Scut Monkey Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 While reading some queer blogs I came across this review. What I found interesting about it was the blogger's description of Mika's fans treating him like a traditional "rock star" as opposed to a camp "diva", and the description of Mika's U.S. marketing campaign as accepting his lack of mainstream success and instead trying to appeal to "alternative" audiences by emphasising his more controversial side (e.g. "Billy Brown")... "So He Tried A Little Freddie..." By Popnography February 13, 2008 Here is the ultimate paradox of Mika in concert: The show is undeniably queer, hugely flamboyant and delightfully high energy. And the crowd treats him like a star. Not just like a fun, disco dancing diva. Like a freaking rock star -- like they would do absolutely anything he asked them to and scream joyfully at the chance to do it. You know who didn't love it? The three straight-acting guys standing behind us who bailed a couple songs in, saying they just couldn't handle "that" any more. Assorted other notes from his Los Angeles show on Monday (February 11, 2008): > The whole theater was dressed to the nines -- including flowers matching the stage props that were strewn all over the sound board. > Mika sang an insane, amazing extended version "Love Today" that started with him twirling a white parasol over his head, the confetti falling like snow all over him and the stage. It transitioned into a big drum extravaganza, during which Mika lost his shirt, jumped up on a drum riser to wiggle his ass, and then generally shook his groove thing for the many appreciative boys in the crowd. Someone shot a great, 10-minute-long clip of that part of the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whlhGI2vkDA > The big "Lollipop" encore had the best confetti/balloon/streamer drop I have ever seen. Ever. You could barely see the stage, so it's a shame that standing operating procedure at most concerts is to allow photographers in for only the first three songs. > Mika's U.S. marketing strategy seems to come down to "radio won't play this," a tactic usually embraced by not-as-controversial-as-they'd-like-you-to-think rappers. Before launching into "Billy Brown," he did a very convincing impression of an American label exec (accent and all) telling him not to include the song, followed by Mika's colorful response (something like, "I don't f*cking think so!"). And the crowd went wild, of course. I don't at all doubt the truthiness of this claim, but I find it fascinating as an alternative strategy for appealing to audiences here. A few more gorgeous photos (from his night in New York earlier this month - February 2, 2008) after the jump... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uhsofamous Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 hhmm....interesting! but thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
findingmywords Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 thank you! its...okay haha He said "fat f*cking chance" not "I don't f*cking think so".......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico_collard Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 I don't at all doubt the truthiness of this claim, but I find it fascinating as an alternative strategy for appealing to audiences here. Ahem... I didn't know truthiness was a word... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scut Monkey Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 He said "fat f*cking chance" not "I don't f*cking think so".......... Ahem... I didn't know truthiness was a word... Don't shoot the messenger, shoot the blogger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soon-to-bemrs.penniman Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Ahem... I didn't know truthiness was a word... Stephen Colbert coined that term 2 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Travers Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 I love it... I love this article...someone brings up a very interesting paradox FOR ONCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollipop_monkey Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Thanks for posting, Scut! LA certainly has a lot of bloggers. http://gay.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/13/mika4.jpg Come on...I can't be the only one in love with that pic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Sky Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Thanks for posting this Scut, it was a different perspective for a change! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scut Monkey Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 Come on...I can't be the only one in love with that pic... You most certainly aren't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guylainem123 Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Thanks for posting, Scut! LA certainly has a lot of bloggers. Come on...I can't be the only one in love with that pic... :roll1: what are you talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Mana, I've got 8,000 unread posts and somehow I managed to find this thread immediately anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaMariaPetra Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 LOL I'm sorry, it must be my dirty-mind, but everytime I see this thread's title I think is says: pornography's review...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessicamadq Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 LOL I'm sorry, it must be my dirty-mind, but everytime I see this thread's title I think is says: pornography's review...... I thought it said that when I first saw it! I was like.... What the..... and then I read it again and ... phew... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickadee Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I completely missed this at the time, think there was so much going on on here that I just couldn't keep up. That was an interesting blog... It would never have occurred to me that Mika's fans would treat him any other way than the way they do, so it sounds to me like this guy had some pre-conceived ideas, maybe?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlindee Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 LOL I'm sorry, it must be my dirty-mind, but everytime I see this thread's title I think is says: pornography's review...... I thought that too:lmao: I was like: WTF! And then I saw it was a p:lmfao: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollipop_monkey Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I completely missed this at the time, think there was so much going on on here that I just couldn't keep up. That was an interesting blog... It would never have occurred to me that Mika's fans would treat him any other way than the way they do, so it sounds to me like this guy had some pre-conceived ideas, maybe?? Aww, the LA show. Sigh. Has it really been four months already?! They had it bang on when they wrote: "...the crowd treats him like a star. Not just like a fun, disco dancing diva. Like a freaking rock star -- like they would do absolutely anything he asked them to and scream joyfully at the chance to do it. " At a lot of shows there's a real appreciation for the artist and his/her music - but with Mika, it's full on oh-my-god-it's-1958-and-Elvis-is-on-stage type worship. At least at the shows I was at, there's this vibe that everyone in the first 10 rows is barely holding themselves back from scrambling over the barrier and diving onto the stage. I hope you get to experience the Mika drug some day soon, Chickadee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicfreak Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 LOL I'm sorry, it must be my dirty-mind, but everytime I see this thread's title I think is says: pornography's review...... me too!! this blog confuzed me, at first it sounded to me like the blogger didn't like mika, but near the end it sounded like he did:blink:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Well at least it wasn't insulting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickadee Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Aww, the LA show. Sigh. Has it really been four months already?! They had it bang on when they wrote: "...the crowd treats him like a star. Not just like a fun, disco dancing diva. Like a freaking rock star -- like they would do absolutely anything he asked them to and scream joyfully at the chance to do it. " At a lot of shows there's a real appreciation for the artist and his/her music - but with Mika, it's full on oh-my-god-it's-1958-and-Elvis-is-on-stage type worship. At least at the shows I was at, there's this vibe that everyone in the first 10 rows is barely holding themselves back from scrambling over the barrier and diving onto the stage. I hope you get to experience the Mika drug some day soon, Chickadee. S'funny. I woke up thinking about this blog and suddenly realised that if i didn't know anything about Mika and read the line about flamboyant and camp, I would be expecting someone like Julian Clary. And that the rock star quote would seem ultra-bizarre in light of that. But, particularly from your own reports Mana, which were so well written, I totally saw the rock god thing and (perhaps from my own member-of-the-MFC-so-perhaps-a-bit-more-obsessed-than-some bias) could completely imagine the crowd willing to do anything for him. And I guess it suprised me that it suprised the blog writer. Edit: I'll settle for just some day. I'd like it to be soon, really would like it to be soon, but I'd just like to go to one Mika gig in my lifetime at the very least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
findingmywords Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Aww, the LA show. Sigh. Has it really been four months already?! They had it bang on when they wrote: "...the crowd treats him like a star. Not just like a fun, disco dancing diva. Like a freaking rock star -- like they would do absolutely anything he asked them to and scream joyfully at the chance to do it. " At a lot of shows there's a real appreciation for the artist and his/her music - but with Mika, it's full on oh-my-god-it's-1958-and-Elvis-is-on-stage type worship. At least at the shows I was at, there's this vibe that everyone in the first 10 rows is barely holding themselves back from scrambling over the barrier and diving onto the stage. I hope you get to experience the Mika drug some day soon, Chickadee. 4 Months already... I can't believe it... Exactly. It's like he's a magnet and we're all attracted to him. It's crazy, because it's like you can feel the magnetic fields pushing you and everyone else towards him... Or maybe it's just the people pushing, not the magnetic field Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauruslady Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 cool, I never saw this...interesting:) I like how they say the best confetti thing ever:naughty: true!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyGodiva Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 So, it seems I missed this particular thread first time around. And when I say i missed the thread I really mean i missed those pictures. Although I like the writing as well, straight guys tend to suck sometimes, i think that's why i'll probably end up with a bunch of cats, and a turtle or two. Oh, and i thought he had a hand brace on at that show? Anyways, my belated thanks.=] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmbm Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 The pictures on the front page aren't even from the gig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyGodiva Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 The pictures on the front page aren't even from the gig Now that makes so much more sense then, thanks. Where are they from...NY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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