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REPORTS/PICS/VIDS: Mika @ O2 Academy, Birmingham FEB 25 2010

guylainem123

By guylainem123
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DaMango

DaMango

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Thank you for your great report, Rose, and congrats on being a BG! :yay: That's interesting that he made you sign a contract. I didn't have to sign one when I danced for him. What was that all about, or are you not allowed to say? :naughty:

 

The BG and LG experience sounds very different different on this tour. I'm glad no one's had too much trouble with those ginormous heads! Knowing me, I probably would have made a wrong turn, and tumbled right off the front of the stage. :roftl:

 

Oh, I may have missed this detail in your report, but what color corset did you wear?

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RAK1

RAK1

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Thank you for your great report, Rose, and congrats on being a BG! :yay: That's interesting that he made you sign a contract. I didn't have to sign one when I danced for him. What was that all about, or are you not allowed to say? :naughty:

 

The BG and LG experience sounds very different different on this tour. I'm glad no one's had too much trouble with those ginormous heads! Knowing me, I probably would have made a wrong turn, and tumbled right off the front of the stage. :roftl:

 

Oh, I may have missed this detail in your report, but what color corset did you wear?

 

T'was yellow:thumb_yello:

We had to sign a waiver, and we got paid a £1:naughty:

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DaMango

DaMango

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T'was yellow:thumb_yello:

We had to sign a waiver, and we got paid a £1:naughty:

 

Ohhh... so they didn't want a lawsuit on their hands if someone did happen to fall off the front of the stage. :roftl:

 

Glad to hear that they made it worth your while. :wink2:

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Kodes100

Kodes100

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So here we are, the Birmingham report.

I never thought I would actually ever write a report from the perspective of the other side of the barrier, but here we are over on the stage!

Mikafish and I arrived at 3.30pm, and the Q was still remarkably short, only about 30 people I'd have thought. I went to find a toilet, as I was volunteering to be a BG and wanted to be ready when John came out.

First though I went to say hi to Bexxy, whom I'd not seen in about a year, at Sadlers. It was great to see her again, and was hoping we'd have more time to hang out, but John came not long after looking for BGs and LGs, so I put my hand up and he called me round, along with Jazzy, Laurel and Buttonsluvsyou (Sharon). Bexxy wanted to watch the show, as this was her only gig of the tour, so Mikafish stayed with her.

About 10 of us went in, which turned out to be 4 LGs and 6 BGs, John led us into the back, where we met Mrs P ans Yasmine who looked after us for the rest of the evening.

I've already gushed about how wonderful they were, so I won't go on about that again, but they were very professional and thorough, and explained what they wanted in great detail. It was a pleasure to be tutoured by them.

We then tried on the heads, and magically mine was perfect! Fitted right away, no need to fiddle with it, at all. I couldn't believe it!

Time seemed to fly by, when we rehearsed, but we did it a few times to get it right, but we did after the 3rd time. I had a little encouragement, from a couple of people:naughty:, while I was walking around the stage, but I didn't let it phase me, and got my head around what I needed to do and not do to look right for the walk.

We then had a costume sizing and got the costumes we would be wearing for the evening. Then we we had sandwiches and drinks, before getting changed.

We then had to sign the contract, and I joked with John that Mika now finally had my autograph for a change, and he laughed.

We were led to the balcony where we sat for the duration, til it was time to go down for the procession. We saw a fair amout of the show, and to see it from above with peoples arms waving in the air, was quite a sight, I can tell you!

We waited to go on, and when we got our cue, we glided on and did exactly what we were told, except for some reason Mika was on the right side of us instead of the left, like we'd rehearsed! So a quick bit of improv with the flowers was needed, and it seemed to go alright, I think.

We then waited around for the end and to go on dancing to Lollipop, the band and Mika came down for their costume changes and he gave us an instruction of what he wanted us to do. Jimmy gave us high 5s for good luck, and I got a wave from Cherisse.

We went on and did our dance, i got a couple of glances of Mika, as he bounced around the stage, and me and Imma went to hit the same balloon of stage, and our hands hit each other as we hit the balloon. Imma laughed and I shook my head, but she couldn't see me laughing too:naughty:

I was between Imma and Jimmy for the bow. Jimmy was great, so helpful, and nice.

We went down to take the heads back and went up to change quickly so they could pack up the costumes.

Once we changed, Jazzy, myself, Laurel and Sharon waited around for a bit to see what would happen, but the others left, so when no one seemed to be coming to get us we went out to find someone, and got directed to the VIP area by security.

Again waiting around for some one to take us downstairs, but nothing happened, when John did come up he told us Mika had gone, and apologised as he thought when we hadn't been downstairs, that we must have gone looking for the others we arrived with.

I guess sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. This was just one of those times.

I'm just happy that I got this opportunity to do this, I never thought I'd be brave enough to do it, but when the adreniline starts pumping, you just go for it!

I'm now looking forward to the next few gigs, especially Bristol, as my home gig, and it's looking like it's gonna be great!:biggrin2:

 

Good for you Rose!:thumb_yello::thumb_yello:

You make the experience come alive.

Thank you.

 

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RAK1

RAK1

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Ohhh... so they didn't want a lawsuit on their hands if someone did happen to fall off the front of the stage. :roftl:

 

Glad to hear that they made it worth your while. :wink2:

 

Yes, I still have it somewhere, don't know whether to frame it, or buy a bag of chips with it:roftl::roftl::roftl:

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RAK1

RAK1

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Rose .. your report is fabby .. I love the part where you and imma went to hit the same balloon :wub2::naughty:

 

It was really funny, but because of the mask she couldn't see me laughing too:naughty:

It must of looked like we were holding hands!:roftl::roftl::roftl:

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kaatje066

kaatje066

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It's gonna take a looooong time to get my videos up...but I guess I'll just link as they upload.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9R_iqefCCw Talking..

 

So nice to see the vid of this after reading about it in the reports. :thumb_yello:

 

 

Thanks Droopsy. :wub2:

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willywonka

willywonka

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It's gonna take a looooong time to get my videos up...but I guess I'll just link as they upload.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9R_iqefCCw Talking..

 

Thank you so much for posting, Jennie...:thumb_yello:

 

 

I've read the whole thread finding a justification for what he did, but couldn't find it...:dunno:

 

Maybe it's my mistake and i understood it the wrong way but i am not so sure i like him calling the "inmate" roadie a stupid for making a mistake twice...

 

Edit - Sorry, Mastah...:bye: I misunderstood it...

Edited by willywonka
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Abbyyy

Abbyyy

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Thank you so much for posting, Jennie...:thumb_yello:

 

 

I've read the whole thread finding a justification for what he did, but couldn't find it...:dunno:

 

Maybe it's my mistake and i understood it the wrong way but i am not so sure i like him calling the "inmate" roadie a stupid for making a mistake twice...

 

It's not nahce, Mika...:sneaky2:

 

I thought he was talking about the ''same mistake twice'' being the fact that the venue was built with this silly layout twice :blink:

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willywonka

willywonka

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I thought he was talking about the ''same mistake twice'' being the fact that the venue was built with this silly layout twice :blink:

 

:shocked:

 

Ooooops, my mistake, then...

 

After your explanation and watching the vid again i see i was wrong...:teehee:

 

I withdraw what i said, Mastah...:bye:

 

Oh, ****...:biggrin2:

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RAK1

RAK1

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I thought he was talking about the ''same mistake twice'' being the fact that the venue was built with this silly layout twice :blink:

 

Couldn't hear any of this backstage, so thanks to Jennie for posting it:thumb_yello:

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Droopsy

Droopsy

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Haven't bothered to read it yet, too tired :bleh:

---------------------------

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/mika-academy-birminghambrgirls-audio-brighton-1912815.html

 

Mika, Academy, Birmingham

From weirdo to family guy, kerching-ah!

Reviewed by Simon Price

Mika Penniman is, on the face of it, a difficult man to warm to. The snazzy-suited, cane-twirling dandy who strutted to the top of the charts in 2007 with "Grace Kelly" didn't turn out to be the all-round entertainer (a thinner, camper Robbie Williams, say) we expected.

 

Instead, we got a private man, who is never to be found sending himself up in a Lycra body suit on Hole In The Wall or whoring himself on Pop Star To Opera Star, nor disgracing himself in front of the 3am Girls then apologising chummily on Wossy's sofa.

 

It's a testament to the man's staggering excellence at writing killer pop tunes that this lack of media friendliness has barely hindered him. In fact, it makes me like him even more and, even though The Boy Who Knew Too Much hasn't done the business Life In Cartoon Motion did, there are thousands of besotted devotees who agree.

 

The first few times I saw Mika, it felt as though he was representing for the circus freaks, the burlesquers and the oddballs. Now, he's the choice of the daytime Radio 2-listening ordinary folks. His appeal is cross-generational: one of the first things I see, on entering the Academy, is a mum and dad with their tiny daughters on their shoulders, clapping like crazy to "Blame It On The Girls". When he stands on the drum riser, he isn't being rock'n'roll. It's so the shorties can see.

 

The pipecleaner-thin Stephen Mangan lookalike still puts on a show, in a lo-fi kind of way. As well as the most OTT finale this side of a Flaming Lips concert (balloons, confetti, huge inflatable skeleton-child) there's a technicolour dreamcoat (very apt), an umbrella with tinsel inside, a puppet-on-a-string of himself, a skull-headed Mexican Day of the Dead procession that wanders on and off, randomly, and – my favourite bit – a top hat with a miniature one underneath, like a millinery matryoshka doll.

 

What's more impressive is the hit-after-hit nature of the set list. One tends to forget just how many Mika songs are familiar, and in how many styles they come. There's Paul Simon-style faux Afrobeat ("Blue Eyes"), street-corner hopscotch chants ("Lollipop"), vintage vaudeville ("Good Gone Girl"), and Bee Gees falsetto pop (pretty much everything else).

 

"We Are Golden" is a devilishly effective earworm, and overexposed it may be, if you heard "Grace Kelly" for the first time today, you'd think it was amazing. Best of all is "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)", a song whose message is newly vindicated.

 

When he released it, Mika was called a chubby chaser or, worse, patronising. Last week, research by Dr Steven Platek of Georgia Gwinnett College claims to have shown that looking at curvaceous women rewards pleasure centres in the male brain, giving a high akin to alcohol or drugs. With his hymn to the Rubenesque aesthetic, Mika's going with the majority after all. "Ker-chinggg-ah!" indeed.

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willywonka

willywonka

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Haven't bothered to read it yet, too tired :bleh:

 

:thumb_yello:

 

 

"When he released it, Mika was called a chubby chaser or, worse, patronising. Last week, research by Dr Steven Platek of Georgia Gwinnett College claims to have shown that looking at curvaceous women rewards pleasure centres in the male brain, giving a high akin to alcohol or drugs. With his hymn to the Rubenesque aesthetic, Mika's going with the majority after all. "Ker-chinggg-ah!" indeed."

 

:shocked::blink::thumb_yello:

 

 

 

"When he stands on the drum riser, he isn't being rock'n'roll. It's so the shorties can see".:roftl:

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RAK1

RAK1

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Haven't bothered to read it yet, too tired :bleh:

---------------------------

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/mika-academy-birminghambrgirls-audio-brighton-1912815.html

 

Mika, Academy, Birmingham

From weirdo to family guy, kerching-ah!

Reviewed by Simon Price

 

Mika Penniman is, on the face of it, a difficult man to warm to. The snazzy-suited, cane-twirling dandy who strutted to the top of the charts in 2007 with "Grace Kelly" didn't turn out to be the all-round entertainer (a thinner, camper Robbie Williams, say) we expected.

 

Instead, we got a private man, who is never to be found sending himself up in a Lycra body suit on Hole In The Wall or whoring himself on Pop Star To Opera Star, nor disgracing himself in front of the 3am Girls then apologising chummily on Wossy's sofa.

 

It's a testament to the man's staggering excellence at writing killer pop tunes that this lack of media friendliness has barely hindered him. In fact, it makes me like him even more and, even though The Boy Who Knew Too Much hasn't done the business Life In Cartoon Motion did, there are thousands of besotted devotees who agree.

 

The first few times I saw Mika, it felt as though he was representing for the circus freaks, the burlesquers and the oddballs. Now, he's the choice of the daytime Radio 2-listening ordinary folks. His appeal is cross-generational: one of the first things I see, on entering the Academy, is a mum and dad with their tiny daughters on their shoulders, clapping like crazy to "Blame It On The Girls". When he stands on the drum riser, he isn't being rock'n'roll. It's so the shorties can see.

 

The pipecleaner-thin Stephen Mangan lookalike still puts on a show, in a lo-fi kind of way. As well as the most OTT finale this side of a Flaming Lips concert (balloons, confetti, huge inflatable skeleton-child) there's a technicolour dreamcoat (very apt), an umbrella with tinsel inside, a puppet-on-a-string of himself, a skull-headed Mexican Day of the Dead procession that wanders on and off, randomly, and – my favourite bit – a top hat with a miniature one underneath, like a millinery matryoshka doll.

 

What's more impressive is the hit-after-hit nature of the set list. One tends to forget just how many Mika songs are familiar, and in how many styles they come. There's Paul Simon-style faux Afrobeat ("Blue Eyes"), street-corner hopscotch chants ("Lollipop"), vintage vaudeville ("Good Gone Girl"), and Bee Gees falsetto pop (pretty much everything else).

 

"We Are Golden" is a devilishly effective earworm, and overexposed it may be, if you heard "Grace Kelly" for the first time today, you'd think it was amazing. Best of all is "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)", a song whose message is newly vindicated.

 

When he released it, Mika was called a chubby chaser or, worse, patronising. Last week, research by Dr Steven Platek of Georgia Gwinnett College claims to have shown that looking at curvaceous women rewards pleasure centres in the male brain, giving a high akin to alcohol or drugs. With his hymn to the Rubenesque aesthetic, Mika's going with the majority after all. "Ker-chinggg-ah!" indeed.

 

 

Ha ha, I always said he looked like Stephen Mangan!

Not a bad review, he's got it pretty much spot on there.

T4P Droopsy:thumb_yello:

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