xxLollypop_girlxx Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article3439244.ece From The TimesFebruary 27, 2008 Mika at Hammersmith Apollo, W6 Lisa Verrico To criticise a performer for making too much effort seems absurd, yet Mika's surfeit of ideas and eagerness to impress overshadowed the songs in his Apollo show. A blast of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 almost introduced him - the curtain dropped, the crowd cheered, but in place of the singer was a giant blue balloon. This popped, to reveal a dancer in gold lamé and angel wings. Then the music switched to swooshy electro - and Mika skipped through bunches of carnations to a stage bathed in purple light. The concert finally got going with Relax, Take it Easy, the 25-year-old's first single, delivered in a familiar falsetto that, live, sounded like a cross between Jimmy Somerville and one of the Tweenies. The venue was packed with parents whose offspring either bounced at waist height or sat on their shoulders. Most fans chose to clap their hands above their heads and the songs hurtled by on a sugar-high that gave the gig the feel of a kids' birthday party. What was fun at first soon became exhausting just to watch. Mika's energy, however, never flagged. Only his silver shoes and leggings with shimmery stripes lasted the night - on half-a-dozen occasions he nipped behind the drum kit to switch shirt or jacket. He hurtled from one side of the stage to the other, pogoed and danced with a backing singer in a glittery dress, or members of his four-piece band (all clad in clashing neon tops). On Big Girl (You are Beautiful) an enormous blow-up doll in a blue leotard was suddenly inflated, while two real-life fat girls in less forgiving leotards came on to jiggle their bodies and - yikes! - cartwheel. Rarely did the music have more substance than a fizzy backing track. Billy Brown was Abba-meets-Eighties Billy Joel, Stuck in the Middle was B-list Bee Gees with Mika on piano and the new song How Much Do You Love Me was a so-so stab at Kylie disco-lite. A cover of the Eurythmics' Missionary Man - a duet with a female rapper in a bikini and feather headdress atop a polystyrene “M” - lacked the original's bite. Only Love Today found a firm middle ground between Mika the musician and Mika the camp showman. Rather than pander to Eurotrash parties, the song set its sight on Ibizan dancefloors. Mika, meanwhile, took to percussion drums - one looked like an oil drum on its side - for a genuinely thrilling finale. This, though, was a paddling pool of a show - lots of surface, little depth. Just got home and saw this in the newspaper. Not great - 2 stars, but then again, it's here opinion, which is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkunicorn123 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Camp envy Well, you need some bad reviews to make the good stand out. Its not a disater, he compliments mika on several occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Thanks for posting. You see, this is the kind of review Mika gets all the time over here. Contrast this with all the positive reviews from the US/Canada shows. Yes it's her opinion, but it's still not nice to read, and really doesn't seem to take into account what the audience reaction was (apart from the kids..were there a lot of children there that night? Not that it matters!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenmashi/Alex Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 But we like him sugar high D: I still don't get why people rant about things they aren't even forced to go to. If you don't like Mika, stay home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Some of the comparisons the reviewer makes are hilarious. SITM - B-list Bee Gees?? Since when? She must have never listened to the Bee Gees in her life! Since when have they sung scat?? (I feel someone coming to correct me...). Mika sounding like Jimmy Somerville/a Tweeny HMDYLM - Kylie disco-lite..?? Hilariously wrong. It sounds like many things but Kylie it aint. Don't you love picking reviews to bits. *14 posts till 3,000 * Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babspanky Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 And they can't even get his age right. Load of twaddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Piffle, indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kodes100 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What can I say other than I DON'T Agree!! I read All of the reviews from the North American Tour & there were NONE even close to anything like this Times review! To each his own but I think he is WRONG!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemmalee Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 A blast of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 almost introduced him The only bit I agree with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 The only bit I agree with yeah, the only factually correct bit that I can see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxLollypop_girlxx Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 The bit about Abba and Billy Joel; a) not really b) both very good and successful artists And yes...they got his age wrong!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariflor Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Thanks for posting. You see, this is the kind of review Mika gets all the time over here. Contrast this with all the positive reviews from the US/Canada shows. Yes it's her opinion, but it's still not nice to read, and really doesn't seem to take into account what the audience reaction was (apart from the kids..were there a lot of children there that night? Not that it matters!) I think that these people are mad? Totally agree about the audience reaction, why don't they take that into account? And Saranayde being a "female rapper"???? WTF????????? :roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katydid1994 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 two real-life fat girls in less forgiving leotards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article3439244.ece From The TimesFebruary 27, 2008 Mika at Hammersmith Apollo, W6 Lisa Verrico To criticise a performer for making too much effort seems absurd, yet Mika's surfeit of ideas and eagerness to impress overshadowed the songs in his Apollo show. A blast of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 almost introduced him - the curtain dropped, the crowd cheered, but in place of the singer was a giant blue balloon. This popped, to reveal a dancer in gold lamé and angel wings. Then the music switched to swooshy electro - and Mika skipped through bunches of carnations to a stage bathed in purple light. The concert finally got going with Relax, Take it Easy, the 25-year-old's first single, delivered in a familiar falsetto that, live, sounded like a cross between Jimmy Somerville and one of the Tweenies. The venue was packed with parents whose offspring either bounced at waist height or sat on their shoulders. Most fans chose to clap their hands above their heads and the songs hurtled by on a sugar-high that gave the gig the feel of a kids' birthday party. What was fun at first soon became exhausting just to watch. Mika's energy, however, never flagged. Only his silver shoes and leggings with shimmery stripes lasted the night - on half-a-dozen occasions he nipped behind the drum kit to switch shirt or jacket. He hurtled from one side of the stage to the other, pogoed and danced with a backing singer in a glittery dress, or members of his four-piece band (all clad in clashing neon tops). On Big Girl (You are Beautiful) an enormous blow-up doll in a blue leotard was suddenly inflated, while two real-life fat girls in less forgiving leotards came on to jiggle their bodies and - yikes! - cartwheel. Rarely did the music have more substance than a fizzy backing track. Billy Brown was Abba-meets-Eighties Billy Joel, Stuck in the Middle was B-list Bee Gees with Mika on piano and the new song How Much Do You Love Me was a so-so stab at Kylie disco-lite. A cover of the Eurythmics' Missionary Man - a duet with a female rapper in a bikini and feather headdress atop a polystyrene “M” - lacked the original's bite. Only Love Today found a firm middle ground between Mika the musician and Mika the camp showman. Rather than pander to Eurotrash parties, the song set its sight on Ibizan dancefloors. Mika, meanwhile, took to percussion drums - one looked like an oil drum on its side - for a genuinely thrilling finale. This, though, was a paddling pool of a show - lots of surface, little depth. Just got home and saw this in the newspaper. Not great - 2 stars, but then again, it's here opinion, which is fine. Well it a British review. What else could we expect, plus, it's The Times, enough said. They probably prefer The Last Night of the Proms! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlottechristy Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Okay, I hate agreeing, but I'm a BIG Girl and I don't think BIG GIRLS should be doing cartwheels! It really starts to be a mockery after a while and it makes me sad. Why can't they just get up there, dance and be BEAUTIFUL BIG GIRLS? Everything else just makes them look stupid! Mika, why do you allow that? I know you approve everything before they do it. Please stop with that. Please. Even in L.A. people didn't approve of that...and, I know you heard about it there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatagordinha Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Okay, I hate agreeing, but I'm a BIG Girl and I don't think BIG GIRLS should be doing cartwheels! It really starts to be a mockery after a while and it makes me sad. Why can't they just get up there, dance and be BEAUTIFUL BIG GIRLS? Everything else just makes them look stupid! Mika, why do you allow that? I know you approve everything before they do it. Please stop with that. Please. Even in L.A. people didn't approve of that...and, I know you heard about it there too. I must admit I missed the bit about cartwheels..I didn't know the Big Girls were doing that! Although as a big girl too I admire the fact they can physically manage a cartwheel ( I haven't been able to do them since I was about 10) I don't really see the need either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlottechristy Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 In L.A, the BIG GIRL who was doing the cartwheels was also spreading her legs wide open when she was on her hands. I, along with many, many others was repulsed. Great that she can do that. But, it doesn't look very pretty! So, much for "Big Girls, you are beautiful." It's more like, "Big Girls, you are becoming a mockery." So many people talked about it after L.A. saying that it was disgusting and Mika was even told about it. So, I'm sad that he's still doing it. Just stick with the dancing and be beautiful Big Girls...C'mon, how hard is that? I must admit I missed the bit about cartwheels..I didn't know the Big Girls were doing that! Although as a big girl too I admire the fact they can physically manage a cartwheel ( I haven't been able to do them since I was about 10) I don't really see the need either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlindee Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 and one of the Tweenies. :boxed:WTF? Saranayde a female rapper: Again WTF? They even got his age wrong:thumbdown: Bad review. Pshh:naughty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlau_20zr Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 In L.A, the BIG GIRL who was doing the cartwheels was also spreading her legs wide open when she was on her hands. I, along with many, many others was repulsed. Great that she can do that. But, it doesn't look very pretty! So, much for "Big Girls, you are beautiful." It's more like, "Big Girls, you are becoming a mockery." So many people talked about it after L.A. saying that it was disgusting and Mika was even told about it. So, I'm sad that he's still doing it. Just stick with the dancing and be beautiful Big Girls...C'mon, how hard is that? i know only bit about it do you know if there`s any vid where the big girls is doing it? about the review i don`t agree with most of the it female rapper?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlottechristy Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I have some video of the girl in L.A. doing it; however, I haven't uploaded it yet. I guess I just haven't felt like it. Her costume underwear fell down during Lolipop too and she was dancing with them around her thighs. It was a BAD night for BIG GIRLS. I do disagree with the rest of the review though. I love Mika's shows!!!! I've been to three now and they have all been so different. I LOVE THAT ABOUT HIM!! i know only bit about itdo you know if there`s any vid where the big girls is doing it? about the review i don`t agree with most of the it female rapper?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlau_20zr Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I have some video of the girl in L.A. doing it; however, I haven't uploaded it yet. I guess I just haven't felt like it. Her costume underwear fell down during Lolipop too and she was dancing with them around her thighs. It was a BAD night for BIG GIRLS. I do disagree with the rest of the review though. I love Mika's shows!!!! I've been to three now and they have all been so different. I LOVE THAT ABOUT HIM!! Ok! thanks anyway! i haven`t been in any concert but when i read the reviews and the vids on youtube i wish have been there!! i love the others big girls, i think one of thems called Ophelia and the one which most of the time had a hat and redhair is beautiful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzy Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I think that review gives a pretty good insight as to what that person is actually like, and I'm not saying this because she gave Mika a bad review, because everyone's got their own opinion, but it sounds really closed minded and immature at some points - the remarks about the big girls were rude (even if not completely obviously), commenting on the 'clashing tops' seemed like she was grasping at straws and the whole thing just sounded like she went in there determined to find everything wrong with that. Personally, I expect journalists from the Times to be a little more sophisticated with their reviews, that's probably of a similar mindset of a journalist from the Star or the Sun, although the Sun have a pro-Mika stance so I shan't be too harsh on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serendipity66 Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 In L.A, the BIG GIRL who was doing the cartwheels was also spreading her legs wide open when she was on her hands. I, along with many, many others was repulsed. Great that she can do that. But, it doesn't look very pretty! So, much for "Big Girls, you are beautiful." It's more like, "Big Girls, you are becoming a mockery." So many people talked about it after L.A. saying that it was disgusting and Mika was even told about it. So, I'm sad that he's still doing it. Just stick with the dancing and be beautiful Big Girls...C'mon, how hard is that? Oh god, I just logged on, and I read this, and also the part about the big girl's underwear falling down and her dancing with it around her thighs and....maybe it has just been just that kind of day...but I am laughing so hard I am crying. :roftl: :roftl: I know this is a serious matter and has to do with Mika's credibility, but still..... :roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I must admit I missed the bit about cartwheels..I didn't know the Big Girls were doing that! Although as a big girl too I admire the fact they can physically manage a cartwheel ( I haven't been able to do them since I was about 10) I don't really see the need either I agree. The dancing is okay, but acrobatics...? NO. It will make them look stupid and make Mika seem as though he's hosting a freakshow. People will laugh at him, and the girls. It needs to stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milou Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 so he suddenly turned 25 when I was not looking? How sneaky. Anyways, grumpy little reporter. Probably trying to stand out from all the positive reviews. Too bad he secretly liked it:mf_rosetinted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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