*Vv*

Hi there, here a translation for you! Such a good piece of literature! It starts today, and it airs every Tuesday until November the 20th at 21:20 on Rai2, “Stasera Casa Mika”, the award winning Mika one man show. The Lebanese born, English based singer/songwriter, who came out as gay in 2012, is the author of a bold article, available on the November number of Vogue Italia, out November the 4th. Here is a brief anticipation. A cover, three kisses, a heterosexual and two gay ones. Why does the September edition of Vogue Italia, rose such a big amount of dust, ending up being seen and shared millions of times on thousands Instagram accounts worldwide? Wasn’t it “just a kiss”, at the end? The reason seems clear: the gay kiss. But if we look closer, maybe things are not really as they seem. If on one hand an act of love between two men (or two women) is still able to raise such a fuss, on the other, this reaction is the proof that the picture does work. Because it touches a deep spot of our being. And forces us to think. So: are we really sure, that what makes this picture so annoying is homosexuality? What if it was its visual composition, so full of subtexts, of delicate undertones and connections? The lips of two men which almost brush against each other, without getting to touch, suspended in the never-ending moment which follows or precedes the kiss: this is maybe, what makes it so special. Because if we browse the socials, we can find millions of gay kisses, even far more explicit than this. But they are nothing more than bits of stories, lacking emotions, interpretation, they are cold even if we add a “warm” tone to the picture. Technology got us used to a huge stream of images that we like and which we immediately forget. It’s a process which is killing empathy, it’s a huge peril. Provocation, on the other hand, is a discipline that needs an artistic and intellectual preparation. Without intelligence, sensitivity, and culture, it becomes sensationalism, or worse, trash. The “provocateur” is aware of his role, and assumes full and serious responsibility. And that’s what magazines have to do as well, especially those that have an authoritative and transversal voice, as Vogue Italia does, because they measure the emotional temperature of society. The image they put on the cover is therefore a visual statement, the equivalent of a written editorial: it forces you to take some time, the time you need to listen to a story, find its interpretation, examine it in depth, things that in the kaleidoscopic juke-box of the web, we don’t do anymore. That’s where the true provocation lays, on Vogue Italia’s cover. In the call to find such emotion again. The one enclosed in the wait for the imagined kiss, which is the most intense part of the kiss itself. Mika, Vogue Italia, November 2017, n.807

Thank you! It was just an hour work, not so much. I intended to do it since the first time I heard the monologue followed by Hurts. It was just pure magic, I couldn't miss the chance to have it among my songs in a playlist! Glad you liked it! ????

I've cut all the songs, duets and monologues of the 4 night of Stasera Casa Mika, converted in mp3 and gathered them all in a dropbox folder. Here you can dowload them if you wish https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tslnubh3gta5xfz/AAAwXPlKo3S7ATgZNnLiqwGla?dl=0

Trieste, what might very likely be my last Mika concert for a while. I took it all quite smoothly from the beginning. I left at 8:30 in the morning and drove all the way to Trieste with our motorhome in a 6 hours’ trip. (Traffic jam on the highway hit us twice!) When me, my sister and a friend arrived in the city we met with two other friends of us who were having a quick gateway nearby. She joined us while he went having dinner with his friends living in the city. We spotted the golden circle pit queue just a few meters away from the seaboard and started wandering around to understand how the things were being arranged as they had just started fencing the early-arrived-fans. They set some barriers and as they ran out of them they started trying to tidy up the remaining fans who were scattered, in a bubble shape, right after the entry of the corridor they had just disposed. It was half past four but there weren’t the usual number of fans you would expect to see so late in the afternoon. Anyway we waited 3 hours among complaining and quieter fans until at seven thirty they let us in. Without too much running we spotted a good place on the left side of the stage just in front of the Mika-throne and gained a beautiful third row we would have never hoped for, after such a short queuing time. The view from there was just amazing. And I’m not just talking about the stage-view, which in any case was perfect in spite of a quite high stage, but also of the beautiful location this gig was in. Piazza Unità d’Italia is a jewel. There are elegant white-stone buildings all around and the fourth side opens up towards the gulf of Trieste. The sunset light coming from the sea resulted in the enchanting glittering of the golden mosaic tiles scattered all over the façade of Palazzo della Prefettura. I couldn’t help staring at it in complete awe. Before the Xylaroo performance, we experienced a nice and charming performance of some children playing and some others “dancing” on the songs played with their white-gloved-hands in the Sign Language. Then Coco and Holly walked on stage for (what they said) the last performance of their Mika supporting tour. They sang very well, I love their voices! Dozens of minutes later Mika appeared, waking up the over 6000 people waiting for him. He started wearing the same gloves the children were wearing before and shaping a heart for the crowd to see, then he tossed them away and approached the mic. I wholeheartedly begged he opened with No place in heaven and as he did I felt so good I can’t even express in words. This song acoustically is even more heart rending and moving. It really sounds like a prayer sung with the heart on his sleeve. The crowd was extremely quiet while he sang it and this detail made it even more powerful. After this tender moment the real vivacious show took over and so did the loud singing of the crowd. Never did I experience such a good feeling when hearing thousands of voices singing out loud together. There weren’t many people screaming nonsense things, we were a huge choir singing pretty much on tune every single word of his songs. As the first notes of Happy Ending and Stardust filled the air, everyone started singing the first lines spontaneously. He smiled proudly for a while letting us singing, then he started and everyone followed again. He cheered when in BBB he asked boys and girls to sing separately and heard such a responding choir coming from the boys, he couldn’t believe it; he laughed and said that never had he heard in his whole tour such a loud crowd of men screaming altogether, as they are usually very shy. He introduced BBB saying that as the square was “molto elegante” very elegant, he was going to sing a song in French, then thought twice and admitted the song was actually not so elegant, having the whole square to laugh. After Grace Kelly we heard the notes of the following song and understood that what he had previously listened to during the sound-check was really happening. He sang Kick Ass! Now I have to be honest: this song is far from being among my favs, I don’t like it, but the curly man managed to have me change my mind once again! Dancing and singing (I’d rather say screaming!) along it’s just pure energy, in particular in times like the one we’re currently living in. I lived the “We are young, we are STRONG” and the “WE ARE FREE” lines as freedom statements. We are free of doing whatever we want and being whoever we want, we are strong: fear will not win over, will not prevail, we won’t let it happen! Underwater was magic as always but this time I didn’t participate actively, I turned towards the crowd and enjoyed the charm of thousands of light popping up together in the beautiful scenario of the square with the buildings lit up in yellowish light and the blueish beams of light coming from the phones. I loved the balloons with confetti on Staring at the sun! So funny! I eventually listened to Beautiful Disaster live. In spite of many people saying they don’t like this song, I like it very much and I once again enjoyed the crowd singing the chorus out loud. Happy Ending and Stardust, as said before, were completely sang by the whole square, so I couldn’t really hear his voice very well but I loved how, during the last chorus, while we was singing the high notes going “And I feel as if I’m wasting” the crowd sang the lines the gospel choir sings in the studio version “This is the way you left me, I’m not pretending….”. It created a superimposition of voices which sounded just amazing. I was delighted by the a-cappella lines. Maybe this time I was closer and I could hear better, but he really overwhelmed me, more than the other times. I say it once again as in any other report I’ve written this year: the hard drumbeat of Last Party live is FREAKIN’ GOOD! On Stardust he kept switching from Italian to English lines so it was a mess to sing but felt really good anyway! Speaking about Italian, it seemed that night he couldn’t remember how to speak it! He was so hilarious. It took him three times to succeed and pronounce the word “ragazze” (girls), he didn’t’ remember how to say “rovinare” (to ruin) and ended up inventing some neologisms once again. We love our polyglot! On Lollipop we threw the paper-made candies on stage and Max, who was in a really good mood, started tossing them against Curtis and Tristan. He ended the show with Love Today and a sea of confetti. A beautiful show in an amazing venue with a perfect weather and temperature (Trieste is a wind city and wind feels so good when you wait and jump for hours among thousands of other people.) I enjoyed every second of it in the best way possible! I say it once again: I’m so proud of following such an amazing and human artist. My parents came along as well after visiting the city and dining in a restaurant nearby, and saw a big part of the concert from far away in the square. They had never seen him before but knew far too well who he is (two Mikafans daughters are enough). They said they were really pleased and enjoyed his voice, his songs and his show a lot. I thank again whoever experienced these moments with me and hope to be back someday! …. And even if I will never see him again, this was the best time I ever had…. (Here are some pictures of the square with the crowd, I'm a mess, I don't remember how to post them here so take a look at my tweet https://twitter.com/VvFreiheit/status/758815378780717058)

This time I promised myself I would write a short report... Well... As you will see I didn't make it... After spending a funny day strolling around Paris with Sarah, Laura (Alyara), Berenike (DerMoment), Chrissie, my sister and a friend and after having had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant, at 7:30 we decided we should finally head to Bercy venue for the concert as the beginning was meant to be at 8:00 pm. We arrived at the venue and split as we had separate seats, spread all over the arena. Xylaroo started playing, we could clearly hear they were quite nervous of singing in front of such a huge crowd but their beautiful voices and their lovely songs kept us good company for almost half an hour before the break. After a few minutes waiting during the break, I headed to the loo with my sister and together we took a look at the merchandising. I saw the Mumu and its precious box on the counter and decided that, as I wanted it so bad, it would be wonderful to have it as a reminder of the beautiful concert I was sure I was about to experience. Therefore, we rushed inside to collect the purse and 2 minutes after I was proudly wearing it around my wrist. As we went back to our seats, we started spotting some butler-dressed men popping up on stage, with instruments in their hands strolling back and forward. After a few minutes, the small group of butlers increased to almost 40 (if I’m not wrong) and they started to gather on the sides of the long stage. Then we heard the overture of Mika’s tour and the lights were turned off… The magic began. He started with a cover of a French song I had never heard before, surrounded by that funny very old-style orchestra of butlers playing along, then Big Girl followed and the crowd started reacting. What I found amazing of the show: - the M white and red flags colouring the scene, they gave a parade atmosphere, really funny - the Heart-shaped little stage with wings from which he came out a couple times - the beautiful Napoleon hat he received from a fan. I loved it! - the video showing him in Paris, his expressions and the way he walked around Paris dressed in one of his most stylish suits were just hilarious. - the t-shirt exchange with Myriam and the “bastard” joke - the Sacre Coeur cake from where he came out - the throne where we was sitting: he looked a little boy on a big chair - I didn’t’ like the arch very much but I think it was just the way we saw it from above, it looked tiny and out of place (I know it’s really big and colourful…) On les Baisers Perdus I was totally fascinated by the atmosphere he created. The acrobat flying around on its red ribbon and the instrumental music at the beginning, just had the power to take our souls into another dimension, as they were flying around, suspended on the crowd for a moment. The way he sang it was just perfect. His sweet voice sounded enchanting, accompanying the smooth movements of the acrobat and the “wow” of the crowd on a couple acrobatics moves he made, was the perfect summary of it all. When the string quartet walked on stage, together with the director, I didn’t know what to expect from the song that would follow. I thought it would be another one of his covers showing his affection to Paris and I have to admit, I didn’t recognize it was Underwater since I heard the first few notes played at the piano by Curtis. At that point my jaw dropped. I was so stunned I couldn’t think about anything. I just wanted that moment to last as long as it possibly could and I focussed every single brain and body cell on such piece of magic. The ocean of lights multiplied for 15.000 people was just pure ecstasy. I loved the way he asked the baton to the director and tried to conduct the crowd but then gave it back to him saying it didn’t work and went back to his old technique of stealing a phone from a fan and using it as a guide light. It gave the impression of a statement: “I know how to have them react the way I want.” I loved it. The speech he made when asking us to hide or show our lights, calling us “mes jolies petites etoiles” almost got me emotional. I heard it other times in smaller venues, I heard it in Italian and in English and even though I’m Italian, I think these words in French sounded much sweeter and melodic than in any other language. (I know I’m weird!) Happy Ending a cappella surprised me a lot. I heard it already in other concerts, but I didn’t think we could really hear him well in such a big arena among more than 15.000 spectators. His voice is louder than I thought! Last Party is one of my favourite songs live. It starts out as an almost sad hymn and ends up as a huge party with the strong beat carrying your feelings away with it, in a never-ending dance. Elle me dit and his chatting were hilarious and funny. Everyone was jumping and dancing. As I understood it was beginning I called my best friend in Italy and let her enjoy her favourite song thousands of miles away from Paris. Mika thought it was the best moment to greet all Italian fans who were home and I could hear her laughing at the loud speaker. The new intro of Boum boum boum at the piano was even better than the one he’s been playing during the tour. I’m still wondering why he didn’t record it for the album version… Origin was awesome as always. I love when he changes the melody of some lyrics singing live, on this song more than many others. I didn’t expect he would add Stardust to the setlist and I was grateful he sang it completely in English. I like the Italian version but the original one is waaaay better. I didn’t know the last song he covered, but I liked it much better than the first one. I heard many people around me singing along and I guessed it must be a well-known hit in France. Love Today live for me is always a rush of joy, adrenaline and endorphins, mixed with a hint of sadness and nostalgia for the end I know is about to come. Anyway seeing the whole crowd jumping and dancing got me freaking cheerful and as stupid as I could possibly be… Amazing night. What more can I say?? After Love Today we headed outside where we met with Sarah, Laura and finally got to know Anne (crazyaboutmika), Luisa and other fans. We spent a couple hours waiting outside the venue together, chatting and laughing as if we were high on something… We then went to have a drink with a group of people and we met the Xylaroo girls as well. We had a nice chat with them and after another hour, we went back to the hotel together with Sarah and Laura. I can’t do without thanking Berenike and Chrissie but in particular Sarah and Laura for the amazing day and a half we spent together. I loved every minute, every laugh, every nonsense word, every stupid moment of our days. I really hope this might just be the first of many adventures together and I promise: next time I will wake up at the fire alarm

Hmmm.... I'm fancying it already!

Veeery smart thought! I do agree. And what about a fan meeting as the one of last October at the Smollensky in London before or after the gig?

i did it as well. It's not as nice as the original one, but you've got it in your hands straight away, so no waiting for the delivery and no waiting for the ticket outside any office. Pretty easy and sure.

Well done! I'm proud to be part of it!

Weeeeey! Welcome Lalli!! You're finally here as well. See you around!

Let's hope! I have dreamt twice in a week how this show could be like, my subconscious is just a little bit impatient....! Hahahaha

Thank you for adding the damaged parts video. Days ago I cut the new songs we don't have on any of his symphonic albums and made MP3 out of them. You can find Overrated, Make you happy, Drunk, Elle me dit (without the clapping and singing along of the Montreal version, that by the way I love) Origin of love (that I was asked to cut) and Stardust. The last one is damaged as it was taken by the damaged video. As soon as I have time I will download the new video and make a new MP3 available on my folder. Here's the link of my Dropbox. Feel free to download them. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sctl8fu2dvby635/AABXcdssv9mrSeA_gJPgbLTTa?dl=0 Bye!

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