OPEN MIKA SESSION (California Chronicle)

[sariflor]

We are not the losers you guests think we are, we just like to seek the purest truth...

 

LMFAO

 

 

 

P.S I love how we're analyzing why we're analyzing.

 

What else can we do, not that we've exhausted all the other avenues? We could go back to debating if the triangular tomato is indeed a tomato, but I think that we kinda covered that one. And it's as pointless as this other Mika topic anyway .

 

 

I didn't have a good time at school either, but I don't wail on about it lol. Onwards and upwards and all that jazz.

 

I understand that Mika has to repeat the same story for every article ("I'm NOT doing a Queen revival...I'm NOT doing a Queen revival...I wrote Grace Kelly because...I wrote Grace Kelly because...") but it's been 3 years now. Like a comedian, he might need to come up with new material lol.

 

And hell, if he really is that depressed about it, he can go see a counsellor. Simples.

Or take some happy pills

[mellody]

Don't you mean The Thread That Shall Not Be Named?

 

voldethread.

 

Don't even say it.

 

If so, I really AM going to sell my computer and move to an electricity-free mud hut.

 

 

if that hut is on fiji, with fluffy kittens, and mika dropping by every once and again for a private gig, i'll join you.

[CazGirl]

Or take some happy pills

 

Or those

 

if that hut is on fiji, with fluffy kittens, and mika dropping by every once and again for a private gig, i'll join you.

 

Screw that, Mika can just live with us lol

[lollipop_monkey]

voldethread.

 

 

*hyperventilates...dies laughing*

 

Post of the day!!!

 

if that hut is on fiji, with fluffy kittens, and mika dropping by every once and again for a private gig, i'll join you.

 

Works for me, but Mika's going to have to do his gig acoustically for realz. No electricity, remember?

[mellody]

Screw that, Mika can just live with us lol

fine with me too.

 

Works for me, but Mika's going to have to do his gig acoustically for realz. No electricity, remember?

 

we'll just get a grand piano for our hut, then that's no problem.

[willywonka]

Don't you mean The Thread That Shall Not Be Named?

 

Or that, yes...

 

Don't even say it.

 

 

 

LMFAO

 

What else can we do, not that we've exhausted all the other avenues? We could go back to debating if the triangular tomato is indeed a tomato, but I think that we kinda covered that one. And it's as pointless as this other Mika topic anyway .

 

 

 

Or take some happy pills

 

 

I think we need a new conspiracy thread and i think i'm starting one....

[lollipop_monkey]

we'll just get a grand piano for our hut, then that's no problem.

 

Oh, I like the way you think!

 

And we can get Cherisse a set of these:

 

 

OI think we need a new conspiracy thread and i think i'm starting one....

 

Wonka! Are you trying to give me premature grey hair?

[Mika4Life13]

I didn't have a good time at school either, but I don't wail on about it lol. Onwards and upwards and all that jazz.

 

I understand that Mika has to repeat the same story for every article ("I'm NOT doing a Queen revival...I'm NOT doing a Queen revival...I wrote Grace Kelly because...I wrote Grace Kelly because...") but it's been 3 years now. Like a comedian, he might need to come up with new material lol.

 

And hell, if he really is that depressed about it, he can go see a counsellor. Simples.

Aww, don't say he "wails on about it" we're lucky he tells us as much as he does because he is a very closed book in most terms. And I bet you most of the people who have bought one of Mika's CDs doesn't have any clue he is dyslexic or bullied, in fact my mom didn't know he had a lazy eye until I casualy brought it up at dinner last night. I think it's fablous he tells us about his past, it makes people identify with him, and the majority of introduction threads I have seen for MFCers usually state that they are "bullied too, have a lazy eye too, are dyslexic too" and it's great that people who feel like outsiders can come here and feel like they belong.

[willywonka]

 

Wonka! Are you trying to give me premature grey hair?

 

Oh, gimme a break, i know you're one of da Mikettes in disguise, Zuleika!

[sienna]

Aww, don't say he "wails on about it" we're lucky he tells us as much as he does because he is a very closed book in most terms. And I bet you most of the people who have bought one of Mika's CDs doesn't have any clue he is dyslexic or bullied, in fact my mom didn't know he had a lazy eye until I casualy brought it up at dinner last night. I think it's fablous he tells us about his past, it makes people identify with him, and the majority of introduction threads I have seen for MFCers usually state that they are "bullied too, have a lazy eye too, are dyslexic too" and it's great that people who feel like outsiders can come here and feel like they belong.

 

Good points!

 

I agree, it gives a perspective on his music I wouldn't want to be without!

[lollipop_monkey]

Oh, gimme a break, i know you're one of da Mikettes in disguise, Zuleika!

 

Oh noes! You've found me out! Shhh, we can't have everyone else knowing.

[willywonka]

Oh noes! You've found me out! Shhh, we can't have everyone else knowing.

 

Ok, then, only if you tell me wot's with the gray underwear top secret thingie...

[sariflor]

I think we need a new conspiracy thread and i think i'm starting one....

 

I really can't wait to meet you, woman. Now where is the thread?

 

 

 

And we can get Cherisse a set of these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those look like barbeques:roftl:

 

 

 

 

Oh, gimme a break, i know you're one of da Mikettes in disguise, Zuleika!

 

I suspected it all along

[lollipop_monkey]

Ok, then, only if you tell me wot's with the gray underwear top secret thingie...

 

I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Easier to conceal stains...you know, like if someone spills a cup of tea...

 

I really can't wait to meet you, woman. Now where is the thread?

 

Catch up, woman!

 

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21876

 

Those look like barbeques:roftl:

 

Steel drums! You fail at being Caribbean.

[mellody]

 

Steel drums! You fail at being Caribbean.

 

fiji is not in the caribbean though!

[Gracekelly85]

T4P!

that's so interesting but.. a little bit sad

[Louiza]

t4p Cassiope

[babspanky]

Aww, don't say he "wails on about it" we're lucky he tells us as much as he does because he is a very closed book in most terms. And I bet you most of the people who have bought one of Mika's CDs doesn't have any clue he is dyslexic or bullied, in fact my mom didn't know he had a lazy eye until I casualy brought it up at dinner last night. I think it's fablous he tells us about his past, it makes people identify with him, and the majority of introduction threads I have seen for MFCers usually state that they are "bullied too, have a lazy eye too, are dyslexic too" and it's great that people who feel like outsiders can come here and feel like they belong.

 

 

I wonder what I can casually bring up at the dinner table tonight.

[Louiza]

Aww, don't say he "wails on about it" we're lucky he tells us as much as he does because he is a very closed book in most terms. And I bet you most of the people who have bought one of Mika's CDs doesn't have any clue he is dyslexic or bullied, in fact my mom didn't know he had a lazy eye until I casualy brought it up at dinner last night. I think it's fablous he tells us about his past, it makes people identify with him, and the majority of introduction threads I have seen for MFCers usually state that they are "bullied too, have a lazy eye too, are dyslexic too" and it's great that people who feel like outsiders can come here and feel like they belong.

 

thats a very good point:thumb_yello:

[Shine]

 

People, people! What's going on here? Mika feels down while looking at himself in the bathtub one day and suddenly we're all ready to run off and write him a prescription for Prozac?

 

Firstly, I don't see any harm in analyzing the contents of any given article or interview. I think there's probably a million "let's analyze Mika" posts on here. This is not a new development on MFC. It is entertaining, and at the end of the day it's ALL just speculation. I mean, his mother and siblings could register accounts on MFC and weigh in, and while they may be far more knowledgeable than us when analyzing his inner psyche, even they would be speculating to a degree.

 

Is it obsessive? Of course it is. Mad f*ckers club, remember? But people have an interest in celebrity. Mika's a celebrity, and this is his fan club. I think NOT analyzing every aspect of him would be abnormal in MFC land.

 

I think the problem some people are having is, they don't understand why a lot of other people are quick to assume that Mika's childhood tribulations have left him shaken and miserable to this day.

 

I mean, he's a smart, wealthy, multi-lingual, worldly young Londoner. He goes to parties, he picks up designer/actor/musician friends wherever he goes, he has a successful career, and while he has his share of haters, he also has a pretty striking ability to charm a good percentage of those he comes in contact with.

 

Does this mean he's immune to negative feelings? Of course not. But given those aspects and traits, it's a bit odd people seem to assume that he must be oh-so-miserable. He lives a pretty full, active and vibrant life by all accounts. That doesn't sound like someone who spends his days wallowing in misery.

 

True. The supposed sympathy with Mika "misery" in this article is much more the result of the interviewer's perspective and some obviously stressed topics (bulling, homophobic abuse, dyslexia, being outsider) than his sadly mood at that particular moment IMO. I'd say that he's rather been focused on his struggle with himself due to the lack of selfconfiedence and how he menaged to get over it.

[cubitus]

Interesting and honest article.

 

It's difficult being an outsider in a country , even if the person try to integrate a new society , it's never easy. My family had the same history of Mika's. They lost a lot during the war (that was before i was born), they moved to London where my dad find a good job , but they were surrounded by unfriendly people around them in the very same Kenzington plus my mom got depressed. They ended up retuning to Beirut with its war after 4 months ! It's not that London is an unfriendly city , not at all , but you have to make huge efforts to integrate , and not everyone can do that , especially when you start your life from zero.

But I won't complain for Mika , if he hadn't have a hard time , perhaps he wouldn't be the amazing artist he is today.

[nicoleta]

OPEN MIKA SESSION ; Wandering pop star talks about his traumatic childhood years,homophobic abuse and dyslexia

By John Dingwall

 

As flamboyant male pop stars go, you would be hard pushed to find anyone who matches the colourful background of Mika.

 

Born in Beirut 26 years ago, Mika and his family were forced to flee Lebanon's civil war after their home was bombed.

 

They found a new life in Paris - where his parents realised he was dyslexic and unlikely to fit in with his peers.

 

And by the time he had relocated to London, aged nine, he'd grown used to the homophobic abuse that continued well into his teens.

 

Finally, Mika - born Michael Holbrook Penniman - realised the only chance he had of finding a way out of his torment was to invent an entirely new, outlandish persona. And it's one he admits some people still have a problem with.

 

The singer-songwriter revealed: "As a teenager, I got every type of abuse. It was mostly about the way I looked and a lot of it was homophobic.

 

"It was part of the fabric of my life and I braced myself for it leaving the house in the morning.

 

"I used to sit in the bath or shower and look at myself and think, 'Oh, God. I'm a weirdo. I'm a freak. How am I going to survive?' "I thought, 'I'll become an untouchable version of myself, then I'll be able to survive without being treated like s**tthe rest of my life'.

 

"I turned into an exaggerated version of myself, so bolshie that these people didn't need to criticise me because I wasn't competing with what they were trying to be.

 

"The logic was, if I differentiated myself from what they are, I wouldn't be a threat to their territory. I know that sounds slightly dour and animalistic but that's how I saw it as a kid - I still do, even now. In my head I still think the reason peopleattack you is because you're different or you're on their turf.

 

"I now live my life totally openly and unapologetically. But I don't divulge my private life and neither do I believe in labels.

 

"I could fall in love with anybody and have done in the past, so I don't operate from a position of fear. If I did, why would I write songs that discuss sexuality - probably more than any other artist in pop? "So much of what I do is based aroundidentity, sexuality and genderlessness. But I still get a hard time - especially in the UK."

 

Mika was just one when a bomb flattened much of his family's Beirut home. But, with help from the US Navy, his family fled to Paris.

 

He explained: "My parents were living in the middle of a 25- year, bloody and destructive civil war.

 

"They came home one night and one of the walls was missing from my sister's room.

 

"The American navy took us to Cyprus then on to Paris, where there was this transplanted community from Beirut."

 

Mika's seamstress mother quickly realised that effeminate Mika would be easy prey for bullies.

 

She enrolled him in a Russian music conservatory, where he studied opera and classical music - enduring daily piano lessons at a level normally reserved for child prodigies.

 

"She had this mother's sixth sense. She realised I was one of those kids who wouldn't necessarily have an easy time in real life," Mika said.

 

"I had a hard time at school. I would dress in very unique ways.

 

"My mother was a dressmaker so we were surrounded by thread. I used to pick out material and ask her to make me clothes.

 

"I really liked bow-ties and I'd wear them with matching shirts and trousers. I also liked to wear knee-high socks and knickerbockers until I was 10."

 

After almost a decade in the French capital, the family moved to London and Mika attended an exclusive French school - the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle, in Kensington.

 

"When I moved to London, I discovered I was dyslexic and couldn't even write down the name of my school," Mika recalled. "My parents moved me to the English schools system, which was more accepting of people with learning problems.

 

"I still don't know my times tables and can't spell. Luckily, I work in a visual language now."

 

However, Mika's other talents were recognised and he gained a place at London's Royal College of Music - where, to his horror, he saw a succession of young musicians' dreams crushed.

 

He said: "There was a floor at the college I used to call the Hall of Tears as every other day there would be at least one person crying there.

 

"They were having to face the fact their career wasn't going the way they wanted or face rejection. That's very tough.

 

"It made me more determined to find a different angle and compete in a singular and not traditional way. It's something I've taken with me into my career - whether my albums are selling well or not."

 

His first album, 2007's Life In Cartoon Motion, spawned a string of hits and sold 6.5million copies.

 

And last year's follow-up - The Boy Who Knew Too Much - has already sold more than a million.

 

He has a new single, Blame It On The Girls, released on February 15 and also features on the Hope For Haiti single, Everybody Hurts.

 

And he will go on the road this month - with a gig at Glasgow's O2 Academy on February 22.

 

"I always wanted to write honest music that is about me and nobody else," Mika explained. "Every time I tried to imitate anybody, I sounded like a clown, so I realised if I felt like a freak, at least melody could give me power.

 

"That's why I turned to pop. If you look at people who write pop music, a lot of those people are outsiders.

 

"I come from so many different places and I am very much an unofficial member of the UK. No matter what I do and how long I stay here, I'll always be a mixed breed mutt."

 

© 2010 Sunday Mail; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-interviews/2010/02/07/i-lived-with-homophobic-abuse-as-a-teen-but-i-m-unapologetic-about-my-life-says-pop-star-mika-86908-22025380/

 

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS EMOTIONAL ARTICLE!

[Shine]

Interesting and honest article.

 

It's difficult being an outsider in a country , even if the person try to integrate a new society , it's never easy. My family had the same history of Mika's. They lost a lot during the war (that was before i was born), they moved to London where my dad find a good job , but they were surrounded by unfriendly people around them in the very same Kenzington plus my mom got depressed. They ended up retuning to Beirut with its war after 4 months ! It's not that London is an unfriendly city , not at all , but you have to make huge efforts to integrate , and not everyone can do that , especially when you start your life from zero.

But I won't complain for Mika , if he hadn't have a hard time , perhaps he wouldn't be the amazing artist he is today.

 

Another sad and upseting story. I trully beleive every word you' ve said, because we have similar expereince with our own (ex) country.

[Mika4Life13]

I wonder what I can casually bring up at the dinner table tonight.

I've casually brought up many, many things.

 

"Mika has a nubbin, pass the gravy."

[mari62]

 

 

 

http://www.authoritydesign.com/mika/mika_7days_feb10.htm