Prisca

Perfect t-shirt for people like Mika who love things with double meaning.

It's a different format for me too. On the PC, I can only play it without a picture, but on the mobile phone I could download it without any problems.

Oh wow

If @krysady's phone isn't messed up and Mika had really posted a reel, I guess it's work. And since he writes in French: Can we assume that he is still in Paris? But that's probably rather material for the "Missing Thread".

I don't know either. We wanted to go up from the floor where we had the meeting with the MFC.

Maybe we were just too late? They said to me and others that there are only a few places left and it doesn't make sense to go there now. And you should have reserved seats. Maybe they let people go there if there are still enough places? I hope you get it signed somewhen. 🤞 Thanks!

I am not sure. But the most important thing is that when he said that the fans should keep a little distance, EVERYONE did it. He was surprisingly relaxed that day. However, he could also look back and think, what will happen next time? Don't they accept it when I tell them to back off a bit? Fortunately, he knows many people of the MFC and knows that they normally accept the limits.

Here comes my Priscasoon report. 🙈 The public transport strike certainly didn't make the journey to the Royal Festival Hall any easier, and neither did the journey to the accommodation afterwards. But somehow everything worked out, even though the journey was a lot longer than planned. I went to the accommodation on Thursday and did the check-in and then went to the unofficial meeting of the MFC directly afterwards and arrived there a bit after 4pm. It was very nice to see many MFCers again. The staff from the Royal Festival Hall told Deb that we could go listen to the eliminated pianists in the piano bar at 5.00 pm. But then it turned out that it's not that easy, because we didn’t have an invitation. So once again the staff gave us contradictory information. A little later than planned, the recording started, which I'm obviously not allowed to say anything about. Many say they are happy that this time it is in English and they will understand it. I have to say, I would most likely have understood it better if it had been in Italian or French. What Mika said I think I understood everything, Lang Lang too, Claudia Winkleman: no comment! @Hero laughed next to me and I thought I would laugh too, but I have no idea what she just said. 🙈I agree with the people who say the concerts were very beautiful. So those who weren't there can look forward to watching the final. And I'm also very happy to watch the previous episodes to see how the finalists were chosen and also to see who played who then didn't make it to the final. What I can say that has nothing to do with the recording itself is that I can sympathise with Mika when he crushed his finger. During the recording we stood up in between and then sat down again. I then stretched my legs way too far forward when I sat down again and when the MFCer in front of me sat down, my foot was squashed between the seat and the floor and I couldn't get it out. At first it didn't hurt that much, but by the time I managed to pull my foot out it hurt quite a bit because I had to explain to the person in front of me to please stand up so I could pull my foot out. To my amazement, my big toe survived pretty much unscathed and it hasn’t bruises. And another tip: If you're not used to riding double-decker buses, don't go upstairs, especially if it's the middle of the night and you're not that awake. I ended up going down faster than I had planned because I didn't have the balance (no, I wasn't drunk) and I was catapulted down. I didn't fall over, but bumped my left knee on the left railing and my right knee on the right railing. Expected both my knees to have bruises later, which happened! 🙈 Ok, back to The Piano. We were informed by Deb that we could see Mika later. I knew which door to go to, but not exactly where the meeting would be. So, after the recording I immediately climbed over the back of the chair (by the way, that's also how I got to my chair before the recording because I was sitting in the last row in the front stalls ) and walked down the downstairs as fast as I could because I knew that the later, I would go down there, the more people there would be and I wouldn't be able to get ahead. So, I got downstairs pretty quickly without any pushing. There I looked for Deb and found her pretty quickly (she would surely know where the meeting would be and I didn't feel like looking for the place). I only found out after Andrea's post here that an old lady had her foot walked over. That really isn’t acceptable, no matter how great the desire to get somewhere is. The staff had told Deb that we should wait in the hall until the "normal" audience had walked out. Then as we waited there, they pretty quickly told us to go out of the hall. Ok, once again contradictory information. Many wanted to be at the front row and waited by the doors. The fact that the staff had to take tables at the back through these doors didn't exactly help to reduce the pushing. I didn't experience the pushing because I think I was in the third row when Mika came out. However, I have to say that I understand very well that people want to be in the front row because when Mika signs autographs, probably only the first row will get some and maybe a few from the second row. Also, giving gifts is much easier when you are in the front, the further back you are, the more difficult it is. And the people don't want to take the presents for Mika home, I understand that very well. Talking to him is also more difficult when you're further back. If you're loud enough and have a good idea like Phoebe, it works, but it's always harder further back. I agree with @mellody that Mika sees you even when you're not in front. However, I really don't think you go to a M&G for Mika to SEE you. He's also seen you at the concert when you're not in the 100 row or something like that. So, in my opinion, you want to ask him for an autograph, talk to him, give him a present or something like that and that works better in the front row. Of course, he's seen Rose, but she's been his fan for 15 years and he always talks to her. However, with most fans it's not the case that you get so much attention if you're not in the front. It's not a coincidence that there are fans who get his autograph (almost) every time and others who (almost) never get his autograph. They get an autograph because they are in the front row. If we now come back to the pushing. When the fans want to be in the front row, there is often pushing, that's unfortunately the case. A few fans were maybe a bit too pushy, but they went back immediately when Mika asked them to and that’s in my opinion the most important. And when someone starts pushing, there is a chain reaction. From that point of view, I thought the behaviour of the fans towards Mika was still within reason (I won't comment on what happened among the fans, because I didn't see it). It's bad when a fan jumps on Mika or something similar and he then runs away. Luckily, I've never experienced that, but I've heard about it. But of course, I didn't see everything at The Piano because I was further back and not directly affected. And apparently some fans really didn't behave fairly towards others. And another thing: Mika was sooooooo relaxed despite the pushing. I don't think I've ever seen him so relaxed after a concert before. And he even agreed to take photos after the M&G. Karin says that fans used to say that Mika steals the brains from the fans when he looks at them in a certain way. Honestly, I think he's already stealing them before he comes out. Fans change their personalities when it comes to Mika. However, I'm afraid that the people who say it was too much for him might be right and we'll have to wait a while for the next M&G.🙈 Mika didn't sign any autographs at the M&G and didn't take any photos (except the photo with Phoebe's mobile phone), only later a few people were able to get autographs and take selfies. I was only able to get one autograph all year and that was only because a gentleman after the Roundhouse concert who was in the front row was very nice and asked me and @Michelle Blondet, when he had his autograph, if we wanted to go to the front row. We gratefully accepted and Michelle told me to go to the front. I gladly accepted because she is quite a bit taller than me. We then both got an autograph when Mika walked through in front of the barriers a second time. A few days later in Nîmes, I didn't try to get an autograph because there were so many people who wanted an autograph and didn't get one some days ago in London. Then in the group I was with later, everyone had an autograph except me (so everyone didn't have the same thought as me, but that's another story). However, I was also in the second row, so it's not at all certain that I would have received an autograph. In all the other places I never managed to get an autograph, but I was never in the front row either. I'm not complaining as Mika hasn't to give autographs at all if he doesn't want to, but just an example that if you want an autograph, you almost have to be in the front row. And something else: I've known Mika longer than some people think. It's only this year that I went to so many concerts, before that, I just didn't do it for various reasons, be it money and/or job and other reasons. And when I say that I understand that many can't take as much time off as I did this year, I think I really understand. I have been working for 20 years and have worked in many different places and if someone had told me that the first 5 years I worked would be the longest I have worked in one place after so many years, I probably wouldn't have believed it. Especially at the first place of work, it was very difficult to get time off: I had a wisdom tooth cut out during my lunch break and at my grandmother's 80th birthday lunch I also went during my lunch break. Saturdays in particular were always hell to get off (I worked in sales, luckily most shops are closed on Sundays in Switzerland, otherwise I would have had to almost get down on my knees to get off even then): At the festival at my place, no one could take the day off anyway (then I just pull an all-nighter and go straight to work), at the young team's trip I couldn't go because I didn't get the day off (sure, another Saturday) and at the Christmas market, which only happens about every 7 years in my village, I couldn't go either (sure, another Saturday). And when a friend asked me if I wanted to go to the Europa-Park amusement park with her, I just told her that I couldn't ask for a day off because of something like that (I think it was also a Saturday). When I was studying, I first worked in the summer holidays and later part-time alongside my studies. In the first summer I also asked if I could have a Saturday off (was the only day off I asked for in the 8 weeks I worked there) to go to the festival at my place (I was then working in the canton of Zurich). The boss's answer: "We actually hire students during the summer so that our employees can also take time off once in a while and not so that the students also take time off." 🙈Oh yes, how could I forget that, students only party all the time and just hang around and do nothing (was definitely not the case with me). The boss was otherwise very nice, but this view is disappointing. I went to the festival anyway: 1 hour 40 minutes away, 1 hour 30 minutes back after the festival, took a shower and went to work. No one noticed that I had pulled an all-nighter. So, I know how lucky I was that everything worked out for me this year and that I managed to go to so many concerts with my 60% job as employee (although not without problems at my workplace). Back to The Piano. I really wanted to go there because I missed being on recordings otherwise (be it The Voice, X Factor or Stasera Casa Mika). I regret not going to The Voice in the audience when I was in Paris from September 2017 to March 2018, regardless if I didn't know if I would find a job after the internship (or enough clients as a freelancer). After all, it's not that cheap to get to accommodation in the middle of the night. Then last year I tried to be in the audience at The Voice (unfortunately didn't get tickets for either the semi-final or the final). I should have put in emissions.tv that I'm a man and 60 years old, then I probably would have got tickets. I'm probably the gender and age group where one of the most represented in the audience and they probably want to try to have a somewhat heterogeneous audience. The fact that you can just go there and often get the chance to still get in, I didn't know that at the time. So, now I could finally be at a recording, which actually suits my type better than a concert where I know I can't behave the way it would be good for a concert. It's no coincidence that I only did the concert in Zurich on the Revelation Tour (I was also thinking about going to the concert in Geneva). I didn't know if I would feel comfortable there. But the concert was very nice. And I'm really grateful for the concerts I've been able to go to this year, really, and I know it's not a given. However, I still couldn't get my biggest wish (and believe it or not), which is that I've wanted to talk to Mika for 6 years now and with all the concerts I've never managed it. I really wish I was one of those people who could do it after one or two concerts. I guess I'm like most people: I want what I can't have. 🙈When I stand in front of Mika, I really feel like I've gone back 20 years in my development and I can't open my mouth. I really wanted to make it this year and I knew The Piano was probably the last chance to do it. I didn't make it. I wanted to say something at the Piano (as I often do) but then still didn't. It was pretty trivial what I wanted to say though, so Mika didn't miss anything if I didn't say it. However, I had eye contact with Mika and could see him well at the M&G because the people in front of me weren't tall and let's put it that way, I can finish the year in peace. And not feel like a failure (as I often do because I can't open my mouth). After all, it shouldn't be so difficult to talk to Mika, the others can do it too. 🙈And in the end, maybe it's not that important. However, I did ask Max for a photo before the concert, because I happened to see him in the café when I was going to the toilet with another MFCer. So basically, I can talk to someone or ask for something, only with Mika I’m not capable! Sorry about the long post. And this: Who would have thought that Deb would have been able to hand over the yearbook in person to Mika after the Magic Piano Tour was postponed? In that sense: Happy end! And wow, already four pages of photos/videos/reviews at a recording where you're not allowed to say anything. Love you all!

@LitlLisa Even if you've missed a lot, thanks to the internet there's so much of him to discover and so you can catch up. Enjoy the MFC

Honestly, I'm not sure I want to know all the contradictory info they gave Deb. 🙈

Do you have any magical powers you haven't told us about? 🤔

You are probably further ahead (R or P), that's why you don't have your ticket yet. Yes, they all had our email addresses because we all emailed Deb separately.

Did you enter an email address for both people or just one?

Thank you, then they probably started with row T and after that it was end of the work day. They'll probably send the rest tomorrow?

Yes, the order day is today. And it must be the tickets from MFC, because my name and email address were just there. They don't have my name through membership because I didn't make it. I got the emails at 5.46pm and 5.47pm, so a bit later than the purchase time. It's a different order number than the membership tickets.

Only one person did the membership and got the membership tickets. But we all got these new tickets separately. I asked her what it says.

The membership is independent of the tickets and if they see that we want other tickets (here from MFC), then I can imagine that they send them to us beforehand.

I got two e-mails from Southbank. First e-mail: Second e-mail:

We have a membership. We have privileges. We got the normal tickets before they had the list of MFCer...

Yes, we had. Maybe it is an upgrade.

No, from our group who had previously bought normal tickets, all 6 received an email from Southbank. They are also in the last row of the Front Stalls (T). These must be MFC tickets, the ones we bought were in the Rear Stalls.

@Patricia Birdenwas looking for someone.

Deb said she should get more info by tomorrow, maybe also because of the dress code.