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Mika Returns to Canada, the Land of the Furry Chicken Suit


dcdeb

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On a plane back to London after last year's world tour, Mika was sitting next to Miss Cayman Islands, a beauty queen, and the two got to practicing the interview part of her pageant.

 

"I started making up questions for her and, just to take the piss, I asked if she could be any kitchen appliance, what would she be," the 24 year old recalls. The beauty queen became flummoxed, before a light bulb went off.

 

"It was as if she had discovered the theory of relativity! She shouted, 'I would be a blender because I'm accepting of different cultures!' She looked so proud of herself that I just started to laugh. I don't want to take this all too seriously. Sometimes, God, I feel like that pageant queen."

 

Mika Penniman is a flamboyant British singer-songwriter and showman, and his debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, sold four million records and earned him four Brit award nominations and a Grammy nod for best dance album. He's heard all his competitors, but the Freddie Mercury-influenced falsetto born in Beirut says his optimistic, operatic dance music shares nothing in common with the Justin Timberlake and Amy Winehouse pop R&B sound.

 

"I've only managed to do well because I don't fit into any preconceived category or pigeonhole," he says. "I created my own world and my own marketplace and, really, do my own thing because it's all I've ever known how to do."

 

Growing up, Mika's family evacuated Lebanon for Paris, and his dad was on business in Kuwait during the Gulf War and became trapped in the American Embassy for almost a year. The family then moved to London, where the dyslexic middle child was relentlessly bullied at school.

 

"I think going through all that had to inform what I do," he says, adding that it was music that helped him break out of his shell. He got his first job at the Royal Opera House at 11 and has been performing ever since. "I put all of that into my album, which is a schoolyard album, really -- it's about finding your feet and growing up."

 

The album, which Mika wrote, produced, played keyboards on and commissioned his sister to draw the bubblegum artwork for, becomes a celebration when performed onstage. As he begins his North American tour, which visits Montreal Monday (Jan. 28) and Toronto Tuesday (Jan. 29), the singer says he can't wait to re-connect with his Canadian audience.

 

"A lot of the elements of the show began in Canada," he says, referring specifically to the evenings climax in which musicians take the stage in animal costumes a la the Flaming Lips. "I was in a shop in Toronto in these over-priced designer clothes and, looking around at the costumes, decided I really preferred the furry suits."

 

But even if the singer's disco inferno borders on kitsch, he's also quick to point out that his entire operation, like a Cayman Islands beauty queen, amounts to little more than a kitchen blender held together by quality songs.

 

"I stretch things as far as I can, but if the music isn't good, everything seems stupid," he says. "If you're not playing great and you're dressed as a chicken, you look like a real ****head, you know?"

 

Mika's Canadian Tour Dates:

Montreal -- Monday, Jan. 28 at the Bell Centre

Toronto -- Tuesday, Jan. 29 at Kool Haus

 

 

http://www.dose.ca/music/story.html?id=98922b85-9920-47a0-85a1-46dfc2637d28&k=23824

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"I started making up questions for her and, just to take the piss, I asked if she could be any kitchen appliance, what would she be," the 24 year old recalls.

 

NO WAY!!! No freakin' way.

 

Last summer, there was some kind of thread about what you'd ask Mika if you were interviewing him, and I said I'd ask him what kitchen utensil he'd be.

 

That's close enough. That boy is totally stealing my shtick. :mf_rosetinted:

 

Gah he's so adorable. I <heart> him more every day. :wub2:

 

Thanks for posting, dcdeb!

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i thought he said on the dvd that he had the idea in montreal... but did it first in toronto no?

 

Edit - ooops I misread his quote...said he was wearing designer clothes...well you never know when Mika is telling the truth.

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Yeah that quote doesn't make any sense. There are no designer clothes in the shop he got the costumes from. It's a specialty store that sells and rents costumes and theatrical and dance accessories.

 

well at least it was a cute interview and canadian too!

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Ha ha, I love it!

Guess that's why he liked the random questions I asked him then, it was worth starting that. Can't wait 'til London.

 

i liked reading about your random questions...

i think the last one was about britney no?

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"I stretch things as far as I can, but if the music isn't good, everything seems stupid," he says. "If you're not playing great and you're dressed as a chicken, you look like a real ****head, you know?"

 

Haha, yes, we guessed.

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