carafon

2 hours ago, mellody said:

 

Thanks! So did he just say these are his idols or also that the album was influenced by these sounds? I sometimes wonder if my basic French knowledge is better or worse than not understanding French at all, because I keep understanding things wrong. 🙈

 

What does he say at the beginning about why he's feeling really really good right now? I assume it's because things are going well for him, but I don't understand what he says. Only that he gets tired by 9pm (probably because he's working so much).

I listened while doing something else , so I can't say that I'm 100% sure , but I don't think that he said he was inflenced by his idols for this album

At the beginning he said that he feels good because the wheel is starting to turn .

In French it's often used to say that good things or luck arrives after bad ones.

But it also could mean that the process of this new area is starting 

13 hours ago, mellody said:

So I just listened to the interview. The most interesting bit (of the ones I understood) to me was that his album is influenced by English Pop - Pet Shop Boys, Bee Gees, Elton John - , just in French.  And that it's not melacholic and not about his Mum. Wait... not melancholic? Did he actially write happy lyrics this time?  Or does he  just mean, not sounding melancholic?

 

The presenter talked about the album cover and compared Mika to an angel, which obviously was NOT what he had in mind, judging from his reaction.  But from what I understood, he didn't say what inspired it, he just talked about Mat Maitland.

 

And he said his Atelier is like Charlie's Chocolate Factory, just that he doesn't like chocolate, but he loves being surrounded by art, fashion, etc.

I have to listen a second time, but I think all these people are his idols. He said you needs idols even at 40 or 50..... Or more 😉

He also talked about "bougez"

He found the lyrics during a boring concert at "les folies bergères"  ( didn't droped the artist's name .... ) based on a conversation he had with Valérie Lemercier 

1 minute ago, Prisca said:

Yes me too.

 

Yes, maybe there is a double meaning there, but I don't think that's it. To me it would only make sense if he had told his mother that he was gay and no one else and she would take that to her grave...

It was just an idea because you asked about "placard" meanings .........so I'd realy not put a lot of money on this bet .

Some familiar expression for coffin would be "la boite" or "la caisse"  ( boxes) , but for sure I've never eared  "placard" .

8 minutes ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

 

For me it's mean that a part of a history is over with his mum's death.

The closet has been closed "a double tours"  - for ever. For him as well as for his brother and sisters.

I agree with that .

But as he wrote it with Doriand who knows much how to play with French words   , I guess there could be double meaning as well 

11 minutes ago, Prisca said:

If it were written in a different context it would make sense to me, but with the lines that come before. Why are there flowers somewhere because Mika is gay? Why are his siblings sad? Certainly not because he's gay. 

I'd rather see it as a list , not necessary one line refering to the next or previous line 

But it also could be that they closed the closets with Joannie's belongings because it was too much pain to see them

Could also be double (or more) meanings and everyone is right  ........or wrong 

6 minutes ago, Prisca said:

 

Yes, but does it make sense in this context? He talks about his mother, was she part of the LGBTQIA+ community? Will she take the secret with her to her grave? I don't think the "placard" here has anything to do with this topic. 

He said in some interview that it's not only about his mother but everything that s....s in his life . 

For exemple , "c'est quoi ces rides sur mon visage" is obviously not about his mother.....but of course it doesn't mean that my "placard" idea is right 

3 hours ago, Prisca said:

Since no one has addressed it yet, this is what I think about it:

 

C’est quoi ces fleurs et son amour (the flowers on the coffin)

Mes frères et sœurs et leurs cœurs lourds (how his siblings feel in front of the coffin during the funeral)

Placard fermé à double tour (I think Mika is talking about the coffin)

 

But that was the first that came to my mind and it can be totally wrong and he really means a closet because "placard" doesn't seem to be a common word for coffin.

 

But there is also the expression in English: to have a skeleton in the closet, which seems to be used in a similar colloquial context in French as: "Avoir un cadavre, un squelette dans le placard" (source: Le Petit Robert). Of course that means something completely different, but there is also a corpse and a "placard" .

Also 

" sortir du placard"  means " coming out as gay" 

 " être dans le placard"  means " someone hiding  being gay" 

Then  ,as he said that the song is a summary of all the bad things in his life "placard fermé à double tour" could refer to someone who strongly doesn't want to be outed or someone who doesn't want people to know that a relative is gay.

It also caught my attention that Mika was only 4 in 1987 . I've always understood that he was bullied at the age of 8 at the " Charles De Gaulle" school at the very beginning of his stay in London 

He also said before  that the family had to move from Paris after  his father came back from  Koweit where he was stuck because of the beginning of the first gulf war .

Remember that he said that his father was sent to Koweit to close an agency and was surprised by the begining of the invasion .

If we consider the first gulf war 1980/1988 Mika was not born at the beginning . So I realy think that he refers to the 1990 war .

Also if you look at this picture , there is a french 1988 tax sticker at the right top car's window 

At the second one Mika seems older than in the first one , and unless they are just visiting they were still in Paris.

 The pictures are from "le divan" and were given by Jasmine who I'd trust more than Mika about dates .......

Btw I don't remember if there were any dates on the pictures of the US ambassy . It would solve the question then ....

He said several times that his dyslexia makes him being a bad calculator , that's probably the reason why. And I'm quite sure that the people who recorded it didn't check if it was right

Btw , in another recent French interview he said that the "Charles de gaulle lycée" was in Paris........just some mistakes because he has a very full life imo. Or he just don't give any importance to calendars , dates and everything related to time  ( explaining all the Mikasoon events .... )

The lenght of his father's "kidnaping" is also a bit different from one interview to another (from 6 to 9 if I remember correctly) . So it's very probable that they moved sometimes in 1991 . 

Btw I think the interview with the more details about the war is a Canadian one back in 2017 called 125 Marie Anne or something like that 

2 hours ago, Prisca said:

Then I will also add my two cents:

 

Yes, H is a consonant, but there is the "h aspiré" and the "h muet". 

In modern French, the initial "h" is generally aspirated for words of Germanic origin and silent for words of Latin origin. 

Yes, but when the h is silent, it is written "l'", so "l'homme", "l'heure", "l'histoire" or "l'hopital". So, for example, it's also "les hommes" and that's where the liaison is made and it sounds like "lezomme".

But "héros" has an aspirated h, so no liaison is made, so "mes héros" is pronounced as "me ero". No wonder Mika made this mistake.

And I'm going to hell for correcting a French. 

For siblings, I also found "fratrie", which is also used, but perhaps in writing rather than verbally. 

 

And would also be too short for the line in the song and not very nice either, if you ask me.

 

 

There is no place in hell for you , first because it's a complement , not a correction and you are absolutely right

I don't know why , but usualy people don't make any mistakes with the silent h , that's why I totaly forgot about it 

As for the "fratrie" ,  it defines the whole group of siblings , so I don't know if somebody who is part of it can use it to talk about the other ones .As much as I remember , I only saw it used by people who are outside .

So ,now we have something new to search and talk about...

As I said before ,French is a very strange language and people learning it are very brave !

1 hour ago, CharlotteL said:

Well thank you all for the french lesson, I am now more confused than ever!

oups ! Sorry to be responsible of the confusion 

13 hours ago, CharlotteL said:

 

Cause I thought the lyric made more sense in french because "frères et soeurs" just means siblings doesn't it?! Of course "brothers and sisters" is also just a synonym but perhaps sounds more like you have both several brothers and several sisters. So I guess in english I'd translate it with the gender neutral "siblings".

To answer to this specific question ,you're right with the translation

I think that the strict translation of siblings is "adelphe" , but tbh I don't think many people are using it .

Un ou une adelphe est le frère ou la sœur de quelqu'un, sans distinction de genre ou de sexe¹²³⁴. Le terme vient du grec ancien adelphós, qui signifie « utérin »⁴. Il s'agit d'un mot épicène, c'est-à-dire qui ne change pas selon le genre⁴. Le terme adelphe est aussi une traduction du mot anglais sibling³⁴. Au pluriel, les adelphes sont les membres de la fratrie ou de la communauté à laquelle on appartient 

4 hours ago, holdingyourdrink said:

The famous liaison that has so many exceptions! Like “les heros” and “les zeros” 

This is not an exeption ....because "H" is a consonant, not a vowel.

Btw for the same reason " L 'harcèlement , DE L ' harcèlement "or "D'harcelement" are wrong 

We have to say  " LE harcèlement " or " DU harcèlement "

Then " Mika a été victime DE harcèlement" not " Mika a été victime D'harcèlement" 

This is the French lesson of the day .....thank you for your attention 

The written lyrics are wrong but Mika is right.

He sings " mes frère et soeurs" .

Otherwise there would be an audible kind of "z" in between "mes brothers z and sisters "

French is a strange language so "mes" is right with 1 brother AND 1 sister . 

 Lorsqu’un adjectif qualifie plusieurs noms, il prend la marque du pluriel. Cela est donc vrai des adjectifs possessifs. Ainsi, dans votre exemple, vous écrirez : mes frère et soeur. Une exception à la règle ci-dessus : si un adjectif qualifie une seule et même personne.

Imo the last snippet we have ( saying "tant qu'on s'enlace on existe" ) is the cutted beginning of the one we had before 

18 hours ago, mellody said:

 

He talks about a project he'd like to do: playing in small venues, a mix of different music styles.

He said he would like to own his own small venue and be able to choose the whole programation with very diferent kinds of music

21 hours ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

So now @Romy04  and @carafon  you know what to do.

Just shut up when you are in the crowd, (even with your friends around),

 

That's fine.....acting the muet and the carp has always been my best roles in theater couses  ........

On 9/29/2022 at 7:30 PM, pascale_geneva said:

I’m very sensitive and was so shocked that I couldn’t react. One person @carafon apologised privately arguing that it’s her and Romy’s (I don’t know her username) sense of humour. Well, it’s not mine. Frankly I feel like neve attending again any MFC party, live etc etc. I am gutted!

Come on ...... I apologized for blocking the view ( didn't see much myself btw) and explained you the jokes about Geraldine . (we're not the only ones , look at the september competition) 

I'm sorry but  I don't remember saying anything bad about you and the cape/ glass of wine  (didn't even remember who had wine and don't care anyway) 

We had a good feeling at the dinner so I'm very upset and sad too !

( sorry for polluting the topic but can't leave it without answer) 

12 hours ago, dcdeb said:

 

 

 

Hey, if he's a registered MFC'er (he used to be, anyway!) then yes, he can enter!

 

And you know what? I think he might need to enter properly to earn that mug just like anyone else! He's not technically my boss, you know? LOL!

Mika don't worry ....

In case I'd be the winner I'd try my best to offer you my price  !

Well , I still have to compete before the deadline 

39 minutes ago, Mikasister said:

Mika story

Is he allowed  to compete? Would be fun to see his entry 🤣

On 9/23/2022 at 11:55 AM, holdingyourdrink said:

Oh, and this is not really Mika related, but also happened that evening: as we were waiting with all MFCers, Manuelito actually came out of the restaurant earlier. He was at the concert, had dinner with Mika and left before Mika did. Beatrice actually encouraged me to walk up to Manuelito and tell him about the portrait I had done of him earlier this year. I was hesitant at first, but decided that I would regret it if I wouldn't do it. 

 

So thanks to Beatrice, we spoke with him. He was very patient and kind with us, you wouldn't think he is a celebrity at all. And know what? He actually remembered the drawing very well!! He asked me if he could have the original and gave me the address of his management. I actually couldn't believe that was happening!! As a hobby artist I do hope for recognition sometimes, but I never would've thought that one of my subjects would actually want to have the drawing!! My evening got even better because of it!

Wow ! That's realy cool !

Congrats 

On 9/23/2022 at 11:46 AM, holdingyourdrink said:

.

 

The day of the concert came and it flew by with sightseeing (who hasn't touched Juliet for “a little bit of love”?),

I 'm the one who hasn't visited Juliet's "so called" house 

As I don't like crowded places , I prefered to spend the time before the concert at the lake . It was very peacefull ! 

Anna and I were able to enter the venue quite early and managed to add the hearts to the white/red/green papers on the seats.

I was very pleased that he added alternative songs to his "standart" setlist . Especially "good guys " that is one of my very favourites .

He was so happy to see all the "good guy" sign that I forgive the organisation to have kindda ruin the "origin of love" fan action . Looking at some videos it was not as bad as I feared , at least Mika recognized the heart , it's not that bad

I already experienced the choir in Bercy , they are definately a big bonus especially in such big venues . 

I saw the insta live afterwards (was at a tennis tournament at the meantime) , and realy enjoy what the girl (Elisa ?) from the Gospel said . Seems she's one of us .....

I can't wait to know what they are planing together in the future , I'm sure it will be awsome !

My phone is not good enought to film from afar tho I don't have any good video as the stage was huge and a bit further than usualy  ( They had to leave some space for the big heart at the end .... ) . And I was also quite far away both time when he went out .....as alway .... .  Luckylly I'm not short and still managed to see something 

That seems very interresting and it's a great honour for Mika to be part of the show along with Lang Lang

19 minutes ago, mellody said:

 

Lol, he posted this comment at 3am, what do you think he was late for?  

I understood he posted it "live" 

I'm tired , I'm veryyyyy tired  !

It's finally a good thing that I've got the whole week to recover !

I'd be curious to see "the origin of love" from above to see how the fan action ended 

From my place I only saw that people in the stands were confused  

And I noticed that during "good guys" some people holded red sheets .......I guess they were even more tired than me !

7 hours ago, mellody said:

Mika commented on the recording of the IG live yesterday where we joined Deb from the arena.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CisxOohgko4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

Now , I understand why he was late ......it's so unlikely that I was sure he had a very good reason 

And we've finally discovered at the end of the show that the big heart was the owner of the extra seats 

13 hours ago, peroalessandra said:

According to me living as being dead can mean, trying to give It a positive sense, considering life itself as a gift, despite all the pain It can give you. Living with the idea that the worst thing can happen to you Is death so anything else, even sad and difficult situations, are something you can cope with. So from this point of view everything is wonderful, in the sense that considering life itself as a gift even the smallest things have a great value and, on the other hand, even the saddest things that happen in life are something that you can cope with. I think this point of view is one of a person who has lived a very painful loss (the loss of a mother in this case), so after such a painful loss you feel dead in the sense that you have lost the most precious person you had but at the same time after having passed over such a strong pain you see everything in a different way: bad things become less bad and small good things become wonderful things. I think It Is a feeling that Only people Who have lived a very strong pain can have. Yes, It Is a very strong expression and maybe can be "rude" at the First sight, but i think Mika has given It a deeper meaning

Yeah I interpret it that way too. 

I can connect to this feeling myself because "as long you're alive there is still hope." 

7 minutes ago, Prisca said:

Nothing, you're on the list. Pizza is ok?

It's ok

Are we paying at the restaurant ?