REPORTS/PICS/VIDS: Mika @ Hammersmith Apollo, London FEB 28 2010

[CazGirl]

I did, it all seems pretty surreal now, watching it from "the outside" . It's quite funny watching the vids because I can see things that I saw on the night (well, I didn't really see much because of the mask, which made moving VERY difficult), but I clearly remembered his eyes staring at me with this really intense look, and now I can see his face in the videos it all comes back .

All I remembered were the eyes staring through the mask

 

Those penetrating eyes

[filipova]

i was there, twas fab. i sing all the time, and everyone else, felt so good being surrounded with true mika fans; last time had a bit different experience, but still the good show. anyhow, have pix will try to post them tmrw, believe still on my camera

[CazGirl]

welcome to the forum!

[filipova]

[CazGirl]

I've made a full report of the 2 days, plus pictures and videos in my blog. The link is in my signature. Feel free to comment on the blog itself, you don't need to sign up.

[sariflor]

This is a bit late, but more or less my "report" of the night...I've posted bits here and there, but not everything. It was such a great night .

 

 

I went in with all the BG/LG wannabe posse to face Mama P and see if I would get to do it, and after a short period of "wondering", we all breathed a sigh of relief as she said that she would have enough costumes for all of us. She took all the girls into the dressing room in 2's or 3's to try the corsets on, and once they (her and the assistant) had figured which corset each one of us would get, they then took our names and pinned it onto each corset so that they would know what was whose.

 

I think that this was the point at which they checked the ones that needed to be "majorly" adjusted, and left the poor seamstress to work .

 

We went upstairs then, to get a briefing from MamaP about what would be expected of us later on, and to "rehearse" our zombie walk. She had us there for quite a long time, putting us through our paces, and being quite liberal with the criticism when she thought that someone wasn't doing very well .

 

Luckily for me (in a way, as things turned out in the end, LOL) she said from the start that I was "perfect!" and that she loved it, but unfortunately (or so I thought at the time) she decided that I had to be the last one to go across the stage. The idea filled me with dread, because I was a lot happier thinking that I would be 'protected' in the middle of the group, and I tried to get in between a few of the girls a few times, but each time MamaP found me and told me that I had to be the last one, and sent me back to the end of the line until I surrendered and just accepted my fate as the last zombie to cross the stage.

 

 

Anyway, we rehearsed for ages, back and forth down the corridor, whilst the queuers outside looked at us from the foyer, which was also quite funny. At one point MamaP made a comment about us having to do it properly, or otherwise Mika would get annoyed, or something along those lines. Scary stuff .

 

 

We then went into the main auditorium to wait for something, not sure what it was now, but we saw Mika and co doing a bit of the soundcheck, and we watched for a while. They were also testing lights, the famous fog that nearly killed someone, the lights on the piano, etc... I think that this is where we went up to the stage (just when Mika left it) and we rehearsed our walk using Yasmine as if she was Mika, until they were happy that we were doing ok. I don't know where he was at this point, as all I saw was that he wasn't on stage anymore, but he could have been anywhere

Maybe he was spying the rehearsal in case it was too terrible, so he had an idea if he had to axe it. MamaP did mention that Mika would watch us do it, and if he didn't like it he would "cancel" it, but then I didn't see him around, so I don't know if he was somewhere or not.

 

 

I think that this is where we went down to the dressign room again and got changed, which with us being so many girls too a loooong time, and we also tested the heads before that. They have different size helmets inside, and they can be adjusted, so it was easy enough to find a head that fit me (I have quite a small head so sometimes these things are tricky for me)

 

 

Once we got changed we went up to the main room to wait for our Doctor John cue, and we managed to see quite a bit from the side, and got really excited about the show itself. The gig was great, and despite the technical problems that Mika mentioned, I thought that he was fantastic and everythign was his usual amazing show.

 

 

Once Dr. John came up we went in, quickly took our coats off, put our heads on, and off we went to take the stage. We started our famously long hitch across the stage, which when I watch footage of now I can see how super long it was, and how the stomping music stopped halfway through , but in the "heat of the moment" I don't even know if I realised that it had changed.

 

 

I recall thinking something like: "oh, he's not on the floor?!" but that was as much as I was processing then. All I could focus on was not falling over (with my super limited vision ) and throwing my flower at the required time. Of course it all went out the window the minute I threw the flower, and felt an iron grip on my arm, and suddenly realised that I had been hurled to the front of the stage and Mika was staring at me through those holes in the mask . I swear that, at this point, I was sure that I was going to die. Or at the very least, make a MASSIVE fool of myself, and of Mika (as it was his show).

 

 

Because Yasmine and MamaP had drilled it down into us that whatever we did, we needed to keep moving whilst on stage, I started bouncing, but I think that he really wanted me to stand still there, so he got really close and just stared me down, as if he was saying: "wait". Honestly, what he was thinking when he grabbed me like that, I have no idea, but it could have been such a total disaster. Mind you, I don't know what he wanted so maybe it was a disaster to him, but you know what I mean. At least I didn't collapse.

 

It all seems pretty quick on the video but it felt like an eternity then. I could sort of see him move, but because of the mask I found it very hard to figure how close he was to me or indeed what he was doing, so I think that I actually even sort of hit him once, because I didn't realise that he was THAT close to me at that point. Oh dear, I was SO worried about embarassing us both!!!

 

Then when he took me to the back, it got even funnier, because I couldn't see enough to make my way off the stage ( I nearly even hurt myself on one of the big things that were next to Martin, when I blindly moved too close) and also, I had no idea of what he was expecting me to do after he had the bright idea to intercept my "march", so I didn't want to do the wrong thing.

 

 

All I could think was: keep moving, until someone tells you otherwise. I had no idea of when or how it would end . I noticed Jimmy coming over for a bit, and then later Imma also came and danced with me, which was a lot of fun. I could make out the audience as well, which was quite freaky, but I was very glad to be under the mask at that point .

 

Imma finally lead me off the stage and to one of the guys at the side, who made a funny comment about what I had been up to, and off I went to the dressing room again, where someone said that everyone was wondering where the last one had ended up .

 

We then hung around the dressing room and ate a bit more (we were given sandwiches earlier) and just basically did nothing, really.

 

It was quite funny because MamaP was doing her bits and bobs, and at one point started randomly going on to whoever was standing there close to her about our planet painting in Toronto , telling them that it was so lucky that we did it because they were running seriously behind schedule, and Mika was so happy because we did a great job. That was the randomest thing ever, how she just sudddnely started going on about it.

I have no idea of what prompted it but it was nice to hear from her that he was so happy with the result though . I took the chance to tell her that if she could find any of the pictures that she took of us that day (including a group one on the orange couch that they used for the US set) we would LOVE to have them as a memento, and she said that she has them somewhere, and she will try and find them for me, so there is hope. She took quite a few pics of us whilst working on the planets and just in general watching the rehearsal and so, which would be a lovely lovely memory for us.

 

 

Anyway, we stayed in the room for a bit more, and before we knew it, it was time to go out again for the finale.

 

We put our heads on again, and off we went onto the stage. For some reason we were meant to go out from both sides, split in two groups, but we somehow ended up all going out on the same side, so I don't know how we coped on the stage or what we did .

 

It was pretty chaotic with everyone crammed in the same area, so we just kept going, and at this point my head broke a bit (from all the frantic dancing earlier I guess) so I had to hold it in order for it not to fall off. It all went pretty fast, and before I knew it, we were off the stage again and on the way to the dressing room, on a total high.

 

We got changed into our own clothes again, and we were taken to Mika's dressing room (a lot posher than our one ) to have a quick picture with him. We took two pics as there were so many of us, but he seemed tired, so I just basically stood back and didn't do much else than stand in the pic. Some people were hanging around him even when John was signalling that we should go, so I think that it took them a little longer to get them out, but everyone more or less left then and we went outside to join our gig buddies who had been in the audience.

 

It was a brilliant, yet pretty surreal day .

[foalbaby14]

That's a fantastic report Sara:wub2:

[guylainem123]

thank you Sara! i love the little stories from behind the scene

[LilStar]

great report!!!!

i love all the details!! !!!

[lillibet]

Just one thing: the first day Mrs P wanted "small" BG, so i was chosen and my suit was almost perfect.

The second day, she was happy to see some of us because we had done the job yesterday, but there were many ppl who wanted too;

So i was not sure to be chosen.

she finally kept everyone but i had a big costume that didn't suit me very well.

And about the masks , she had already said that we had small heads, from the beginning.

May be Mika was on his nerves on the first day and caught the poor last BG , i was afraid of that?

[Sabine64]

Thank you for all your reports and vids

[mamaaake]

This is a bit late, but more or less my "report" of the night...I've posted bits here and there, but not everything. It was such a great night .

work ...[/color]

 

I love your report ... I would have died thousands nervous deaths if I had been in your place, but you just did great!

[Sarina]

I suppose it depends on how tightly Mrs P laces you in.

 

veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery tightly!she almost killed me

Gosh Mrs P is strong!She stringed my corset very hard at once and she told me if I was comfy...well....you cannot breath too much but...

[Jazzy]

veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery tightly!she almost killed me

Gosh Mrs P is strong!She stringed my corset very hard at once and she told me if I was comfy...well....you cannot breath too much but...

 

Yeah I said to her 'well, I can breathe, so I guess it's okay' and she laughed.

 

 

 

And I've uploaded my pictures now: http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad129/Lozzington/MIKA%20London%2028022010/

[Sarina]

Yeah I said to her 'well, I can breathe, so I guess it's okay' and she laughed.

 

 

 

And I've uploaded my pictures now: http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad129/Lozzington/MIKA%20London%2028022010/

 

thnak you for the piccies

[Monie]

Thanks everyone for the pictures and you Tiibet for the beautiful vids, it is so nice to see how Lollipop looked from the audience. Since my elephant mask kept on falling forward I almost couldn't see a thing. I grabbed in vain for a balloon every now and then, seeing them vaguely but not knowing where exactely they were. It made me really insecure but it turns out it looks quite well after all.

 

I still don't think Mika knew who he was grabbing during Love Today, he was really asking in the dressing room who it was. But in the end it doesn't really matter does it, he grabbed Sariflor and she reacted well on it.

 

About the BG's being small, I didn't get the feeling (neither Sunday nor Monday) that Mrs. P. was aiming for the BG's to be small. There were just a lot of girls wanted to be Lollipop girl and there weren't enough LG costumes. And she didn't want to dissapoint anyone. I think it was really sweet of her to adjust all the costumes. But as Nanou already said, Monday she said this was the last time she had so many small big girls since there were many other things she had to do, besides adjusting costumes. She was really kind (and so were Yasmine and the wardrobe lady).

Edited March 3, 2010 by Monie

[lindahf1]

 

*:bow:s at Mika*

 

 

 

Bugger about David's keyboards... wonder what happened?

 

And yay for Jimmy!

 

 

Thanks for the report!

 

 

 

Lovely pic!!!

 

 

 

 

Can't wait to see it!!!

 

 

 

OMG you're right!!!! I bet it was too!

 

 

 

Awwww yay! Bet it was exciting seeing Ian McKellen!

 

 

wow love your photo v jealous i would love to meet mika but no idea what i would say he looks lush.

[daisylou]

Oh jeeeez so much to say on this and 1st March not well but will come back....stupendous doesn't say enough!

xxx

[mellody]

me as a big girl.

 

 

 

btw, while reading bits+pieces of this thread in the last few days, i noticed that some of you were wondering why there were so many slim big girls (or "small big girls", as mrs p calls them ) - don't know if this has been answered yet, but to tell you my version of the story...

 

there were lots applying for lollipop girl that evening, but they had only 4 LG costumes. mrs p chose the LGs first, those with the smallest clothing sizes, and then she said, if we have enough costumes, you can all be BGs. they only have a very limited amount of small BG corsets though (i think 2), and for the rest of us, mrs p decided she would have the costumes changed. she said at one time something like that all the BG costumes used to be to small, and now they're all too big. she was so sweet, she didn't want to turn down any of us! i even said to her one time that it wouldn't be a problem for me if it's not possible and i'd just go and watch the gig instead, but she said it's ok, i could stay, they'd find a solution.

 

the 2 small BG costumes would've fit me, but they were already given to lillibet and someone else, and there were 2 or 3 more girls who were too small, so they just changed the costumes for us. the knickers fit me just fine though, for once my big hips came in handy. and those frilly things make you look big indeed, lol!

[hunnyangel]

tiibet, those videos are absolutely amazing!! so clear and fabulous!!!

xx

[lollipop_monkey]

me as a big girl.

 

 

 

btw, while reading bits+pieces of this thread in the last few days, i noticed that some of you were wondering why there were so many slim big girls (or "small big girls", as mrs p calls them ) - don't know if this has been answered yet, but to tell you my version of the story...

 

there were lots applying for lollipop girl that evening, but they had only 4 LG costumes. mrs p chose the LGs first, those with the smallest clothing sizes, and then she said, if we have enough costumes, you can all be BGs. they only have a very limited amount of small BG corsets though (i think 2), and for the rest of us, mrs p decided she would have the costumes changed. she said at one time something like that all the BG costumes used to be to small, and now they're all too big. she was so sweet, she didn't want to turn down any of us! i even said to her one time that it wouldn't be a problem for me if it's not possible and i'd just go and watch the gig instead, but she said it's ok, i could stay, they'd find a solution.

 

the 2 small BG costumes would've fit me, but they were already given to lillibet and someone else, and there were 2 or 3 more girls who were too small, so they just changed the costumes for us. the knickers fit me just fine though, for once my big hips came in handy. and those frilly things make you look big indeed, lol!

 

Gorgeous! I love the contrast of those two pics together. The first one looks all sweet and sassy, then with the "head" on you look all dark and evil.

 

That's sweet of Mrs. P to accommodate everyone like that, although I must admit that I prefer big girls to be, like, proper big girls. That said, I hope no small BGs take offense to that - it's just an aesthetic preference, and I don't mean to imply that I wish the people who took part didn't get that chance. I really do think it was very sweet that they were able to get so many fans involved.

 

Those corsets are just beautiful, btw. I love that mint/lime green colour.

Edited March 3, 2010 by lollipop_monkey

[avoca]

got at the queue at 5pm (willing to come "late"). queued under some rain (but with umbrella ) and got in in a great position, 2nd row, near some lovely mfc'ers.

the admission from my part of the queue was lovely: no running, no pushing, very well organised. I still remember the brixton nitemare from 2007.

 

anyway, the show was great and despite quite many things went wrong on stage (logistically), it was fun to watch. like robertina said, dr. john is special: always had a thing for this song and not only cause of the title..

 

too bad we didn't get loverboy and one foot boy, which I both love, but the rest of the set was great. and the new SITM version is just ...wow!!

 

I adore mika's white jacket with vodoo mask on the back.

 

am truly impressed of how BG/LG can walk wearing those masks.. they look very umcomfy.

 

BTW, it was as good as usual to see everyone again.. MFC'ers I mean.

 

oh, and it was not bad to see mika, andy, john and the band too..

 

 

[avoca]

am I the only one who actually found erik hassle rather good..?

[Fangirl]

So... I couldn't be bothered to write anything about the gig until now...

 

Okay. So the gig was really, really awesome. Honestly, it was epic. We stood near the back, but we got an okay view. There were a couple of tall people in front of us who sometimes made it hard to see, but for most of the gig, it was great. I especially liked Dr. John and Blue Eyes, those preformances were GREAT! But of course, all of the songs were wonderful...

 

I went with my dad and one of my friends (who is now an MFCer. ), and they both thought it was fantastic. I'm glad. My dad was never a Mika fan.

 

My friend got some videos and pictures (of an okay quality) on her phone, so I'll try to upload them later.

[RAK1]

am I the only one who actually found erik hassle rather good..?

 

I must say he's grown on me over the last 2 weeks, I found myself having his tunes rolling around in my head when I least expect it:naughty:

 

And his drummer is VERY cute:wub2: