Lunari

2 minutes ago, Hero said:

Oops... 

I probably wouldn't have remembered the song if I hadn't been at that gig. 

1 hour ago, Hero said:

It's his sweet revenge. "Oh, you heckled me for singing EMD? Guess which French song is the only one I'll ever play here." 

While I wouldn't put something like this past Mika, he was heckled for Boum Boum Boum rather than EMD, so I don't think this explanation quite works  

10 minutes ago, mellody said:

I wonder if maybe it really is like @krysady says and he's exhausted from the long tour? He played Rain and Popular song at some of the other gigs - he could have played those instead, if he didn't want to sing in French, but he didn't. Maybe he realized that a setlist of 16 or 17 songs is his limit.  I guess if it's enough for the audience in the venue, he doesn't feel like he has to do more than necessary. 

 

I don't know if skipping a song or two actually makes a show that much shorter, since he talks a lot in between and repeats choruses many times while engaging with the audience, so most songs end up being much longer live than their studio versions are. The show in Wolverhampton definitely didn't feel short to me (it lasted about 2 hours). But I do think @krysady's theory about trying to protect his voice has merit: when he came out after the show, he didn't speak and he only communicated with hand gestures (as he's done quite a few times in the past when he also wanted to protect his voice more than usual). 

1 hour ago, mellody said:

Maybe you're right that they don't want to hear the French songs, their loss... but if he even just added a few songs of MNIMH, like Tiny Love - he did it at his UK gigs last year and at the London gigs over the years as well, and people loved it. I just don't get it.

 

That's a very good point and something I would love to see as well. I mean, maybe he thought he covered the new songs by adding Yo Yo and Feels Like Fire, but I really don't think the Yo Yo remix is a good representation of his more recent music.

9 minutes ago, mellody said:

Probably. But he could have done it without the cage? The wings themselves are impressive enough.

 

I'm wondering if maybe he could create a cage with laser lights for the venues that are too small for the cage, or for the festivals. Wouldn't that be much easier? But maybe I'm too optimistic about that, I don't know how expensive such lights would be.

 

So only 16 songs then?  It's getting less and less...

Yeah, he could have definitely done Bougez without the cage, and I really like your laser lights idea. I have to admit that OOL was also a great opener though, and the crowd reacted very well to it.

Yep, only 16 songs, unfortunately. I kind of understand why he does older songs though: I had a place where I could see most of the crowd, and I definitely got the impression that their response to older hits like Lollipop was much more enthusiastic than to newer songs (like Feels Like Fire or Yo Yo). When he did Elle me dit, he almost apologized for it, saying that this was the only French song he would do (and then he had a long talk in English in the middle of the song, basically explaining the meaning of the lyrics). As much as we would all like to hear all the new French songs, I don't think the general UK audience would be as impressed by them.

2 hours ago, mellody said:

I just read he didn't play Bougez at all in Wolverhampton.

I was wondering if maybe they couldn't fit the birdcage through the door, like they couldn't fit the piano, so maybe that's why he didn't do Bougez.

3 hours ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

 

 

I wonder if the photobook was the singed one.

35 GBP it's around 40 EUR.

 

Did anybody buy it to know if it's signed?

I didn't buy it, but its description said it was signed.

3 hours ago, Patricia Birden said:

I just want to say Mika is a very tall and strong man. He’s not going to get crushed by his fans. And besides because he is so tall he can see absolutely everything that’s going on around him, so no he certainly isn’t put out when amongst his fans. From my perspective he enjoys it otherwise he wouldn’t do it, and let’s face it, he’s been doing this for 15 years. Has he ever been crushed? Ran away? There are videos that I’ve seen where Mika actually tells security to not push his fans and leave them alone. So the opposite is true he protects his fans. This time when Mika steps forward to take Phobebe’s phone the security guard pushes forward to stop fans or even Mika and Mika says to him “It’s alright”. And Mika loves nothing more than getting off stage and going into the crowd and singing “Big Girl”……………and that if you think about it is crazy. But we fans all “LOVE” it when he does that right? And the crowd goes wild………and lots of people touch him…………. and…….!!!!!

I wasn't in London this time, so I can't comment on that, but I've been to many other events with Mika and waited for him after the event. I've absolutely seen him "run away" when the crowd was too pushy (he didn't literally run, but you know what I mean ). The only times when he actually stayed for a while and talked to fans were when people were either respectful and/or there were barriers to prevent us from physically getting too close to him. And sometimes he doesn't come out to meet fans at all, which has almost been a rule after gigs in Italy, where crowds are often big and pushy. (This years' gig in Verona was an exception, of course, since it was a special one-off. Plus, there were barriers.)

As for him going into the crowd, I'm sure that's something he enjoys on some level, but I think it's also one of the "challenges" he sets for himself, as he likes to push himself to do things that he finds a little uncomfortable. One event I remember vividly is a taping for CasaMika that was done in Rimini in 2016, where he spent some time dancing in the crowd of fans. He left really quickly after the taping, and later he said in an interview that he had never had as many people touch his butt as he did that day (and he said it sort of jokingly, but you could definitely tell he was actually put off by it). I really find it appalling that anyone would think it was okay to touch him that way on purpose. 

I'm fine with pizza and tiramisu. 

1 hour ago, Gabry74 said:

 

 

1. Maddalena 

2. Gabriella Bodrito

3. Artuso Grazia

4. Ganzerla Manuela

5. Beatrice Di Lauro

6. Elisa Zaccherini

7. Teresa Moro

8. Sabina Tassani

9. Laura Bianchi

10. Milena Emila (Rossa)

11. Elisabetta Cordari

12. Emilia Carnevale

13. Maria Teresa Ferrè 

14. Antonella Pozzer

15. Marijana Tumbin + 1

16. Angela Zagami + 1

17. Lydia Coia + 3

18. Camilla (Serendipity) 

19. Michelle (Holdingyourdrink)    

20. Karin                                

21. Prisca                              

22. Fanny

23. Michelle Blondet

24. Nina

25. Annik

26. Chiara Canzini

27. Suzanne 

28. Gabriellina

29. Caroline 

Totale 34

I would like to join too.

18 minutes ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

There is another thing - if it's due to the economic situation - don't forget that the calculations have been made in 2021 - the costs might be so high now that the whole tour will not be covered with the contracts from last year.

In Poland only electricity for business purpose (offices, shops, factories) increased from 100% to even 800%!

I don't mention transport, gas, food ect.

If you take all increased costs of the venue rent, logistic, staff, tickets distribution ect it can be that the whole profit is lost.

This is business. People work to earn money. Companies involved in the process want to earn money. 

I've read in the SM that some concerts have been already cancelled this year for the economic reasons.

If only one wheel in this huge machine of entertainment business becomes weak, the whole project can crash down.

So we can only speculate about the reasons. But we can't expect that Friends & Partners will tell us all the details about their problems. Fans write bad things about Mika because it's the easiest thing to do. 

 

You may well be right, and I'm sure the whole thing is more complicated than we will ever know. But I do think the whole thing was handled badly, so it's not surprising that a lot of fans blame Mika: he/his team communicated this news in a very impersonal way, and it was also announced very late (less than 3 weeks before the tour was supposed to start). Remember how many times he apologized when he got sick and had to cancel those shows in the US this spring, even though everyone kept telling him that it was okay and he should take care of his health first? You could really see how much he regretted those cancellations, which is very different from how this latest announcement comes across. I mean, I'm sure in reality he feels just as regretful and devastated now (if not even more) -- but the tone of the announcement paints a very different picture: "Sorry, I had to cancel these shows because they wouldn't be the way I wanted them to be. But hey, I'll see you in Verona to celebrate the end of the summer!" Again, I'm not saying that's how Mika really feels, but this is what fans see.

10 minutes ago, Prisca said:

It is exactly what I wrote in the refund thread.

 

I think because he simply doesn't have the time, with all the projects he has. If he does the Magic Piano Tour next year and now a "The Rite of Spring" tour in Italy, he doesn't have enough time to finish the other projects.

Yes, maybe. But if that's the case, it's a problem of his own doing and he should learn not to take on so many projects at the same time. I still think doing "The Rite of Spring" tour now and forgetting the "Magic Piano" tour altogether would be a better solution, since we don't really know if and when that tour will happen anyway.

4 minutes ago, Prisca said:

As I understand it, he is not doing the originally planned concert in the Arena in Verona, but a Rite of The Spring concert as a consolation (my interpretation) and as a conclusion to the summer.

I interpreted it this way too, but what I don't get is: if he can keep the gig in Verona and just turn it into a "normal" concert, why not do that with the other gigs too? It's not the perfect solution, but still a lot better than cancelling the whole tour. I'm sure most fans would have understood and there would be much less anger and annoyance in the fandom.

4 hours ago, mellody said:

Finding a solution for my travel arrangements is bad enough, but these are my own responsibility, tho ofc Mika knows that would be a problem for many fans. I really wish he'd give a better explanation than "production and logistical issues" (At least the Verona theatre gig, how hard could it be to do that the day before the arena show, literally in walking distance?!), but if it's the way it has always been, the info we got so far is all we'll get from him.

Thanks everyone, I managed to request a refund.

I also wish we were given a better explanation for the cancellation. I know we don't know the whole story (and probably never will), and I'm sure Mika and his team didn't make this decision lightly. Still, if he really did it because production and logistical issues prevented him from making this show what he wanted it to be ... then I'm sorry, this explanation is not good enough for me. Maybe I could understand it for the big arena shows, but for the theatre shows, all he had to do was show up with his piano and sing some songs he has rarely or never done before, and everyone would have been more than happy. And somehow he can still do Arena di Verona, despite the production issues?

I had tickets for most of the shows on this tour. If it ends up taking place in 2023, I probably won't be able to go (it's almost impossible for me to get vacation time in the spring, and I have a major surgery scheduled for summer/autumn), so this was going to be my last Mika tour for some time. I'll still go to Verona, and losing some money I paid for non-refundable plane and train tickets is not the worst thing in the world. I'm also lucky enough to have seen Mika many times, so I can't complain too much (and I feel for people who haven't had that possibility and now had their only chance to see him taken away). But all good things come to an end, and I think the days when I could take a couple of weeks of vacation and follow Mika from city to city might now be in the past.

Thank you for the info, Deb. Has anyone actually managed to get a refund from TicketOne? When I enter the ticket data, it just says "this ticket is non-refundable".

Blake Shelton, John Legend, Gwen Stefani use popular “Grace Kelly” meme to announce The Voice return

Meanwhile, Blake, John and Gwen made the announcement via the popular music meme, which is a snip of “Grace Kelly” by Mika (ALSO A THE VOICE COACH IN FRANCE!). “#duet with his if you’re going to be a coach on #TheVoice this fall. All three coaches sing the song.

https://www.mjsbigblog.com/the-voice-season-22-3-coaches-confirm-return-1-conspicuously-missing.htm

Just paid. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again! 

10 minutes ago, vlies said:

Checked it, double checked it but I'm going to make it unfortunately.  Sorry for any inconvience, sure you will find a buyer soon :-) 

No worries, thanks for letting me know I'm already talking to someone who might be interested in buying the ticket, so I'm sure I'll be able to sell it soon either way.

I have two tickets to sell, one for Saturday, 23rd October, and one for Sunday, 24th October.

Edit: Both tickets are sold!

43 minutes ago, mellody said:

Not sure whether to put this here or on the Xfactor thread, but it seems to be about the Milan Pride celebration, not about Xfactor specifically. Apparently he also recorded that yesterday - same outfit & place, at least. What does he say?

Just Mika's parts:

"How much do we need a big collective hug in this moment! Like the one that Pride gives to all its participants."

"Covid has changed many things and also prevents us from doing many things, but it doesn't change the importance and the beauty of diversity among people. "

"Long live Pride!"

22 minutes ago, mellody said:

This seems to be the first part of the talk:

 

I understand the interviewer asks him if he's still in Athens, but not sure about Mika's answer - he says yes but not at his place? And something about Giulio (is he talking about his Italian manager or a different Giulio?). It looks like a hotel room.

2 minutes ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

Mika was talking about July (I think) but he pronounced it wrong. Luglio. He pronounced it Julio.

Yeah, It think he mixed up the English and Italian word (July and luglio) and came up with Julio.  When asked if he's still in Athens, he just says, "I'm not with you yet, but in a few weeks!" 

9 minutes ago, Mikasister said:

@mellody  @Lunari @koningin @maggie112 if you want and have time, you can visit the garden. 

I'd love to visit it, as it looks beautiful! Let's hope there will be enough time. 

2 hours ago, mellody said:

 

F0 frontrow center?! Or which F?

 

 

IF I'm going, which I haven't decided yet, I'm probably gonna rent a car (from Barcelona), unless I find someone who has one - so in that case we could share.

I also ended up buying a ticket for this gig, so if you do decide to go and rent a car, keep me in mind for sharing.  I haven't made any travel plans yet, but I'd most likely be travelling from Barcelona too. 

1 hour ago, koningin said:

Thank you Naomi for sharing the interview. Interesting projects, indeed ! I am just a bit surprised to read that MIKA felt “told off” in Germany and Holland 🥺 What makes him feel that way ?

I don't know about Germany, but on the third night in Utrecht he said that people on bikes were constantly yelling at him when he was distracted and wasn't paying attention to them. 🚲🚲🚲

9 hours ago, mellody said:

The introduction for EMD with talking about his Mum was quite moving, although I understood just a few words - but he was struggling for words at times... although that might just have been a language issue. I'll upload the video of it here later, would love to get a translation for it.

Yes, that introduction was really moving. When you post the video, maybe someone can give a more detailed translation, but I remember that he talked about how his mum always loved to dance and encouraged everyone else to dance too. Now she can't do it anymore because she's in a wheelchair, but every day the whole family gathers around her and they dance. Although she doesn't say anything, Mika thinks she likes it.