MIKA: Washington Post Review

[dcdeb]

You know... if you're gonna do a review, how hard is it to get the songs' names right?

The Post *SO* should have had ME do this review...

 

MIKA

by Chris Klimek

 

Heading into the 9:30 club Tuesday night, there was no reason to believe that the spike-of-uncut-fructose-to-the-brain-stem appeal (if that's the word) of Mika's "Life in Cartoon Motion" album would translate in any meaningful way to the stage. The Royal College of Music-trained pastiche artist's debut is as hooky and heartless as the chewing-gum jingles he's already been paid to write.

 

But the almost frightening adoration with which a sold-out crowd welcomed him for his first D.C. appearance made the show feel more like a homecoming than an introduction. Backed by an able-if-indistinct four-piece band, the star bounded onstage to the keyboard vamp of "Relax (Take It Easy)," as though warning any nonbelievers that resistance was useless, and so it was. Alternating pogo leaps with Christ poses, he put the familiar tune over like a shot of soda bubbles up your nose. By the time a big girl wrapped in a shiny green dress joined him onstage for "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)," it felt like the show might climax with its second song.

 

Mika manned the keyboard for the sequence of mid-tempo numbers that followed, of which "Stuck in the Middle," showcasing that acrobatic falsetto of his, was the most fetching. Helping to fill out a 65-minute set were a new song, "Holy Johnny," and a pair of covers: The Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" and the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

 

For the Flaming Lips-esque encore of the No. 1 U.K. single "Grace Kelly," the band returned clad in giant animal costumes, joining paws and dancing in a circle before relations deteriorated and the bunny rabbit pretended to beat the others unconscious with her drumsticks. After they all stood up -- Thank God they're okay!-- and the cow unmasked himself as the evening's headliner, the subsequent balloon launch and confetti spray only deepened the certainty that the entire show had been a hallucination. Guilty pleasure? Yes and yes.

 

 

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/13/AR2007061302095.html

[MIKAontheweb]

I can't even tell if this is a favorable review, or a negative one.

[mel_tinydancer]

hmm. It's definately not a guilty pleasure for me. Why would anyone feel guilty for loving him to death? He's perfect.

[MIKAontheweb]

hmm. It's definately not a guilty pleasure for me. Why would anyone feel guilty for loving him to death? He's perfect.

 

I've always wondered why the term "guilty pleasure" has a negative connotation. I mean, people shouldn't be embarrassed over something (or someone ) they enjoy.

[Akim]

Well the author obviously doesn't like Mika- Its full of condescensions, sarcastic and definitely negative...the only thing that was good I suppose was that at least he was being descriptive...though being negative with it...

 

Ok Chris, we get it! You don't like Mika and you already decided that even before you got there...you either hate him or love him- there's no in between, fantastic isn't it ????

 

On another note it seems that the Washington Post have something against our Mika, check this out:

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/1244200351.html?dids=1244200351:1244200351&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Mar+27%2C+2007&author=J+Freedom+du+Lac+-+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=C.5&desc=Mika%2C+With+Nod+to+Pop+Royalty

 

That was the edited version, this however is the original:

 

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2190&highlight=washington+post

[CartoonKellyGreen]

...ass...

 

 

MIKA...some just don't understand

[dcdeb]

Hey, dcdeb, you should call Washington Post back up and give them a what-for for their incredibly unprofessional review of Mika's performnce Tuesday! This was in their Style section today (Thursday)

 

Hey Jack! Don't think I didn't think about it -- do you think they might

have at least checked to make sure they got the name of the songs right?

Grace Kelly as the finale?

 

Did I tell you I did try to get this assignment? But I was too late, they had

already assigned someone.

 

Sure I might have been a *little* biased, but... still.

 

dcdeb

[JackViolet]

I'm amused at the description of his reception as "frightening adoration"--that's actually pretty apt, ha--but wow, how many things can that article possibly get wrong? Did the reporter pay any attention to the set? "Shiny green dress?" Encore of "Grace Kelly"? And why do people keep saying he wrote chewing gum jingles when he just sang two lines?

 

 

I can't believe someone got paid for this.

 

--Jack

[JackViolet]

Hey Jack! Don't think I didn't think about it -- do you think they might

have at least checked to make sure they got the name of the songs right?

Grace Kelly as the finale?

 

Did I tell you I did try to get this assignment? But I was too late, they had

already assigned someone.

 

Yeah, that's why I gave you that shout-out. :-)

 

Sure I might have been a *little* biased, but... still.

 

Funny thing is, this review ended on a positive note anyway--and a rather unconvincing, hollow one too, like the guy didn't put any thought or effort into it and was like, "okay, that was fun, people loved him, gotta say it was good but also must make sure people know I wasn't really taken in"--and it rang as perfunctory and heartless as he says Mika's album is. So since he was gonna pin the cliche "guilty pleasure/bubblegum/jingle" descriptors on him, I don't think a slightly biased review would have been worse!

 

--Jack

[canderson]

so how exactly did they feel about Mika?

 

i think i know the person that wrote this and i don't like them.

(well, i don't really know this person. but i know people with the same attitude.)

[RosinaKiwi]

this artical/review confuses me so much so!

is the writer for or against it exactly? ive never seen such an Unmitigated dribble! the writer doesnt show a strong oppinion ither way which confused me. he didnt check his facts obviously, its weird how he starts off with an insult and then goes on to complement at the end!

[mandilambi]

Shoulda been you dcdeb.

[JackViolet]

The attitude is very simple: the author obviously thought he was too cool for this show and hardly even paid attention, but he did enjoy some of the visuals. He would have been happy to give Mika an even more sarcastic, "I'm so above it" review, but he was also obviously kind of taken aback by the enthusiasm of the audience, so he couldn't say Mika was bad. How do you pan a show where the entire crowd goes absolutely wild for the performer? You can't say that show is "bad." So he banged this little condescending review out in 10 minutes, and went to do something else.

 

--Jack

[canderson]

The attitude is very simple: the author obviously thought he was too cool for this show and hardly even paid attention, but he did enjoy some of the visuals. He would have been happy to give Mika an even more sarcastic, "I'm so above it" review, but he was also obviously kind of taken aback by the enthusiasm of the audience, so he couldn't say Mika was bad. How do you pan a show where the entire crowd goes absolutely wild for the performer? You can't say that show is "bad." So he banged this little condescending review out in 10 minutes, and went to do something else.

 

--Jack

 

this is so true!

 

..and he is probably sitting back thinking he pulled it off.

[violet_sky]

Thank you for that review. It was quite funny to read this stuck-in-the-middle-man's struggle with himself not knowing how to goof on Mika and the show without showing that he was really impressed.

Well, it didn't work out and he'd better not give himself such a hard time trying.

 

...life could be so simple....

[Gatagordinha]

I really object to the description of Mika as a "pastiche artist" by this reviewer. To me that just plain insulting!

 

I have to say though that the vast majority of reviews from the States and Canada (at least the ones posted here) appear to have been very positive towards Mika's performances, which I find encouraging. Here in Britain there is still quite a lot of negativity towards Mika (in that he really isn't considered cool or valid by a significant portion of the media). I'm hoping he just blows everyone away in the Autumn when he does his next big tour here!!

 

I'm sure he will.

 

[dcdeb]

Yeah, that's why I gave you that shout-out. :-)

 

 

I couldn't remember! Honestly, that whole night seems very surreal to me

now -- as though I was in a fog! Did I talk to Mika? What did I say?

Did I shake his hand? And why didn't I take more photos?!

 

 

Funny thing is, this review ended on a positive note anyway--and a rather unconvincing, hollow one too, like the guy didn't put any thought or effort into it and was like, "okay, that was fun, people loved him, gotta say it was good but also must make sure people know I wasn't really taken in"--and it rang as perfunctory and heartless as he says Mika's album is. So since he was gonna pin the cliche "guilty pleasure/bubblegum/jingle" descriptors on him, I don't think a slightly biased review would have been worse!

 

--Jack

 

The funny thing is, it's been a couple days since this review was in the

paper now, and a lot of people who know of my Mika, um, problem, have

asked me if I saw it. And they've asked me, "What was the reviewer's

point? Did he like the show or what?" Everybody, even non-Mika fans,

had the same reaction to it that we did! Even my neighbor, who was

at the show with me, said, "How could he get the name of the last

song wrong? And what did he mean *green* -- the Big Girl had a BLUE

thing on! Was he even AT the show!" LOL!

 

IOW, yes, I think I could have done a better job of the review

 

dcdeb <next time!>

[Christine]

I have to say though that the vast majority of reviews from the States and Canada (at least the ones posted here) appear to have been very positive towards Mika's performances, which I find encouraging. Here in Britain there is still quite a lot of negativity towards Mika (in that he really isn't considered cool or valid by a significant portion of the media). I'm hoping he just blows everyone away in the Autumn when he does his next big tour here!!

 

I'm sure he will.

 

 

I think the backlash against all the hype and overexposure was inevitable. Canada had the same thing with Barenaked Ladies in the '90s. The average pop music listener thought they were cute and fun and a lot of people who considered themselves above that sort of thing dismissed them as a novelty act. That indifference turned quite negative when they were there every time you turned on the radio or your TV.

 

I think as Mika does more and more live shows (especially the festivals) he will gain converts and others will get as bored of bashing him as they are of hearing about him in the first place.