Article about the Vancouver MIKA concert in Vancouver 24 Hour Magazine!

[elanorelle]

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/2008/02/29/4883727-sun.html

 

 

Its kind of interesting ! says some stuff about the Vancouver Concert and brings up the issue of his sexuality ( not in a bad light for once) .Its a good article and I will be adding more articles as I find more.

 

 

Much ado about nothing

By MICHAEL FORD

 

 

Last summer I played the Mika album Life in Cartoon Motion, so much one friend threatened to throw the CD out the window - while, another, more thoughtful friend, bought me tickets to Mika's concert as a Christmas gift.

 

When Mika was in town earlier this month, my friend and I met at my place for a civilized bottle of French red and some cheese before heading to the Orpheum.

 

After finding our seats and a short line at the bar, my friend and I struck up a conversation with two teenage girls in the lobby. The conversation quickly got onto the topic of Mika's sexuality.

 

Now call me misinformed, but I thought he was out.

 

I mean, the music, the skinny jeans, and the eighth track on his album, "Billy Brown" - which charts the life of a married man discovering his homosexuality - can you blame me if I thought it was a no-brainer?

 

 

The girls had made the same assumption and both talked matter-of-factly about his sexuality. When I asked them if it mattered if he was gay or not they both seemed confused by the question and went on to talk about their openly gay and lesbian friends at school. (Now that's the kind of school I wish I had attended!)

 

But despite our assumptions, Mika has consistently avoided the question of his sexuality in interviews. He was born in 1982, just a wee nipper when Boy George was avoiding the same question - likewise George Michael. I wonder, could his record company be telling him to keep his mouth shut - the same way Wham and Culture Club had done way back when?

 

But, why?

 

Clearly Mika's fans aren't bothered and we've moved on, right?

 

Obviously everyone has the right to keep their sexual preferences to themselves, including those in the public eye. But it's a shame that Mika (or his management) feel its best to continue to be vague - what message does that send to his young gay fans?

 

Would CD sales plummet if he was out?

 

In any case, the concert was fun.

 

Mika seemed to have fun too - bare-chested, wearing a pair of skinny jeans as he danced happily on top an M-shaped stage prop. He seemed quite comfortable surrounded by a crew of gorgeously voluptuous burlesque dancers for the track "Big Girl You Are So Beautiful".

 

Kudos to the young ladies we met. It would seem that their generation can keep sexuality and music in perspective - perhaps it's my generation (and that of the record companies and management types, maybe) that are holding things up.

 

Anyway, I still can't help but hope to see Mika at the next Brit Awards with some hot young man for a date. I know if I was ever nominated for an award I'd sure want the right flavour of candy on my arm!

 

Michael Ford is a freelance columnist who appears every other Friday.

 

[pica_mica]

And since when was he born in 1982?

In one article, he's 25, and in this one, he's born a year earlier...what's with all the silly mistakes?

[elanorelle]

And since when was he born in 1982?

In one article, he's 25, and in this one, he's born a year earlier...what's with all the silly mistakes?

 

hmmmmmm....I shall write him and correct !

 

this drives me crazy ! I know!

[lollipop_monkey]

The man has sold five million albums while keeping mum about his sexuality. He's clearly doing something right.

 

If throwing himself a personal gay pride parade would have changed that number...well, no one really knows.

 

I don't know what Mika's take on it is, but it looks like there's no point in trying to fix what ain't broken.

 

Sigh.

 

Thanks for posting, Suzanne!