No ***ing accident: MIKA SINGS HIS HEART OUT EVERY SHOW

[Blue Sky]

The other night during the Hollywood gig, Mika was falsely accused of miming. How many of you have stood there in the front row, while he sings his ****ing heart out??? (Got the sweat and spit on you, seen/heard the vocal acrobatics and the depleted voice after the show...etc etc)

 

Well there is actually much more behind this story than just one deleted tweet. During the gig, I was following twitter (as is my custom) to get what people were saying about the performance, and one guy in particular popped up making ridiculous accusations.

 

Here are his tweets, but I omitted his name because we don't need google to link to him through MFC. (let's call him XXXX)

 

He tweeted

 

1. I think almost this whole Mika show is on hard drive.

 

2. This is complete bull****. Like listening to a record. I might as well be up there playing Mika, it wouldn't sound any different.

 

Well this got RTed by a lot of people after that during the show. I was ignoring those tweets while posting the good ones onto the chatter thread. Then came this one:

 

3. I really can't believe this. Makes Madonna and Britney look talented.

 

I resisted my urge to respond to him, some guy I had never heard of.

 

But THEN Perez answered this guy DURING the show:

 

perezhilton: XXXX You sure know a lot about bull**** - you're full of it! Mika is amazing!!!! A true talent! Look at this audience - they are LOVING!

 

So I went off right then to find out who the guy was, that Perez would even pay attention to such nonsense mid-show.

 

Turns out he is a music critic of some notoriety and apparently some industry clout. He baits people all the time, and has had twitter fights with all kinds of celebs (Lily Allen, Gene Simmons etc) and obviously behaves as if he is some sort of hot shot. He calls his blog "First in Music Analysis".

 

So the twitter world was abuzz with RTs from both XXXX and Perez's reply to him, so I think word eventually reached the desk of Paullhitsheet (I want to write sh!tsheet). I think whoever posted the tweet about the "miming accident", in response to the picture of Mika's foot brace, thought he was being funny, riding on the wave of tweets that had been going round.

 

But then Mika responded and I guess Paul was in a pickle... with his account hacked. Well he and Mika have solved that publicly as we saw.

 

But the other guy who started all this, who believes in his own influence, has written a scathing review of Mika's show in his blog.

 

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2009/10/24/mika-at-the-palladium/

 

Greg Wells responded.

"You espouse an authoritative stance on music, yet your review of Mika at The Palladium last night cements that you’re an untalented hack who couldn’t begin to make a living from music, taking sloppy sniper shots from the sidelines. You’re the [name of someone] of online music blogging - meaning irrelevant, inaccurate, and someone who could use a good slap."

 

 

According to another twitter, Greg was not alone in his response

* No less than Mika's producer + manager + booking agent each replied to XXXX to tell him he was wrong.

 

And more links complain about the barrage of comments from MFCers (go girls) but sadly, comments are closed on the review, and you can no longer see what was written. Thanks to apoplectic skeptic for saving a snippet.

http://danielholter.tumblr.com/post/222440375/this-is-the-incriminating-tweet-stream-from

 

I just wanted to post to give a bit more background to the ridiculous accusations...and to Mika's need to respond

 

@mikasounds I have never lip synched or mimmed ever in my life. Nor do I ever intend to ever. Anybody who knows what I do would know that. That's that.6:33 AM Oct 25th from Tweetie

 

 

Indeed Mika, we know you, and we know the truth. It is a simple fact that your live show is so good, so slick, so entertaining, that people cannot believe that one human being can be so fantastic LIVE.

 

(But we also know you cannot spell to save yourself.)

 

PS If mods think this thread should go, by all means take action, but I just wanted to get some of the chronology straight.

Edited October 27, 2009 by Blue Sky

[Fangirl]

Pfffttt...

 

 

 

I've never seen Mika live (I am going to! Yay! ) , but I'm guessing he sounds pretty damn good live if he's been accused of miming.

[lindemfc]

woow, thanks for making it clear!

[FOUCHONNERET]

woow, thanks for making it clear!

 

excactly

and yes, WE know the truth,after seeing him so much time in LIVE!!

[faballa]

Thank you Blue Sky for your post! I haven't known all the background of Mika's reaction. Now I'm informed... and I'm very relieved to see all the people who twittered back!! ... success has always enviers!

[sariflor]

Thanks for that, BS, it certainly does give a really good insight into the whole argument and why it escalated so much.

 

It is food for thought though. It's pointless for me to say that I love Mika and that he's super talented, and his voice is incredible, as that is something that we all know, and experience on a regular basis at his gigs, but when I read this guy's blog one thing did make me think.

 

When I first heard this record, TBWKTM, I had a little voice in my mind bugging me, thinking: "how on earth will he do songs like Touches You or One Foot Boy live, where he has a few "layers" of his own voice singing different lines at the same time? I don't know what the technical term for this is, so excuse my explanation, but I hope that people know what I mean. These songs are far more 'produced' than a lot of his earlier work, and I wondered how this would translate into live.

 

Basically it worried me that the songs would sound really weird and bad live, (well, as bad as a song sung by Mika ever could!!) but just if they would sound too different to the actual record.

 

I was very curious to see how they were going to resolve it, and when he did the songs in Toronto I found it funny that there was a clear background track played with the backing vocals sung by Mika, as this guy says.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, of course I think that this guy is a total a**hole, there is no question of that. And that Mika is a true, incredible talent, with a voice and artistry that very few current singers can match. That's not the point here. And this guy is totally wrong and accusing Mika of things that he's not guilty of, when he says that he was hardly singing live, and that there were no instruments played, etc. It's all utter bull5hit.

 

The point that I'm trying to make is that he has a small point there. In these two songs (at least) the pre-recorded backing tracks are there, and they are very prominent. Much more so than in any of his old songs, when he toured with LICM.

 

And I personally would have liked it to be less 'perfect', and for him to sing the songs as they are, without the pre-recorded backing, because it would be more real, if you know what I mean.

.

Edited October 26, 2009 by sariflor

[Dark Angel]

wow! Thx a lot for informing and posting!

Edited October 26, 2009 by Dark Angel

[Fangirl]

I mean, it's stuff like this that makes me want to do two things.

 

 

 

1. Go give Mika a hug. He doesn't deserve this!

 

 

2. OPEN A CAN OF WHOOP*** ON THESE PEOPLE!

 

 

 

 

[RAK1]

This is the same guy that Erika tweeted about, and I responded to that at the time, as I thought he was being a jackass, upsetting her like that!

It goes to show what a coward he is, closing the comments section of his blog, knowing that people more in the know than he is, are hitting back at his ill informed and asinine drivel.

It's people like him, who don't have the talent to actually stand up and perform themselves, who spew this crap. There are lots of artists I don't like who do mime, but they do the dance routines on stage, which means they can't sing live at the same time. It annoys me that they do this, as they are supposed to be singers, but I do respect their agility in their dancing, and think that they are superb at doing this, although I'd rather hear them sing. But these artists don't hide the fact that they do this, and fair play to them for doing this, another thing I respect them for.

But having seen the full force of Mika performing in front of me, there surely can be no doubt in anyones mind that he's doing it for real!

This guy must have been stood outside the building, if he was even there at all, because if he was, he'd know Mika is no fake, it's 100% him, and his band, NO backing tracks!

I'm glad Perez and Greg retaliated, I had no idea this guy was still droning on about it. Wish I had, he'd have got the full force of my boot up his backside, in an oral sense of course.

[robertina]

Thanks BS, i think this thread deserve all our attention!

 

i even didn't know all details myself, so i thank you a lot for making them clear.

[Lena]

I'm not going to apologize to this critic . I have not cooled down yet. And some cur echoed him:furious:

[Blue Sky]

I agree with you sariflor about the backing tracks...he has a point there, but that doesn't need to colour the whole show...and who doesn't use backing tracks...

 

But I think he knew what he was doing when he closed down the comments section. He is a former entertainment lawyer, and who knows what Team Mika were telling him privately.

[Jazzy]

If the whole show was on hard drive why the hell would I be paying loadsa money to see Mika ten times between now and April?

 

What a bellend.

[RAK1]

Thanks for that, BS, it certainly does give a really good insight into the whole argument and why it escalated so much.

 

It is food for thought though. It's pointless for me to say that I love Mika and that he's super talented, and his voice is incredible, as that is something that we all know, and experience on a regular basis at his gigs, but when I read this guy's blog one thing did make me think.

 

When I first heard this record, TBWKTM, I had a little voice in my mind bugging me, thinking: "how on earth will he do songs like Touches You or One Foot Boy live, where he has a few "layers" of his own voice singing different lines at the same time? I don't know what the technical term for this is, so excuse my explanation, but I hope that people know what I mean. These songs are far more 'produced' than a lot of his earlier work, and I wondered how this would translate into live.

 

Basically it worried me that the songs would sound really weird and bad live, (well, as bad as a song sung by Mika ever could!!) but just if they would sound too different to the actual record.

 

I was very curious to see how they were going to resolve it, and when he did the songs in Toronto I found it funny that there was a clear background track played with the backing vocals sung by Mika, as this guy says.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, of course I think that this guy is a total a**hole, there is no question of that. And that Mika is a true, incredible talent, with a voice and artistry that very few current singers can match. That's not the point here. And this guy is totally wrong and accusing Mika of things that he's not guilty of, when he says that he was hardly singing live, and that there were no instruments played, etc. It's all utter bull5hit.

 

The point that I'm trying to make is that he has a small point there. In these two songs (at least) the pre-recorded backing tracks are there, and they are very prominent. Much more so than in any of his old songs, when he toured with LICM.

 

And I personally would have liked it to be less 'perfect', and for him to sing the songs as they are, without the pre-recorded backing, because it would be more real, if you know what I mean.

 

 

.

 

 

So for these two songs he used the backing track of his vocal from the album?

I thought it was the band providing the backing for it!

Maybe that's what this guy was talking about then!

[Fangirl]

The point that I'm trying to make is that he has a small point there. In these two songs (at least) the pre-recorded backing tracks are there, and they are very prominent. Much more so than in any of his old songs, when he toured with LICM.

 

And I personally would have liked it to be less 'perfect', and for him to sing the songs as they are, without the pre-recorded backing, because it would be more real, if you know what I mean.

.

 

 

You have a good point. (just went to watch One Foot Boy on YouTube):thumb_yello:

 

 

But it REALLY ANNOYS ME that people just go: "Oh, it's good. He's miming, obviously.", Y'know?

 

It's just... Gr...

 

I think most preformers have used a backing track, haven't they? Why's it such a big deal? They're still not miming.

[Moonlightchild]

woow, thanks for making it clear!

That's what you get if you your voice is fantastic live?pfffffffff:sneaky2:

I know Mika sings live,what a bullsh*t !!!

To bad it's still on the internet

[dianesellner78]

Thanks for posting all of this. I saw Mika's tweet and was wondering who has been saying these things.

I have seen him live twice and there is no way he is faking it!!! Mika is definetly the most talented pop star out there!!! This guy has no idea what he is talking about and people should pay no attention to him.

 

That sux that someone is jelous and saying such things.

[willywonka]

Right!

 

I was following twitter too that night and i saw his twits, he never thought this would get to Mika's ears, so he kept posting teasing twitts...

 

And as BS correctly exposed, the chronology seems to be proving that it was not a hacked account; he was twitting those, Perez saw it too, sad this is he couldn't face Mika's twitt and cowardly stepped back...

 

Too bad Mika had to read things like that when he makes the most of it everytme...

[tiibet]

Thank you BS for this summary I had seen most of these tweets, but it helps a lot to see them in chronological order. I had no idea who this first guy was, and I was wondering about it, because Mika (and his team) took those accusations so seriously.

[Jazzy]

All performers use backing tracks otherwise their voice sounds really thin in massive venues. Katy Perry uses backing tracks for her backing vocals, but she's a damn good singer and she sings the main vocals herself.

 

It's not cheating unless he's not projecting any sound out of his mouth at all. And we all know he projects.

[Louiza]

excactly

and yes, WE know the truth,after seeing him so much time in LIVE!!

 

Of course we know the truth:wub2:

And you dont have to be a fan in order to realize that Mika can sing exceptionally well live.

 

Whoever this guy is and no matter if he wrote these things cuz he's ignorant or because he wants to attract people's attention or even as a joke, in my opinion what he did was completely pathetic and something that could never be considered as constructive criticism.

 

Having said that I think I should stop paying attention to this person.

[Dark Angel]

I cant imagine him do a thing like that

[RAK1]

All performers use backing tracks otherwise their voice sounds really thin in massive venues. Katy Perry uses backing tracks for her backing vocals, but she's a damn good singer and she sings the main vocals herself.

 

It's not cheating unless he's not projecting any sound out of his mouth at all. And we all know he projects.

 

Calvin Harris, not so long back, talked about this, as someone accused him of something similar.

He said he used backing tracks to cover parts he couldn't sing as he was singing the main vocal, which makes sense I guess. But isn't that what the backing vocalists are for?

[sariflor]

I agree with you sariflor about the backing tracks...he has a point there, but that doesn't need to colour the whole show...and who doesn't use backing tracks...

 

But I think he knew what he was doing when he closed down the comments section. He is a former entertainment lawyer, and who knows what Team Mika were telling him privately.

 

No, you're right, of course it doesn't, AT ALL, and that is what I was trying to say, that the guy is a total twat for saying what he did.

I was just throwing in something that did sort of bug me a little, because it gives morons like this man a platform from which to slate people like Mika, who leaves his skin on stage every night and gives the show all his passion. And it makes me mad.

 

 

You have a good point. (just went to watch One Foot Boy on YouTube):thumb_yello:

 

But it REALLY ANNOYS ME that people just go: "Oh, it's good. He's miming, obviously.", Y'know?

 

It's just... Gr...

 

I think most preformers have used a backing track, haven't they? Why's it such a big deal? They're still not miming.

 

It's especially obvious towards the end, and in the chorus. But yes, I know what you mean about people's comments, it's infuriating. That's because there are hardly any artists out there at the moment who CAN sing like Mika.

I often say that his voice sounds a lot better when he sings live than on the recorded studio tracks. I wonder if it's the interaction with the audience that does it, but IMO there is no doubt that his best performances are always live with an audience-And I am only talking about his voice and singing here, not about the actual show. His voice live is just something else.

 

 

So for these two songs he used the backing track of his vocal from the album?

I thought it was the band providing the backing for it!

Maybe that's what this guy was talking about then!

 

I don't know for how many he did, but for these two I can hear it very clearly. It's probably because otherwise the songs would sound very different to the album, as they are so heavily layered? I don't know. All I know is that if you listen carefully you can hear his own voice singing in the background while he is doing the lead vocal, or waiting to sing one. It's inevitable, the way the song is, I guess, but I would prefer it to be 'purer' and to sound different than to sound like the record and have all these tracks on it.

I always say that Mika is at his best when he's pure and simple.

But answering your last question, no, this guy meant the whole thing, so he's still a twatty a*sehole

[sparkly1]

I acctually saw MIka's first response tweet (that he immediatley deleted) about this and I tweeted him back in FULL support since I have seen him live about 12 times and been either IN or very near the front row on 3/4's of those gigs, and I was totally indignant for Mika for this guy to accuse him of mimming, because when I have seen him live he most certainly has NOT mimmed. I am afraid I went and tweeted this stupid man and hurled a bit of abuse his way:blush-anim-cl: (he deserved it), he does appear a bit full of his own self importance.

 

I take what you say on board Sari, I have yet to see the new songs live, but the ones I saw live off the SFS ep all sounded real enough to me, and as you know I was front row for those too. I can understand him having to use some backing vocals if it's his own voice cos he can't do it all at the same time, and like you I would rather see him carry on as he has done so successfully so far by doing as much as he can without it incuding any cute little imperfections.

 

( I did wonder if he would do that when I heard how he starts the begining of Relax when he gets changed out of the spacesuit etc, but I havnt read that he has yet so I hope not).

 

I'm glad though that his ppl went to his defence (like we did too).