JMF

Yes, that’s why I put it in the Bougez thread. Thanks for the link to the concert, though!

Wow! That was quite something! Bougez is one of my least favourite tracks on the new album (for which I stayed up till 2 a.m. Kenyan time last night so that I could download it at midnight French time, then of course I stayed up listening to it!), but it’s amazing the difference it makes when you see Mika singing it rather than just listening to the track!

In 4 minutes there is going to be a live session on YouTube with Mika premiering Bougez. I don’t know how to link to it here, but if you go to YouTube and put in Mika, it should be the first hit that comes up. It’s due to start in 2 minutes now!

¡Hola, Mikasister! I’m moving back to Spain (probably to El Campello, just outside Alicante) early next year, so the Spanish contingent will grow!

Hi, everyone! Kenya isn’t even on the list, but I’m living in Kiambu, just outside Nairobi, and have been for almost 11 years, having found my way here after living in Lebanon, Spain and France, having started life in the UK.

Hi, Susan! Yes, I have been catching up on all the missed years at a cracking speed! I’m a French and Spanish speaker, so I’ve been enjoying lots of the French output in particular. I have really enjoyed the orchestral concerts, which are amazing. There is just so much to watch and listen to! Luckily, I’m in the process of retiring, so once it’s all over I am going to have plenty of time! I was living and working in Beirut for five years from 2008, so I had been gone for many years when the explosion at the port happened, but Lebanon has a very special place in my heart and I found the ‘I Love Beirut’ concert very moving. All the best, Janet

Hi, Silver! Thanks for that. I’m in the process of retiring, so I’m in Kenya now until later this year, when I’ll be moving back to Spain. I’ve seen that he is doing a concert in Madrid at the end of September, but I won’t be back that soon. At least once I’m back in Europe I’ll be closer to many of the concert possibilities!

I can’t believe that I was living in Beirut in July 2008, within walking distance of Martyrs Square, but only discovered Mika in 2023 after watching ‘The Piano’ on Channel 4 TV in the UK (although I watched it in Kenya, where I now live). To have been that close, yet not to have known about the concert or even to have been aware of Mika and his music, is awful. His music has lit up my life over the past few months (and driven my housekeeper crazy!). One day, somewhere else, hopefully, I’ll make it to one of his concerts!