mellody Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 haven't seen this posted yet: http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2009/12/11/music/5262506&sec=music Friday December 11, 2009 Just golden By MELODY L. GOH Describing his new album as a ‘pop opera for those teenage years’, Mika has come into his own as an artiste. ALL happiness comes from sorrow. So says pop singer Mika, a man who is not only known but also well-loved for his quirky, upbeat music. Dressed in a fitted white shirt and pants, and wearing a lime green watch, colourful heart-shaped beaded bracelet, purple shoes and a necklace with a teddy bear pendant, Mika, who was recently in Hong Kong for a concert, paints a picture of someone who seems at ease with himself yet is not quite happy. Perhaps remnants of his dark past are still haunting him. Or perhaps he was just a little tired that day. “Being bullied as a child, it feels like the worst thing in the world, you know? All you want is to be accepted, be a part of something, yet if you were a little different, you immediately become an outcast,” says Mika to journalists prior to his concert. Charming, tall (at 191cm, he towered over all the Asian journalists he met that day), and soft-spoken, Mika handled the interview session with much sincerity and was very perceptive in replying to questions, which is uncommon among new pop artistes. When a journalist kept repeating a question about being a one-hit wonder, Mika calmly replied, “I think even from my first album, I can confidently say that I am not a one-hit wonder, unless of course if you personally think I am.” Mika, née Michael Penniman, was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983. When the Lebanese Civil War got worse, his family evacuated and lived in Paris, before settling down in London in the mid-1990s. In school, Mika was bullied not just for his style and personality but also for being dyslexic. He found solace in music, teaching himself to play the piano, becoming involved in the choir, and much later, enrolling himself at the Royal College of Music in London. “Music is a powerful form of revenge. Through songs I managed to express my anger and disappointment, and overcome sadness without having to confront anybody in person. Also, you can turn yourself into something beautiful, and to sort of create a bubble for yourself to exist in. I think ultimately, this was the reason why I started in music,” says Mika. While Mika was at the Royal College of Music, a music executive showed interest in his work and offered him a deal, but only if he did as he was told. As a result of that, Mika wrote his first hit Grace Kelly, a song about not compromising values and personality over something as trivial as fame. In fact, his second album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, also focuses on the same thing. “I was an outsider when I was younger and I felt really horrible about that. I beat myself up over being different from the other kids, and even thought about becoming like everyone else so I could be their friend. “As I grew older, though, I realised that I didn’t have to change, that I didn’t have to be accepted to be happy. However, I do wish I had known that fact when I was younger. This is why I did this album; I want people to know that you don’t have to change to have a happy life,” explains Mika. The singer gave himself a six-month time limit to finish The Boy Who Knew Too Much, even if it resulted in him getting cooped up in a studio most of the time. Mika insists that that’s the best way to write, at least for him. “Pete Townshend (of The Who) says ‘don’t write on the road’ and I think that’s really good advice. You need to have a routine while writing, otherwise you’d end up working all the time. You can’t be at your creative peak if you’re always working,” he says. Describing the album as a “pop opera for those teenage years”, Mika admits to feeling a little pressured while recording it. “There’s always more pressure from everyone, even from yourself, when you’re doing the sophomore album because people already know your work from your debut, so now you need to really impress everyone! “But as an artiste you need to give yourself delusions of grandeur. You need to believe that you can make it, to be able to actually make it.” The Boy Who Knew Too Much contains a mish-mash of funky, bubbly tunes that talk of overcoming challenges and heartbreaks, dealing with bad days and loving yourself, among other things. Though the mood of the album is quite similar to his debut, the songs are musically different in terms of production. Still, some pundits feel that the similarities outweigh the differences, and are beginning to wonder whether Mika isn’t just a “one-hit-album” wonder after all. However, the singer himself claims that he is not afraid of being stereotyped as a musician who is only capable of making bubblegum pop tunes. In fact, he doesn’t really care. “I write pop music and generally, pop music is all about the catchy melodies, simple lyrics and fun beats. If I am stereotyped as being a pop musician, well, that’s what I am, really,” he notes. During the 90-minute concert at the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Mika wowed the audience of about 4,000 people with his energetic performance, which is something of a trademark in all of the singer’s live shows. The concert kicked off with a short skit that showed his band members watching the launch of a rocket on the big screen (a man bearing the striking resemblance of actor Ian McKellen even appeared on screen as the newsreader). Then, out came Mika in a space suit walking out towards the middle of the stage, ready to rock. Campy? Yes. But nobody seemed to complain that night. Mika performed 18 songs, 10 of which were from his 12-track second album. He reserved his biggest hit Grace Kelly for the encore, but also included other singles from the debut album Life In Cartoon Motion like Relax, Big Girl and Happy Ending, as well as current hits like We Are Golden and Blame It On The Girls. The singer showed off his high-octave vocal range in several of the songs, but overall his vocals were crystal clear and nothing short of phenomenal. Throughout the set Mika kept mood light and fun by dancing and prancing about, which the crowd appreciated. He calmed down and sat at the piano to play I See You, a song from the sophomore album which he calls “the stalker song”. His best performances, however, were Relax, Rain and Touches You, a track that is reminiscent of George Michael’s Father Figure. Props and costumes featured heavily in the concert, though Mika himself did not have any major costume changes apart from wearing several different jackets over his white shirt throughout the show. His musicians, however, changed into colourful outfits a couple of times. The audience went wild when a lion dance troupe appeared on stage during one of the songs. Though unexpected, it seemed only fitting considering Mika’s association with all things Chinese. “My three sisters went to university in Beijing so they can speak Mandarin and read and write in Chinese. I also studied Mandarin but I am not fluent in it. For some time, my mother sort of had a passion and fascination for China, so I guess that’s why we ended up loving it, too,” reveals Mika. The concert ended with a bang, or rather, with a drop of oversized balloons on the audience. Backstage, Mika gamely met with about 100 of his fans (contest winners, local record label executives, members of the media and even a couple of Hong Kong celebrities), many of whom handed him tiny knick-knacks as gifts. “Yes, I’m a little tired but I love seeing everyone dancing and singing in the crowd. I just hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did,” he says, while obliging a young fan’s request for an autograph. Judging from the looks on everyone’s faces and the rousing applause that he gets after each song, it would appear that Mika has nothing to worry about his performance, after all. Mika’s The Boy Who Knew Too Much is released by Universal Music Malaysia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika4Life13 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Eugh, i don't like the picture they chose. Thanks for posting, mellody! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika4Life13 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Wait they say " The concert kicked off with a short skit that showed his band members watching the launch of a rocket on the big screen (a man bearing the striking resemblance of actor Ian McKellen even appeared on screen as the newsreader)." I thought it was him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracekelly85 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 T4P! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Angel Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 wow thats great. Thx for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sienna Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Thanks for posting...always nice to read a positive interview! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlindee Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Wait they say " The concert kicked off with a short skit that showed his band members watching the launch of a rocket on the big screen (a man bearing the striking resemblance of actor Ian McKellen even appeared on screen as the newsreader)." I thought it was him. But it WAS him, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAK1 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Wait they say " The concert kicked off with a short skit that showed his band members watching the launch of a rocket on the big screen (a man bearing the striking resemblance of actor Ian McKellen even appeared on screen as the newsreader)." I thought it was him. But it WAS him, right? It sure is, hence the striking resemblance.:roftl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika4Life13 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 But it WAS him, right? I can't picture a whole lot of people looking identically like sir ian mckellen.. Sigh.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alice.loves.mika Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyn Mastin Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 That was really different, and very good!! T4P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownfish Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Thanks for posting this! I'm glad Mika handled that "one hit wonder" question so well. Obviously that's not true. I've seen a lot of bands with great singles automatically lumped into a one-hit wonder category by the press, especially if they're foreign acts trying to make it in the US (sometimes US acts too). It seems like it's the media with the short attention span, not music fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kodes100 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Thank you mellody. "Yes, I’m a little tired but I love seeing everyone dancing and singing in the crowd. I just hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did,” Mika says, while obliging a young fan’s request for an autograph. Judging from the looks on everyone’s faces and the rousing applause that he gets after each song, it would appear that Mika has nothing to worry about his performance, after all Kudos Mika!!:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sariflor Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Wait they say " The concert kicked off with a short skit that showed his band members watching the launch of a rocket on the big screen (a man bearing the striking resemblance of actor Ian McKellen even appeared on screen as the newsreader)." I thought it was him. Oh, that is hysterical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabelle Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 T 4 p ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 It sure is, hence the striking resemblance.:roftl: You'd think they'd look it up to see if it could possibly be him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellody Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 didn't have much time this afternoon, but now copied the text into the first post - just in case, if they delete it after a few weeks / months. :rolls_eyes: so do i see this right, that it's a malaysian website? love it that he gets promotion all around the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAK1 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 didn't have much time this afternoon, but now copied the text into the first post - just in case, if they delete it after a few weeks / months. :rolls_eyes: so do i see this right, that it's a malaysian website? love it that he gets promotion all around the planet. Even though he's not played there, yet:naughty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiza Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 great article! “As I grew older, though, I realised that I didn’t have to change, that I didn’t have to be accepted to be happy. However, I do wish I had known that fact when I was younger. This is why I did this album; I want people to know that you don’t have to change to have a happy life,” love this quote:wub2: t4p karin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FREDDIESDOUBLE Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Thanks for posting "ALL happiness comes from sorrow" ... wow deep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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