Mika's Sexuality (A Different Kind of Thread)

[JackViolet]

Thanks for your reply, lazy_daisy! (and others!)

 

First off, I just want to clarify that I never said Mika was asexual. In fact, I rather said the opposite, haha. And my point was that I, like many of you, have noticed that Mika's been becoming progressively more comfortable with himself on stage, and more sexually expressive... and I also thought it was just because he's been getting over new-performer jitters, but then when I watched some of the early videos, he was already more sexually expressive--just in a different way--than he would be later. That's what I found interesting. (And I kept thinking--he's been on stage before, he had enough confidence to gate crash parties, he even played the emcee in Cabaret, which is a very sexually provocative role--he may still have new-performer-anxiety, but he's not exactly inexperienced.)

 

You do have a point that Mika probably does not think this all through quite so much. He does seem to be into developing himself and his act organically, though don't underestimate him--he's very controlling of his image, and in some ways, is a lot more methodical about what appears to be just him being "himself" than one might think. Still, yeah, I'd say a lot of this is likely subconscious. I don't mean he sat down and brainstormed about it, haha. I will admit though that I do in fact think things like that while talking to people, etc. I'm a bit over analytical in general, it's habit by now... for instance, everyone has been so sweet about this essay, but seriously, this just came about from random thoughts I had while driving this morning. Then I came home and wrote them down, and there you go.

 

Thanks for all your thoughts, everybody! Oh, and about his different personalities in different countries--man, you guys are just getting ahead of me there! I was going to start another thread topic about that, but it would onvolve a lot more stuff and be more complex, so I keep putting it off...

 

--Jack

[kjoshi]

Nice Jack! That was deep!

Funny because me and my dad were watching his love today performance on So You Think You Can Dance cause I hadn't seen it yet. And my dad asked me if he thought Mika purposely danced the way he danced was flirty and flamboyant or he did just kinda didin't think about it. I think now especially he knows whats he's doing when he dances in most of his songs how it's flirty and how the crowd will react...yet in some songs he just loses himself in the music.

I don't know...does that make sense

 

I know if it was me at least that is what I would prob. do. Tease the crowd but get lost in the music at the same time

[Christine]

Christine and I both remember feeling the "sexual tension" displayed when Mika was "singing" to Martin at the Toronto, MOD Club performance last March. I'm not implying anything other than it seeming more natural for him to fall into the intensity of that role. It was certainly stronger than any Big Girl contrived, playfulness that I've seen.

 

However, I don't know if MIKA even knows or is conscious about his display of sexuality. I often think he does what he does or what he feels at that moment into the song, without too much analysis.

 

Jack - you know I still wanna grow up to be just as smart as you though.

 

Okay Jack is f*ing awesome as anyone who has had the chance to speak to her at length already knows.

 

She touched on this Grace Kelly video briefly in an earlier discussion, which also made me think of the interaction between Mika and Martin in Toronto. When I mentioned in the forum a few months ago that Mika was serenading Martin on stage, some people assumed I was just reading too much into Billy Brown. But it happened during Holy Johnny, not Billy Brown.

 

Sunshine said that Mika didn't sing Holy Johnny in Montreal and I can't find any evidence of him singing it at any concert before, so I think this may have been the first performance of Holy Johnny. I'm wondering if this may be the reason that he was entirely focused on Martin during the song instead of playing up to the audience like he normally does. He may have just been trying to connect with Martin and sort of work it out on stage since it's only Martin's guitar and Mika's voice.

 

Suzy I tend to agree with you that the changes in Mika's performances are not necessarily a calculated manipulation of his image, but perhaps just a subconscious response to the feedback he's been getting from the audience and other sources. I'm sure he feels a different vibe when he travels from country to country and he's more or less inhibited depending on whether it's a sold-out headlining gig, a daytime festival or a TV appearance.

 

It's not hard to imagine however that early on it was decided he should tone down the gay performance. It certainly corresponds to the party line about not wanting to be labelled, not sexualizing his music, compartmentalizing Mika the performer and Mika the person, etc.

[JackViolet]

Suzy I tend to agree with you that the changes in Mika's performances are not necessarily a calculated manipulation of his image, but perhaps just a subconscious response to the feedback he's been getting from the audience and other sources. I'm sure he feels a different vibe when he travels from country to country and he's more or less inhibited depending on whether it's a sold-out headlining gig, a daytime festival or a TV appearance.

 

It's not hard to imagine however that early on it was decided he should tone down the gay performance. It certainly corresponds to the party line about not wanting to be labelled, not sexualizing his music, compartmentalizing Mika the performer and Mika the person, etc.

 

Thank you, Christine! Yes, I think this is a very good point. Sometimes I tend to want to believe Mika is more calculating than he may appear, because he does like Bowie, and I love Bowie, and Bowie was a grand manipulator and a master of self-conscious presentation of a persona on stage. But Mika probably isn't quite like that. I think subconscious reaction to feedback is more likely it, though I think he does have an idea of what he's going for overall. I should also say that constructing yourself and being natural aren't entirely exclusive. You can decide to set limits but then abandon yourself within them.

 

And Kjoshi, on SYTYCD, I definitely think he was just having fun with it and being jumpy and being himself.

 

--Jack

[Guest]

That was worded perfectly.

 

Still wanna hook 'im, book 'im, & nook 'im.

[backflip_76]

Wow. That was incredibly well-written, Jack. So much to think about, so much to think about. I need to go wrap my head around all of this before I can reply with a real answer...lol:blink:

[lazy_daisy]

I see what you mean Lazy daisy. Mika's sexier image may be a side effect of new-found confidence...perhaps?

 

Haha! Yeah, that was the main idea. I'm a bit confusing at times, hehe. But now I come to think about it, you may be right Jack: maybe there's something conscious (though not so much) in Mika's sexy moves. After all, he's an artist and being famous demands a greater concern about personal image. But I still think it has more to do with this relatively new realization that his fans like him as he is, which in turn builts his self-confidence and compells him to show all he's got inside. God! This thread is really interesting. It gives me a lot to think about.

[Kata]

The most interesting threads always appear at night here

Well, I've said for a while now that I found him way more sexy when he wasn't trying to be and that early video just reminded me why

 

And it's too early in the morning for me to go further into analyzing things, I might stop by this thread again later when I have eyes...very interesting to read though

[kjoshi]

God! This thread is really interesting. It gives me a lot to think about.

 

Yeah it does!!

Like I said before

Deep Jack!

I like it! And I very much enjoy everyone elses responses!

[JackViolet]

Well, I've said for a while now that I found him way more sexy when he wasn't trying to be and that early video just reminded me why

 

I think he was still trying then, but it was less careful and less rehearsed. And I do agree. But I was always drawn to his Peter Pan-ish qualities more than his Carolina dancing ones--though I do think he dances very well during "Sweet Dreams."

 

Btw, I mean the book Peter Pan, who had his own way of being sexy/sexualized, and not the Disney version.

 

--Jack

[kjoshi]

I think he was still trying then, but it was less careful and less rehearsed. And I do agree. But I was always drawn to his Peter Pan-ish qualities more than his Carolina dancing ones--though I do think he dances very well during "Sweet Dreams."

 

Btw, I mean the book Peter Pan, who had his own way of being sexy/sexualized, and not the Disney version.

 

--Jack

 

I've never read the real version of Peter Pan!!

Is it all lot different?!!

[lilmot]

how would you describe mika when he performs in america?

 

“it’s like the boy suddenly discovered he’s got hips...that have the ability to steer hot-blooded American women away from pure sisterly thoughts, and have them burning with fervent desire!"

 

 

It appears that DaMango had answered your question about two minutes before you asked it. HOW? Don't know, but she's amazing! :roftl:

[lilmot]

 

Thanks for all your thoughts, everybody! Oh, and about his different personalities in different countries--man, you guys are just getting ahead of me there! I was going to start another thread topic about that, but it would onvolve a lot more stuff and be more complex, so I keep putting it off...

 

--Jack

 

I agree. Let's finish this thread/idea first, it's a good one. But, later.....I'm counting on you to compose your thoughts and start the different personality/different country thread. I've been thinking about it for some time....but my thoughts never compose themselves....they float across the universe in a wild and carefree manner. So, I will count on you to remember, when the time is right. I'll look forward to that.....i'm tired, hope i still make some sense and thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

[KiteKat]

 

...maybe I shld check this "chat about Mika" a bit more often:bleh: ...a breath of fresh air!

 

... still not quite awake - hence a bit slow and retarded...

have to digest the whole post and comm-s....

 

 

off-topic part

__________________________________________________________________________

it must be a horrible OFF-topic, but... just fully and completely and totally agree with the very last couple of lines:bleh: would put it a bit more mildly - smth like "shld concentrate more on.... (more constructive ways of self-realization)" or smth....tho always been thinking that writing those IS a part of that realization as a writer, and a part of making a creative persona, or PROJECT as ppl like to call it here, and quite an OUTSTANDING one, just sometimes a choice of topics is a bit too maybe "random" (NOT implying the current one:bleh: )...and I truly think this essay could be turned into that very something CONSTRUCTIVE-article or review that is...

 

[[[+ (those "Jack should really write..." lines seem like a quote from maybe some earlier post by someone or from a message...with maybe a slightly negative initial context - I dont mean it here! I'm a total rubbish in catching up with "the latest spin -off" of events and miss some interviews or hot topics quite often....so in case I am making a fool of myself by quoting smth inappropriate-APOLOGIES!!

 

so please forgive if I do sound irritating or irrespectful. and no mentoring tone is implied whatsoever. Plus I might be completely wrong, but this is the only side of your creative personality the people are exposed to on the forum and I totally understand that there is a lot going on apart from that...)...just meaning the main emphasis might be probably shifted (would love to be mistaken!)...

 

was going to write smth similar N+1 times .....but still not sure whether it is completely justified and I have the right to do so...+ putting it online....so might delete the whole thing a bit later, dunno.....and please please please once again do not consider it mentoring or some online showing off - it is a general thought about the self realization, and the Forum and its amazing people - generally not the type of crowd one usually meets online and the very special person its all about:biggrin2: and how it brings out the creativity in people and such-in its most curious forms]]]

 

so.... just hoping the whole online experience and the "obsession" will later sum up into some kind of creative project - such as "Jack's diary" or smth....togeter with art and such - and not kidding here at all btw...and I hope something like that is going on.

 

P.S. (as for the diary thing-think of smth like Coello's "Portobello witch"... )

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

P.P.S. Re-read a couple of times more - the essay MUST be sent somewhere....(on the second thought - cant quite think of the proper (positive meaning!) place for it right away)

[Yoppappop]

 

However, I don't know if MIKA even knows or is conscious about his display of sexuality. I often think he does what he does or what he feels at that moment into the song, without too much analysis.

 

Gosh, you are a great writer; no point in denying that. But I don't agree with you at all. You made many a good point in your essay, but I don't think Mika is so concious about his sexual image during his performances as your compositon would lead us to believe. As far as I'm concerned, music is about passion and about expressing things that are buried deep down inside people and that, for a broad variety of reasons, can't be expressed in any other way. It's true that Mika's performance changes with time, but I assume this is due to the fact that he's more experienced a showman by now. His confidence increases and, naturally, that results in cheekier and sexier moves (which, of course, us faithful fans fully appreciate).

Something that must be considered as well are Mika's claims about his being constantly rejected and laughed at throughout his childhood. I gather that is reason enough to be coy and shy on stage. Only as he understands that we really like him as he is, he starts to loosen up progressively. But I don't really agree with the statement that he is asexual. There are different ways to express sexuality and this is his. It may be somewhat restrained at times, but it still shows (and I love it).

Let's make things clear: sex sells (in the sense that it makes almost anything popular in the market). So yes, it's highly possible his manager or someone else hinted Mika into exploitig his sexy side. However, I don't think Mika is that worried about the market. He must be, of course (his album is out there), but not so much as to change his way of being just to fit in. His dancing and all the rest are, as far as I see it, a direct result of his growth and developement as an artist.

Your distinction between Mika's subjective and objective attitude towards sexuality is very sharp and it proves I'm speaking to a person with wits (I agree with the others here). But, in my opinion, it's a bit far-fetched. I mean, would you think about a thing like that when singing or when talking to people? I certainly wouldn't be worried about looking as an available object or as a subject in people's eyes. We are going too deep to explain a fact that probably is only natural: Mika is more confident now and has learnt how to manage his body on stage.

Anyway, this post does not intend to hold the ultimate truth. It's only an opinion. The world would be utterly boring if every person on earth thought in the same way.

 

Thanks for your reply, lazy_daisy! (and others!)

 

First off, I just want to clarify that I never said Mika was asexual. In fact, I rather said the opposite, haha. And my point was that I, like many of you, have noticed that Mika's been becoming progressively more comfortable with himself on stage, and more sexually expressive... and I also thought it was just because he's been getting over new-performer jitters, but then when I watched some of the early videos, he was already more sexually expressive--just in a different way--than he would be later. That's what I found interesting. (And I kept thinking--he's been on stage before, he had enough confidence to gate crash parties, he even played the emcee in Cabaret, which is a very sexually provocative role--he may still have new-performer-anxiety, but he's not exactly inexperienced.)

 

You do have a point that Mika probably does not think this all through quite so much. He does seem to be into developing himself and his act organically, though don't underestimate him--he's very controlling of his image, and in some ways, is a lot more methodical about what appears to be just him being "himself" than one might think. Still, yeah, I'd say a lot of this is likely subconscious. I don't mean he sat down and brainstormed about it, haha. I will admit though that I do in fact think things like that while talking to people, etc. I'm a bit over analytical in general, it's habit by now... for instance, everyone has been so sweet about this essay, but seriously, this just came about from random thoughts I had while driving this morning. Then I came home and wrote them down, and there you go.

 

Thanks for all your thoughts, everybody! Oh, and about his different personalities in different countries--man, you guys are just getting ahead of me there! I was going to start another thread topic about that, but it would onvolve a lot more stuff and be more complex, so I keep putting it off...

 

--Jack

 

Oh i'm pretty sure he knows and is totally conscious about everything he does on stage now. For exemple, you can see the evolution through the 2 tours we've had so far. We could put it on the size of the venues and the stage, yes. Put we can also put it on a will to analyze the reaction of the audience. I mean, from the very first gigs (more or less 500 people), he could have easily filled up big venues, since the 2nd tour was still sold out in 2 days (about 2000 people)... Then the festivals. But let's not talk about the festivals, since we don't have so much to talk about ( ).

 

I mean : Mika is someone very smart and calculating. Not in the bad way, but in the "control-freak" way. So he tests then acts. Always like that. Even if he doesn't think about his performance WHILE he's doing it, he does think about it before and after. That's normal, too ! You can't progress if you can't evaluate and think about what you do.

 

Then we can't deny that Universal is a Major label, even if he's signed under Casablanca Records (which is "smaller" but still from Universal), and that they HAVE, wether he wants it or not, their word to say : they are in control of the sales, and if he doesn't sell, Uni is not happy to say it basically. So they do everything for him to sell, that's their role, you can't change it. And if they thought that his early performances were too "prostitute girl" for the market, they MAY (notice the use of the modal) have told him something about that for him to change it to something more "sexy man-ish". And IF they told him to do that, he had not so more many choices than to do what they wanted, or at least, modify his performance into their direction.

 

We can notice the use of the trash-can only from the 2nd tour, which is like Jack said, the most man-ish part of his performance. We can also notice the playing with Big Girls on stage which was waaaay less obvious, even if still there, for the first Tour. The Big Girls, as far as i remember, weren't even "touching him", they were dancing around, "flirting" with Martin and Mickey, also with Mika, but now, they're flirting with Mika and only Mika. And barely dancing around the stage.

 

You're all right, we can put it on the evolution of his self-confidence on stage, but i doubt, like Jack said (i think i will say that a bit more if i go on writing) that someone who was confident enough to wear red bow-ties at school whatever whoever could tell him (even if leading to bullying, he's not in control of what people do), to crash into someone's house to play his song just because he had heard that "i don't remember who" would be there, to crash in a hotel to play his songs at the piano, and to do everything he told us he did all along his life would be "impressed" by the audience. He was born for this, and even if it's still different to think about it and to do it, you may have a stress but that disappears as soon as you go on stage. And i think he's that kind of person. And let's not forget his previous experience on stage too ! He was definitely not a "stage-virgin".

 

So i don't think we can ALL put it on the gain of self-confidence. I do think someone (Uni or himself, or even both) suggested this evolution.

 

Now, personal thoughts : i did notice a change too in the audience through the 2 tours : age range decreasing. Once again, 500 people and 2000 people venues are not the same more people, more teenagers, but in that case, the audiences were totally different : there were still all ages represented, but much more teenagers (female) for the 2000 venues tour. I put it on the fact that there were more people, ok, and that the younglings had a tiny bit more time to convince and beg their parents to get the tickets, ok But i ALSO put it on the fact that his impact had touched different people during his appearances of "between the tours". The change in his performance we're talking about. Being less "girl prostitute" and more "playful sexy man-ish", he reached girl teenagers that MAY have not been touched by the first performances... Just hormonal. And just being descriptive, not judging bad/good/whatever Not even talking about the trash-can since he didn't have it between the tours, just from the 2nd tour. But the whole way he moved, sang, danced, played with the audience / interviewer during these in-between performances / interviews. Cause i forgot to mention the interviews since the beginning, but i do think there is a slight change / evolution / whatever into them too...

 

And it could be interesting to discuss about the different types of performances in the different countries, but in another thread, another day But someone said that they may be less "pinching" in Japan than in the US (for exemple), but they're the only ones who did what you are all dreaming of since the beginning (talking about Fuji Rock Festival picture)...

 

I think i said all i had to say

[vanessa]

[quote name=JackViolet;450961

 

So I was listening to “Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)†today and I thought again of all the Freddie Mercury comparisons. This song has garnered its fair share of them' date=' even though it’s really not at all similar musically, but the subject seems to attract attention. Specifically, I was thinking how sweet “Big Girl†was in comparison to “Fat Bottomed Girls.†“Big Girl†has its own lyrical problems, but it is at least clearly positive-spirited, while as “Fat Bottomed Girls†is a bit more difficult. Some of the lines in it are just plain crass, others are hardly flattering, and in the end, while Mercury does sing the praises of a larger lady, these praises are entirely predicated on the sexual pleasure she can afford him. The way I’d summarize it, the song goes “Big Girl (You’re Not Beautiful But You’re A Damn Good F*ck.)†Reviewers, however, generally lambaste Mika for not being positive/enthusiastic/politically correct/whatever enough on “Big Girl†and seem to accept Mercury’s take. I remembered a article about the two I read once, that said Mercury, whatever his personal inclinations, sounded “wracked with lust†on “Fat Bottomed Girls,†while as Mika sounded removed from his subject.

 

Then I thought that the reviewer obviously had his expectations all wrong, because at this moment I cannot possibly imagine Mika sounding “wracked with lust†on any song, be it about girls, boys, dogs or otherwise. It may change of course, but right now, that’s just not what he is. The articles that call him a Disney kid, and complain of his “disturbing asexuality†(we all remember that one!) are onto something, even if they miss the point. It’s not that Mika’s squeaky clean, exactly—his performances of “Sweet Dreams†and “Love Today†certainly consciously play up his sex-appeal—but he is flirty, not dirty. His approach is quite coy, hiding any sexual references behind childlike images and playground rhymes (the entirety of “Lollipop,†“hook ‘er nook ‘er book ‘er†in “Love Todayâ€), or else alluding to them only obliquely (“we’d wake up tangled on the sheets†in “Eraseâ€). It may be that he’s just a little bit shy, but personally I just think he prefers a bit of sly innuendo to putting it all out there. He’s like someone bringing a lover home to meet the family—certainly there is sex involved, and no one is trying to hide that, but neither does anyone want to discuss the details over dinner. (I realize that some families do in fact try to act like sex is not happening. For purposes of this illustration, let’s assume this a family that has no problems with the lovers sharing a bed, and takes small expressions of affection in stride. Um. I’m getting off the subject here a bit.)

 

Coy and sweet as he may be, though, I think it’s really interesting to trace the way he’s used his sexuality through his media rise. I mentioned “Sweet Dreams†and “Love Today†before, but the introduction of the first song, and the addition of sexual elements to the second has been a fairly recent thing in his repertoire. DaMango’s take on it was “it’s like the boy suddenly discovered he’s got hips!†but when seen in the context of his performance history, that observation doesn’t quite fit. Mika knew he had hips before—and other things—and his brief interlude of shyer, restrained performances seems like a conscious break to me rather than just crowd apprehension.

A week ago or so, someone on gabbly linked me to a video of an “early†performance of “Grace Kelly,†back in last November. I watched it, expecting it to correspond to the other “earlier†videos (Jan-February-ish) I’d seen, that is, I expected Mika not to move around the stage as much as he does now, to jump around less, and to have a gangly, boyishly awkward atmosphere around him. In some ways, my expectations were affirmed—Mika’s dancing was more centered on his mike, he kept to his spot of the stage, and his moves were less fluid and more quirkily twitchy, but otherwise I was in for a surprise. Mika sang “Grace Kelly†as I only hoped it could be sang when I first heard it—he was blatantly flirting with the audience, and not in the cheeky way he sometimes flirts now, but full-on propositioning! Since it was Mika, it was still a proposition tinged with a bit of adorable adolescent artlessness, but a proposition none the less. He rolled his hips into his mic-stand kittenishly, he threw back his head, open-mouthed, he fixed the front row with a shy come-hither stare. I tried to describe how the performance struck me to the other chatters on gabbly, and the best way I could characterize it is that he was offering himself up like a boy prostitute. (I think this is awesome, by the way.) God, I wish he’d kept that, it was so appropriate for the opening lyrics of the song.

 

 

 

The thing is, the way he was putting himself out to the audience, the way he was flirting with them, was as an available object of desire—the way society usually conditions women to flirt. It was gorgeous, it was hot as hell—and it was also quite, quite gay.

 

Again, this is not about whether Mika is gay or not. That doesn’t matter, any other person doing those same moves would make the same impression. Whether he is gay or not, it seems that either he or his management decided somewhere along the way that his self-presentation on stage ought to be a little less coquettish. That makes sense: if you think he’s getting plenty of rude comments about being a “fag†now, you should see how that kind of sexual coquettishness would have been received. Mainstream society at large does not take well to men who are willing to sexualize themselves in terms of object rather than subject.

 

So, in between ditching that mode of performance and developing the one he has now, Mika seems to have decided to go with an endearing, childlike asexuality. (The childlike aspect was always present anyway.) In my view, all those middle-early performances where he seemed a bit hesitant with his body and didn’t move as much on stage, and interacting rather diffidently with his Big Girl dancers were as much due to him trying to figure out what direction he was going to go in, as they were due to reserve brought on by inexperience. It was a thinking-pause. He was trying to work out his act through these performances, and to work out how he should best incorporate sexuality into his show.

 

Eventually, we know, he hit on the routine he does now: unabashed enthusiasm coupled with some frankly-sexier moves, that don’t come across as particularly threatening due to that very unabashed enthusiasm. However, I think it interesting to note that his sexuality has transitioned away from object and more towards subject. Certainly, he invites the audience to look when he strips off his shirt for “Love Today,†but his focus is on the aggressive beating of the drums: he is in fact probably at his most masculine during that bit of the show. (The hip-swishing posturing on the drums, less so, haha.) With “Sweet Dreams,†there is no outside focus object, but instead Mika is internally focused, seemingly lost within himself during his performance. There is no flirtation with the audience, very little engagement of them in any intimate way whatsoever, and in fact at the height of both his “Love Today†stripping and his “Sweet Dreams†gyrations he hardly even looks up off-stage. He’s gone from the “go ahead, objectify me, I want you to†brand of sexuality to a more noncommittal “objectify me if you wish, and I know you will, but I am not really participating†type. As such he’s moved from female to ambiguous-male sexuality in his evolution as a performer, and I think he’s still moving in that direction.

 

I do wonder what exactly motivated this departure for him in the first place, however, and if it was all his idea.

 

--Jack

 

This looooong post brought to you by "Jack should really write essays on other subjects than Mika, but writes essays on Mika anyhow."

 

 

What an interesting thread!!!

Jack you're a very good writer !!

Well done!

[KiteKat]

 

It is very interesting to read Yoppa's analysis-someone who "has been there" from the very beginning and was attending all sets of gigs...and saw the real "timeline" for all the development in the very beginning of the year...still have to digest this one and the rest of the thread as well... and hope there will be more "summaries" of the whole development...as for now-off to RL

 

P.S. as for the different countries- he still didnt do any of "mine" - and both Israel (and the whole Mid-East btw - where his roots are from) and Russia (and the whole different 'New Russia" I was exposed to after a huuuge break) are somewhat a different world and so very "specific" - with respect to treating the whole sexuality and sex-appeal both at a personal level and generally - at commercializing it... there's a very small chance he will do any of both countries in the near future tho'...

 

[Yoppappop]

 

It is very interesting to read Yoppa's analysis-someone who "has been there" from the very beginning and was attending all sets of gigs...and saw the real "timeline" for all the development in the very beginning of the year...still have to digest this one and the rest of the thread as well... and hope there will be more "summaries" of the whole development...as for now-off to RL

 

 

Thank you for the "interesting" I was there from January to be exact, so after the performance Jack gave the link to But i did notice the change, and for me, it was quite obvious... I'm curious to see other's opinions too

[KiteKat]

just quickly-I wasnt meaning "interesting" in a sarcastic way - worth of re-read and attention and further analysis and comparison:bleh: (and still envious of those who has been at smaller gigs:biggrin2: )...now have to run for real

[Blue]

Serious stuff for me at 9.30 in the morning.

 

But I must say Jack, you seem to be a dedicated observer, an active thinker and also very fluent with the written word.

[mariposa]

Very interesting, Jack! I never thought about his performances like that.

But I guess you're right with the observations you made. Let's see what comes next...

 

In any case: brilliantly written post!!!

[cath85]

very interesting essay jack! and very well written!

I had never thought about it that way... but maybe that's because I can't watch too many vids and I have seen only very few of his early performances. but i definitely gotta watch the one you posted!

anyhow I had noticed that, on the few older vids I have seen, he was more passive which corresponds to what you call "object"... so yeah there has been a change for sure!

 

I have to watch some early performances now!

[CazGirl]

Jack, you should be a journalist, you are so gifted in writing. Even if it's a fat long essay I will always read them if you post them, because I know that you look at both sides of the coin, express your own ideas but making it into a discussion rather than an argument.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, actually, and I quite agree.

 

EDIT:

 

I have also noticed though that there is a difference between his concerts and his interviews. In his concerts (nowadays, that is) he is a lot more flamboyant (that's his dancing) and yeah, I suppose it is quite childish, though I think sometimes people can confuse childish with gay. I'm not saying he isn't, he may well be, but I think sometimes people get confused between the two. Heck, even I might be. I could be completely wrong here.

I believe it's more childish because Mika says that dancing expresses himself, what he really feels from the heart, and we all know that he is a child at heart...he's just completely overgrown physically (lol)

The rest of it, is as you say, quite manly, with the drum banging, the shirt coming off (though he didn't do that at shepherds bush!) and the grinding with the Big Girls. So we have two sexualities here: Is he aware of doing this? I don't know, he may be, maybe not.

In interviews however I don't see "the gay radar" flashing. I believe his personality off stage is more, and forgive me for using this word, "normal"; he doesn't possess that quality of a typical queer (i.e Jack from Will&Grace) but again I'm not saying he isn't, because like the rest of you I don't have a clue, not every homosexual is the same as another, just like not every heterosexual is the same as another.

He has said though that the clues to his sexuality are in the lyrics and says it's very obvious.

I have my own opinion on what I may think he is sexuality, but I won't say. I won't say because other people may "fight" back into giving their own interpretations, turning this thread into an argument rather than a discussion.

 

i think that's all I have to say....

 

Over and out.

[Dragonfly]

BEST.THREAD.I.HAVE.SEEN.SO.FAR.

 

I'm a new Mika fan, so before I make a definitive statement I must go through his early performances and collect my toughts properly.

I personally believe that Mika, being who he is, does put a lot of thought and analysis into what he does (everyone who aims for something does it, you´re not just placed into where you are), and even if he doesn´t there´s a huge amount of people behind him who probably does. So, no, I don´t think this is purely subconsciously natural evolution, at least for what I´ve seen so far.

[sonjalovestoday]

That's a very interesting thread! Thanks for posting it!