Lunari

True, I haven't really thought of that! But even if the negotiations are very quick, I doubt Brexit could happen before the middle of 2017. Perhaps that's all the more reason to choose London now, while we still can: it might be much less convenient to meet there for our 15th anniversary!

Initially I voted for one big party, but I changed my mind and now I think it would be best to have some smaller regional parties too. Italy and France definitely deserve parties of their own, because there are so many MFC members there, and if the party is just in London, I'm sure a lot of them will feel left out. However, if the party is just in Milan, I'm afraid some British and/or other international fans who already feel like they're "losing" Mika to Italy and France will feel left out as well. So, having a few parties would probably be the best compromise. I hope I'll be able to make it to the party wherever it is (it also depends on when it is), but I voted for London, both because it's where it all started and because it's probably the most internationally accessible.

Hi Birgit and welcome! I'm from Slovenia, so we're neighbours. We're also the same age. Unfortunately I can't speak German, but I'm sure you'll find some German-speaking Mika fans, because there are quite a few of them here. I'm looking forward to seeing you in Florence!

It was so nice to meet you too! I definitely hope we'll see each other again, not too far in the future.

I wasn't planning to go to this gig, because I'd already been to quite a few others this year and I didn't think I'd be able to take more time off work for this one anyway. But in the end everything worked out so that I was able to go after all. It was really a last moment decision, and I'm so glad I made it! The concert was special because it was the last one of the tour, and of course the m&g at the end was the cherry on top. I only arrived in Cernobbio in the middle of the afternoon, and the queue for the concert was already a few kilometres long (or at least that's what it seemed like ), so I really didn't expect to get a good place. When I entered the venue, it was already quite full -- but to my surprise, there weren't too many people at the left side of the stage, so I went there and ended up in the second row! Even though I had a side view of the stage, it was actually a really good one and I was very happy to get such a good spot at this late point. Some notes about the concert itself: - I loved hearing "Step with Me" (with Mika's new additions about his journey in Italy) and "Blame It on the Girls"! "Step with Me" is not even one of my favourite songs of his, but after this gig I have a new appreciation for it. - It was really funny to hear him start to sing "Sara' perche' ti amo" in the middle of "Talk about You" and the enthusiastic response of the audience, who knew every word of that song. - He told the story about how his whole extended family, which consisted of 23 people (his grandmother had her own car and driver, because nobody wanted to be in the car with her), went to Villa d'Este in Cernobbio for his 30th birthday. They rented a private boat for all 23 people, and when they were in the middle of the lake, he decided to swim across it. It took him 3 hours and he spent the rest of the night vomiting. - He also declared that tonight, HE was going to eat mosquitoes, not the other way around. - The whole concert had a slightly different feel than usual, he included the band in singing some of the songs etc. Instead of singing part of "Happy Ending" without the microphone, he sang part of "Underwater" this way. He asked us to turn all the lights off during "Underwater" this time, because "we don't need lights to be together". It was great to see you again too! It's been an amazing ... well, not quite 18 months for me, more like 12 months. I've met so many nice people during this time and I love Mika even more than I did before. Can't wait for his next tour!

"Good evening! So, normally there's a dramatic entrance, there's a prayer, there are some songs that are always at the beginning. But tonight is a little different, because tonight is the last one. The last one in Italy, before starting a new chapter. And so, all the formality that we used during these last 18 months of tour isn't important tonight. Tonight in this beautiful place here, in front of ... my house... [smiles] Welcome to my house! I will sing a little of everything."

"On this elegant square ... apart from him [indicates the band member] ... tonight it's a little different. Follow me. Only the ... [he can't pronounce the word "girls"] Tonight I can't speak! I can't manage to speak! Tonight, only the ... [he tries to say "girls" again] S**t! Only the GIRLS, please!" (singing) "Next time, only the boys."

Sent!

I'm really glad to hear that! He is a bit like a drug, isn't he? And it's good that your friend enjoyed the concert as well.

I'm here! Anyway, the concert was great, and for a change it wasn't far from my home. (Still in another country, but as close to the border as it gets!) Some of my impressions: - The security guys were actually really nice and cooperative this time, much more that at most of the other gigs I've been to. They helped us make a queue according to our time of arrival (although at some point, which was of course just before my number came up, they stopped and started letting in other people who were complaining ). It also turned out there was a problem with my ticket, which was apparently just a voucher that needed to be exchanged at the box office - only I had no idea about that until a guy working for the venue informed me about it. I was with Urška (dreams) and her mother, who had the same problem. It all worked out in the end (thanks to Urška's dad, who exchanged the tickets for us without us having to leave the line, and of course that nice guy who told me about this in the first place), but we were very worried there for a moment, because the doors were about to open and we were there without valid tickets! - I did end up in the front row, which was a really nice surprise. Of course, I was at the right side of the stage and Mika seemed to spend most of the time on the left side ( ), but he did come to our side a few times. - Hearing Kick Ass was also a huge surprise, as I remember him saying in an interview that he doesn't like this song anymore. But he said he had made a promise that on this tour he would sing songs he hadn't done in a long time, and he hadn't sung this song in 3 years. He added that Twitter had ruined an artist's life. Or at least I think this is what he was trying to say, because he couldn't remember the proper Italian word for "ruined". The word is "rovinato", but his speech went something like: "Twitter ha rivunato, rivonato, rivunato, rivonato ... rivonato? Rovinato!" And then: "Four days without concerts and I've already lost my head!" - In general he seemed to be having more troubles with Italian than usual, and he kept complaing about not being able to speak Italian that day at all. The word "merda" was used quite a lot. - He kept saying how beautiful the square in Trieste was, and I agree with him. - The setlist was a little shorter than in Piazzola sul Brenta, and I missed Good Wife, Rain and Elle me dit. I'm always a little disappointed when I hear the first notes of Last Party -- not because I don't like the song, but because I know it means that the show is coming to an end. However, this time Last Party wasn't the last song before the encore, because he went on to do Stardust. - All in all, it was another really great show. Apparently there were a lot of people who were listening to it for free from behind the barriers, and Mika included all of them, especially in singing Underwater and turning on the lights on their phones during that song. I'm a little sad that this was the last Mika gig for me this summer. It was a great summer (and late spring) though, so I really can't complain!

Oh, don't worry about it. I didn't see him that well in the moment he took the pan, so perhaps some throwing was involved too. I just know it didn't fly to the stage from afar, like all those stuffed animals did.

I really enjoyed this concert, even if waiting in the sun was very uncomfortable. This was my first Mika gig in Italy and considering his popularity there, I was afraid of people being very pushy (and I had heard some horror stories from previous gigs too), but it actually wasn't as bad as I had thought. (Well, except for a moment or two right after they opened the gates.) Some of my thoughts on the concert: - The crowd was definitely very enthusiastic. People kept throwing things (mostly stuffed animals, I think) on stage. I don't know if it's like that at every gig in Italy, but it was starting to get a little ridiculous (and perhaps slightly dangerous, because something could have hit Mika). - When he received the already mentioned pan (which luckily wasn't thrown, someone just handed it to him), he said that he knew his fans were special (which didn't sound entirely like a compliment). - The bit with the bug during "Big Girl" (or should I say "Big Bug"?) was also funny. He acted as if he was very scared of it and later complained that he had lost all his dignity and masculinity now that we had seen his reaction to this creature. - I was very happy to hear "Blue Eyes" and "Beautiful Disaster", because it was my first time hearing these songs live. - "Billy Brown" made another appearance in the setlist too. Mika said that now he could tell us he had written this song for one of his sister's ex-boyfriends. He said the guy had become a bit of an idiot lately, so he decided to talk about him for the first time -- "but it's okay, because he doesn't speak Italian". - In the middle of the concert, he said that he had to ask us a favour. He mentioned his TV show on RAI 2 and said that they hadn't filmed anything for it yet, but they would start now. What he asked us to do was very similar to what he did for Paloma's birthday: first the camera was on him and he talked about how he was all alone, his tour was finished etc. (we had to be quiet during this part). Then he said he had invited a few friends, and the camera turned to reveal the enthusiastic crowd (he told us to act "as crazy as you already are"). Of course, the bit with him talking had to be repeated a few times, because he kept making mistakes. - This gig was also enjoyable for me because I could understand Mika's Italian very easily. Sometimes I actually understood him better than I do when he speaks English: not because my Italian is better than my English (it's not), but because he speaks much more slowly and clearly in Italian. All in all, it was a great show. I'm glad he keeps making small changes to the setlist, which definitely keeps things interesting!

I'm not surprised they managed to do it, because security seemed to be pretty lax. I could have a had a pan in my backpack too for all they knew, because they didn't even look at it.

She's Mika's family friend from Lebanon. Even though her speech starts at the end of Relax, I think it's supposed to be an introduction to Any Other World, which is the next song on the album and was inspired by the war in Lebanon. The woman lost her eye during a bombing there.

At the moment, my top 5 would probably be: Good Wife Promiseland Toy Boy Origin of Love Happy Ending ... but the last one could easily be replaced with Love Today/Elle me dit/Stuck in the Middle/Les baisers perdus etc.

I think they did explain that everything was shown on FB, but it looked like he didn't realize people could hear everything they were saying during the breaks as well. As for the public being able to ask for songs during gigs, I agree with you. Even if we disregard the fact that he doesn't like some of the older songs anymore and that the band hasn't rehearsed them, would he really be able to remember the lyrics? He forgets them often enough as it is.

He didn't do "Hurts" in Riga either, so he's probably not all that likely to sing it in London.

I'm not 100% certain I'll be able to make it, but I'll definitely try to be there (although probably a little later than 5 pm -- I'll only arrive at my hotel around that time).

Yes, we definitely need to talk soon. I feel like I have so many things to do before the trip, and so little time!

It looks great! This concert is getting so close now ...

I did a google search for this picture and it looks like it's not "our" Mika. The image appears on this site: http://www.empower.co.il/healingkiss/InteGRATion-into-GRATeFULLness/Finetuning-to-my-Present/p2/2007_10_10-Mika%27s_%20FULL-FILL-ments_w.her_Siblings.htm. Somebody was probably confused because Mika seems to be the name of the baby girl in the picture, and the boy is her older brother.

There seem to be very few tickets available (right now I only see 3), so I'm sure they'll be sold out very soon here too.

I really like this idea too, for the same reasons you mentioned. Yeah, differentiating between hell and purgatory could be a problem, but maybe we could use a different colour, for example red for hell and orange for purgatory (to indicate that purgatory is slightly less hot )? But we'd probably still need to have some kind of sign or letters spelling the words "hell" and "purgatory" to make the meaning clear.

Thank you for posting this! Unfortunately it looks like the contest is only open to people who live in France.

Now I got an e-mail from amazon that they'll try to obtain the DVD and they'll let me know when they do. I guess if everything else fails, I can buy it in Paris when I go there for Mika's concert in May.