I've seen that going on with fans from other countries than Italy as well. And not in Italy, by the way. I am not saying that this isn't happening in Italy, cause it is, but I don't like italians being labeled as the only ones who are doing that. I went to Cattolica and Fabrique at 7 p.m. , by the way , but it's probably cause my room has air conditioning. Whereas, just to be honest about everything, I queued quite early in Switzerland, even if it was chilly. I'm in a difficult relationship with temperature.

They say there were 6000 ppl scattered around in the whole festival. The venue was very tiny, so I don't think they were all packed there.

Mhhhh. Maybe because they are straight? Just my shot in the dark Other gay singers get insults and some fans even write them they will stop following them, as soon as they learn they are gay. Mika isn't the first one and won't be the last. Yes, I've heard about one assault + the spiteful deed against Mika (which I would have learned about even if I weren't a fan as it's all over my non Mika fan wall on FB). This makes 2 gay hatred facts I found out about in a really few days, which is not bad, considering that it's not like they punch a gay in the face every single day and I never watch the news. I don't learn about every single robbery or act of bullying that happens in Italy as well. Only major stuff gets the attention of the media, and there's no censorship about the ones involving gays and, as you said, laws were about to be written. Their failure is not due to lack of information. In a matter of fact, you are aware about suicides and similar things, cause news do report them. There's no silence to be broken.

Well, it's not like he went to Africa to shield lions with his own body.... When it comes to the other topics, they all are something he decided to join, but none of those things affected him directly. He had no relatives involved in Charlie's mass murder, and Milano's pride was going to happen with or without him, whereas the pic was something more personal and pinching. I don't know how to explain it better, but it seem a different thing to me. It's not about believing in something, it's about reacting to a personal insult. Then he made a whole campaign out of it, but it's not like he woke up yesterday and said "let me start a campaign against homophobia today". He just made the best of a bad business

I was puzzled about his choice as well at first, then I got it when I realized that they were probaby aiming to mass media and such. And it really worked out. But as soon as I saw the manager sharing the pic I was sure that Mika must have been already aware of it. I can't see him doing such a thing without having discussed it beforehand.

When I first saw the pic I immediately thought "I don't want Mika to see that, I hope people will be sensitive and sensible enough not to share it". And of course they did. I started to see it on some random facebook profiles, then on twitter, all over again. I am fine with his reaction, although at first I didn't agree at all. I would have ignored it. But I see now that he couldn't, so it was a smart move to turn it into a media fuss. Anyway, I agree with you, I really don't get why people would want him to see it. It's ok to warn people you care about when someone is talking s**t about them, but that is not the case. He's totally aware that somewhere in the world haters are calling him names, he doesn't need fans to rub it in his face. A friend of mine has the privilege of having her own haters, and I told her that I wouldn't report anything to her, as it's morbid. I don't want her to feel bad for no reason. Of course, if something new happened, I would tell her, but only when she can fight back. If she couldn't, I would shut my mouth. Why would I report it to her and watch her suffer. So yeah, I would have rather preferred people to mind their own business, even though I think his reaction was briliant. And I actually now feel kind of bad for having joined the buzz for my own fun. As I said, I did it only after the manager did (which made it pretty clear that Mika was fine with it) and I only shared the hashtag cause I still disagreed about the pic, but still. I am not ok for having parttake in something he was pushed to do. I didn't realize he was kind of forced into this choice.

Yeah, it must be about the nuances of the English language. Anyway, don't take my words too literally. Of course there's no conspirancy.

That was exactly my first thought as well. I was like "no way I'm spreading this s**t, it's pointless and I don't want him to get to know it" Then I saw that Giulio (his manager) was very into it, so I thought that Mika already knew and probably agreed on some level, so I just joined the buzz, cause I found it fun. Yeah, I had no high moral purposes, as I don't think that a Twitter campaign will change minds. I was just enjoying some Twitter game like tweeting and retweeting. When Mika changed his profile pic I was a little bit confused but then I saw what he was doing. And that was smart. It would have been stupid if it was me, as no one would care, but since he's famous and has connections, he got newspapers and VIPs to notice this thing, and that's the only relevant outcome both for him as a VIP and for the subject. Now it is spreading for real on socials, outside the fandom, and might even become kind of huge for a few days, especially since famous people and different news accounts are joining in. I NEVER watch the news nor read newspapers but even me learned about an assault on a gay the other day. Which means that this silence isn't that strong. At least this is my percetion. People around me are from very to quite ok with the subject and it's not like I live in a blessed town or something. Of course old people, or frustrated wannabe alpha males, still don't accept homosexuality, like they don't accept foreigners or that women are clever beings, or that animals do suffer both emotionally and physically like we do, or A.R.T., or whatever. But it's not like people are scared to talk about such things. Society is changing, and these people's world is falling apart. That writing on the poster was more likely to reassure the writer than to insult Mika, at the end of the day. Aggressiveness almost always springs out of fear. And it's not through some tweets that people are going to change that. It's through news papers (well done, mission accomplished), daily life, little things and events that change the unusual in ordinary, and through love. I do think that Mika appealing to so many people in Italy helps the gays acceptance. They love him, hence they accept what he is. Briefly, Mika is helping gay rights to be spread in many ways, and I think he's very good at turning an assault into a strong point. I was translating this the other day: "- So, Mika, if anyone attacked you in the street, what would you do? - It depends. I hate violence. But it depends on why they would attack me, cause it's.... the reason is actually all what matters. It's not about the assault itself, it's about the reason." He has a very good reason, and he's turning out to be quite a good fighter. But I don't think it's about to break the silence, as I don't see much silence around, except for our politicians who still are reluctant, but they will come around, eventually. They are not targeting him. There's plenty of random posters around which get ruined through insulting doodles. It's not like there's a "let's pick on Mika" movement. That was one single guy's act, it happened before and it will happen again. Some months ago a guy took a pic with Mika who had lunch in his restaurant, then he started to write insults to him in the comments just cause his friends were all winding him up and telling them that Mika is gay, so why did he take a pic with him. It wasn't about Mika, it was about his little unsure macho-man ego which was shaking when he realized that his clique wasn't approving the pic. There is no anti-Mika conspiracy.

Thanks!!!! Amazing pics!

That girl is (was?) ill and made the wish to dance on stage with him. He said that a while ago she couldn't even climb some stairs.

I think I may claim that I love Switzerland festivals. I mean, how could I not love a festival were toilets never run out of paper. And then I am closer To Switzerland than to most Italy, not to mention that they don't know what traffic is, which feels like home to me. Ok, they might not be reasonable when it comes to prices. 7 euros (oops, sorry, francs as they won't accept euros and I wouldn't either when I would charge 5 euros for the change) for a tea and a coffee. 12 euros for 2 glasses of water. "Madam, are you kidding me?" (she actually was wrong and gave my money back but still). Anyway, except for the amount of money they demand to keep you alive (but remember that you can survive eating junk food you bought beforehand in your country), I am always happy with gigs in Switzerland (I attended only twice, somebody could say that it's not a reliable scientific statistics, but whatever). Trip: as I said, zero traffic, zero convoluted roads with multiple confusing directions, and zero bushes on the side of the road in case you can't hold your pee anymore. But they have parking lots with real toilets and real paper, again. What a country. Just be careful on speed limits, they get really pissed when you overspeed them. I might have done it but I hope they didn't notice. Hotel: we booked a hotel which was 1 km far from the venue. Imagine our surprise when I followed my navigator right into the festival. The hotel was litterally squeezed between the lake and the little stage. Our room's view was on the little harbor, and when I say "on", I mean it. The water was hitting our wall. That was very nice and very convenient, as I could go back to my room when needed during the day, to change my clothes (quite cold in the morning, hot but not too much in the afternoon) or to ask the hotel manager for some paper to built a board. The man was very kind, even though he insisted in speaking in a very good italian, while I was all up for french. Oh, and we had wi-fi, password: Beyoncé. Well, what can I expect from a guy who asked me if I was there for MiLka.... Queue: all super relaxed. One girl even fall asleep for good at one point, her mouth wide open. There were a few people only, and it was pleasant to meet some french girls. We had music, we had company, we also went for a walk in the village. It was more like chilling out on the spot than queueing. Security: they were kind enough, although they can't outdo Caribana's. In Caribana they provided us with tons of unlimited water, sunscreen, shadow and earplugs. In Estivale with only got earplugs and water (but not anymore once in the festival, cause they needed us to cough up some bucks for it). In Caribana the security would help to guarantee peace and justice in all over the kingdom, while in Estivale they wouldn't have cared (no need to, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have.). In Caribana they came for the gate opening, and did their thing in an amazing way. People's tickets got scanned one by one, and they waited a few seconds before letting another fan in, so that people were almost walking their way to stage. In Estivale no one knew at what hour they would have opened the gate, since if you printed yout tickets many weeks ago, it would report 6 pm, if you got it printed the day before it would say 5.30 p.m. Besides security kept coming back and forth, discussing strategies on how to deal with the gate opening and explaining it to some volunteers who looked like they had no clue what they were doing there. That was a bit stressful, whereas in Caribana it was all peachy. Highlight: they allowed us to peep from the fence and take pics of the strage truck and the crew moving the gear, so that I now have some nice memories and have to explain to my friends from the real world that no, I did not have an all access pass While we were waiting for Mika after the gig I chatted a bit with a security girl and she was telling us everything which was about to happen, so that no one was overreacting over a truck or something. "No one lose their mind, this is just a truck going away. I'll tell you when it's Mika". I told her we were pretty cool and that none of us would have jumped on the car or under a bus, but I guess she was concerned about how some girls behaved a ten metres afar, so she thought she better do her best to spread the coolness. I appreciated her very much for that and thought that only a woman could be so sensible to understand that lies and shenaningans do more harm than good and wind people up. When Mika didn't stop (and yeah, she kept her word and did tell us when he was about to leave) she was all sad for us. "You must be so disappointed" and I was like "ma'am, it's ok, we are used to it. Really, we are fine" So sweet, she wouldn't believe me. Support band: I always feel sad for them. They always are aware that we are there for Mika, but I always feel for them. This time, it was Talisco band. I have to say that they were ok, their music was pleasant and they were likeable. Some of us were sitting with their backs to the barrier and instead of getting annoyed they joked about it ("what's that? a protest?") and went playful, singing for them while begging on their knees for people to stand up. It worked. What else? Oh right, the gig The gig. The setlist was pretty regular, he only sang the usual Talk about you, Good Guys and Staring at the Sun as new songs (I think), but I was very into it. My muscles are still aching today. I danced and jumped like crazy, altough I really should improve my knowledge of some lyrics, as it's pretty embarassing. Some of the songs he always plays are not my fav, what can I do. Luckily I do know most of them, so I think it's still ok. The crowd was reactive, they sang along and kept singing even while he wasn't anymore. I think he was really pleased with it, you can see it in a few moments, during Underwater for instance (about minute 1.36, you can't actually really tell from the video but I promise he giggled with pleasure while clapping his hands). There were also people peepeing from the street for free and he said that they were overdoing the paying audience on the left side of the venue Random thoughts: I appreciated his outfits very much. That little girl on stage was very cute and kept hitting him with her stick, very funny and of course her story is heartwarming. Confetti are the best thing ever, I feel over the moon every time the cannons shot them. And anyway I enjoyed the gig a lot. A lot a lot a lot. Sighseeing. The day after we visited Vevey and Montreux, they are really beautiful tiny towns by the lake. Chaplin lived in Vevey, I think, and Mercury recorded in Montreux back in the day. The weather and the company were awesome, I really made the most of this trip and am very pleased. I think that's pretty much all. Vive la Suisse. PS Here you can find some pictures but do not bother if you are looking for pics about Mika.

Thanks a million!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, I like this one. Might do subtitles.

http://imgur.com/ or you can do a public album on facebook and we'll aaaaall go peep in there.

His it's at about 25th minute http://lci.tf1.fr/jt-13h/videos/2015/le-13-heures-du-31-juillet-2015-8638607.html Mine who knows, lost in the cyberspace. If anyone wants to look for a pic of themselves, take a look over here: http://ch.tilllate.com/it/photoalbum/overview/10874502?ref=eventsubsite-hereitgoesbutton#p1

We went there as well! Loved it!!!!! There were lots of people at the beginning, but then they left. There were only like, I don't know, 30 people left in the end? After we saw Black Blocks trying to grab every leaving car, Myriam and I spread the voice not to scare the c**p out of him, and I think they got it. So I am not happy he didn't stop, but whatever. I enjoyed the gig a lot, I mean, A LOT. And I got to say Hi to you, like three times, so I call it a win My body probably didn't as much, as every muscle of mine is aching. I guess that's how life tells you that you should work out. Thank God I have now two days off to recover and who knows who knows I might write a report as well, especially when I haven't write Caribana and Fabrique and Cattolica (soVVy), which means I am on a guilt trip since ever. VIPs do share the same interviewer.

Ooook. Voted right before the deadline

This venue is sooooo small!!! I am jealoussss, that is amazing. The stage is teeny tiny, it feels like it's a party with some friends, including even Mika and the band. What was that about? Anyway, I wasn't there but from this short video, it looks something awesome. But did you have to cut the video? Really????? I loved it when people sing (well) along, why did you stop recording I'm not up-to-date, do we have some more videos of him singing the new songs? Like NPIH, Good Wife and such? Possibly which aren't missing a part ? (kidding, I appreciate your vid)

It has never been my intention But I like allegra to challenge you

Thank you so much, I missed this one cause I was stuck at work. So cute You could have started this report saying "Once upon a time" as it looks like a fairytale to me. I'm really happy things went fabulous for you guys who attended this gig. In Italy it's common to say "America" to reply to someone referring to an impossibly good situation, when everything is totally perfect and so not likely to happen. Like, if I went "I wish I had wristbands for all MFCers, so that no one would have to queue, a super sunny day in a wonderful location, a spontaneous and happy Mika being pleased to see his fans and a good show" everybody would surely reply "Yeah, America" before I'm even done with the statement. It goes back to that time when many Italians went to USA looking for a better life, but it still does apply. Well done, chicks

OMG ! So not!!!! I wouldn't take them, not even for 2000 euros. Say 50 000 and I'll think about it. It would be the worst nightmare for everyone But I do appreciate that you thought about us, very sweet of you.

My husband and I decided yesterday to go to Cattolica, since my in-laws live 20 minutes afar from the venue. I guess they have to thank Mika if they will get to see us in July, that was so not on our schedule So yeah, we are very very very much on board with this party!!!! And there's why I love you, you are the funniest We will leave quite soon tho, say after lunch, cause we have to back home and also the come for a little trip to Marche.....

This is brilliant.