Alyara

This is so sweet and sad at the same time, I love it

I must've missed your reply as I'm only reading it now. Anyway yeah, I understand that feeling way too well. Being an English lover, I always try to get as much as I can and it's so frustrating when I miss some words or am unable to get a joke or something like that. I feel stupid and I think it can be bothering if I ask too much, therefore I just drop it at times. But it's so good when people take the time to explain Now back on track, I really love this song deeply, it still makes me cry if I listen to it when I'm sad, he described that feeling of defencelessness so well. My favourite lines are ''Hold me carefully, just one breath could shatter me''

I preferred asking just to be sure. You never know after all... I've only been to 3 concerts so far and he didn't stop after any of them and I didn't know what meet&greets really were before Christine's explanation... and I even said mine was a dumb question XD

I really had no idea, thanks a lot for your detailed explanation

Dumb question: when he says he'd like to only sing but also has to do radios, tv, press, meet and greets, is he referring to meet and greets with fans? I mean, does he know we call them like that or he doesn't and was maybe referring to something else?

AW, luv ya too

We're joking about it now, but I swear I panicked for a few secs. This damn piece of paper got stuck right at the top of my throat and I couldn't reach it with my fingers. I had to try three times! Now imagine me choking in the middle of a jumping crowd, with confetti falling on us and no one noticing I needed help. But then, as soon as I got rid of it, I started jumping and singing again. Call it Mika power XD

I'm a week late, but in case you're still interested, here's my report. Caribana day started with us waking up at 6 am after a 3 hour sleep, a thunderstorm and a crazy dog barking at the rain. By "us" I mean Sylvie, Sarah and me. We drove (actually, Sylvie drove, we were just sitting there) our way to Nyon through Mont Blanc tunnel, stopping briefly in a service area in France run by a very nice lady (insert sarcasm here). I went at the check-out to pay for a sandwich, she told me the price, I started putting money on the counter and then I accidentally dropped a coin, I ducked to pick it up off the floor (Mika quote on purpose) and she repeated the price. I got it, ffs! Don't you see I'm trying to give you the money? Anyway I managed to pay and we went back to the car. The travel went very well, no hitches at all, apart from Sylvie's neverending struggle at every toll booths because she couldn't reach them properly and had to lean out of the window. Ah, short people's problems. Once in Nyon we had a bit of a hard time to find the festival, but thanks to the sat-nav, which kept freezing from time to time btw, we found our way there and parked the car in a parking lot right in front of the gates. Sylvie asked an elderly woman if it was ok for us to leave the car there and she said she thought it was. Like, ma'am, what do you mean? You *think* it's ok, so there's still the possibility we won't find the car once the festival's over??? Luckily, she was very nice, she told us not to worry, she introduced herself as the festival president's mother and even gave us her phone number, just in case. The queue at the gate was very small and quiet, there were people from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Finland and I met some of them. The security was awesome, giving us water and protecting us from the sun with some beach umbrellas, and we were all relaxed until a whole family tried to jump the queue, creating a bit of a mess. We all stood up and tried to make them go to the back, then the security stepped in to help us. They really were amazing. When the gates opened, they would only allow in one person at a time, giving everyone the time to walk halfway to the stage before letting in anoter person, so there was no running or pushing. We managed to find our spot in the front row easily, the stage was only a couple of meters away, so we were pretty close. The security guys kept providing us with water and earplugs and were very kind and funny. I don't remember much about the acts before Mika, they were not very interesting imo or maybe I was just too eager to see him. When the last one left the stage, we were given some cardboard crowns made by a fan and we hung Mr Pataccone (i.e. the biggest MFC badge) to the barrier right before us (we were even asked by a photographer to pose for her) waiting for him to come out. And eventually he did. It was so cool to see him from that close. That was only my second gig and I was in the front for the first time, I enjoyed every second of it. He told us he was happy to perform so early in the afternoon for he could see the audience very well and he did look at every single person in the front rows and interacted with us a lot. First thing I noticed, but it was quite hard not to notice, was the big hole on his crotch. I giggled. It served him right, he shouldn't wear suits during concerts, especially since it was 5 pm and very hot. He made us jump, dance, sing, scream, he drank some cherry-coloured drink from a bottle then said it tasted disgusting and when someone in the audience said they wanted to try it, he threw the bottle to them. He also told us the towel he was given smelled nice and he's always wanted to have scented towels but his mom wouldn't allow them 'cause she thinks everything with a nice smell is bad for the health. He seemed to be in a good mood and was rather chatty, unfortunately I don't remember everything he said ,'cause he was speaking in French and I missed some words here and there. When the gig was over, we went to wait for him and we saw the band leaving in a van, but he was nowhere to be seen. We were then told by the security that he had already left by boat since he had a flight to catch and was in a hurry. We stayed there a little bit longer, you know, just to be sure, and chatted for a while and then we left an hour later. Apparently we weren't done singing yet, since we played TOOL and TBWKTM while driving back home. Funny thing is I jokingly said I wanted a proof that he had a flight to catch or I wouldn't have believed it and by the time we got home, we found out he had tweeted a pic of himself at Brussels airport. Well done, Mr Mika, you're forgiven. Edit: I forgot to say that I almost choked when a piece of confetti flew right into my mouth while I was singing!! And since I'm here, here's a pic of us with the crowns and Pataccone

Aaah now I see. I didn't know that as my English teacher wasn't a native and she never mentioned this to us. My English is self-taught for the most part (as you can probably tell, it's far from perfect) and I'm more familiar with American accent since it's what I usually hear in movies and such. British accent was gibberish to me until only a few months ago, now it's getting better, but there still are lots of things I don't know yet, so please bear with me if I point out obvious things or ask dumb questions.

His pronunciation is weird at times. Even in Good Wife when he says ''two seater sofa'' I keep hearing ''sofar''

Ah okay. As I saw it written like that in the first post, I thought I was probably mishearing, but I wasn't sure about the meaning.

le pamplemousse= il pompelmo (grapefruit)

Oh and I forgot to add I too think it's ''in between us an ocean can be found'' since he then says ''how long will I swim before I drown''

Aw beautiful song! I agree with Manon, it sounds fragile, couldn't have found a better word. Just one thing... what does this line mean? 'Cause you've an eye We're one of a kind I thought it was 'Cause you and I we're one of a kind

Definitely not one of my favourites as of now, but I like the China Boy part so maybe I won't skip it all the time

I like the music very much and the first stanza hit me. What I'm not sure of liking yet is that low voice that doesn't even sound like his, but maybe I need to listen to it some more times

A lighthearted song! The lyrics are funny, my favourite parts are I’ve got holes in all my pockets Even those holes, they’ve got pockets and Bake you a cake and I burn it up twice I roll thirteen on a pair of dice very clever!!

Okay... another song that brought tears to my eyes... which is a good thing I suppose. I love it when his emotions come through so powerfully. And the piano is amazing

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. It's the third time I'm listening to it and I'm still crying. The lyrics are heartbreaking and very "heart on the sleeve", especially this part I was a freak since seven years old And cast away I felt the cold Coming over me For every love I had to hide And every tear I ever cried I’m down on my knees I’m begging you please it saddens me so much, I can almost feel his struggle. It makes me think about the conversation he had with Dario Fo last year, when he said he has grown up in a religious family but always felt like he was wrong because that's what the religion says. And (I apologise if this may sound unpolite to all the religious people here) I'm happy he eventually learnt not to care about it and to live his life freely, following his own happiness with the awareness he's doing nothing wrong.

My report will come eventually. Have faith XD

Oh bummer! So let's hope someone saves the periscopes before they'll be removed. In the meantime, people who were at the Fabrique, please do share your pics and vids

Just wondering... we were told yestarday there was supposed to be a live streaming of the gig, was anyone able to record it?

Everything was awesome, the gig was awesome, meeting you and the others was awesome... I had so much fun! And I'm sorry for all the accidental elbows on your head XD I move too much, I guess. I'll write more when I get home, I still have a 6 hours journey ahead of me. PS: I tried to send you a PM and it says you can't receave any.

Sub Team is already working on it Please have a little patience

Even when he speaks Italian, he doesn't have an accent. Of course you can tell he's not a native because he makes some mistakes or uses the wrong words at times, but there's no trace of English accent in his Italian and it's quite unusual, especially for someone who's learnt the language in such a short time. It must be because he has studied Spanish for years, since it's very similar to Italian