British singing sensation Mika shares affinity with HDB flats

[lollipopgirl99]

Here is one of the interviews MIKA did in Singapore. The video of this interview was posted as another thread in the forum, but this is in article format and has some additional details.

 

Please take this down if it has already been posted somewhere else in the forum.

 

Link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/1064336/1/.html

 

 

 

British singing sensation Mika shares affinity with HDB flats

 

 

SINGAPORE : British singing sensation Mika, whose music has been hailed by many in the music scene as uplifting and pure pop, was in town recently as part of his tour - and he found time to share about his music and life.

 

And the quirky singer has a close affinity to Singapore's Housing Development Board (HDB) flats.

 

HDB flats are the soul of the heartlands here, but why does Mika - all the way in London - feel so close to them?

 

"It was in my A-levels actually - for two years I had to study Singapore and the housing plans and the development. And so finally, I saw them for the first time (here) and I was like, that took two years for me to study," said Mika.

 

The singer - whose original name is Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr - was born in Beirut. His family moved to Paris and then to London.

 

And life could have been very different for the singer if he had stayed on at the London School of Economics.

 

As it turned out, he only spent a total of five hours there.

 

"I started at 11 in the morning and then at 3:40 in the afternoon, I had a moment of crisis and I looked at the clock, and I was like 'Oh my god, if I don't get myself out of here in the next 10 minutes, I'm never going to be a musician again'. So I left all the books I had bought - 200 pounds worth of books - and I picked up my bag and walked out of the door at 4 in the afternoon and never went back," recalled Mika.

 

He hung on much longer with Mandarin but wished the outcome had been better.

 

"I studied for 9 and a half years and I used to bribe my teacher with chocolate, and then we used to listen to Cantopop or Mandopop, and so I just got fat and learnt a lot about Mandarin and Cantonese pop music. So I learnt nothing and it cost a fortune to learn nothing," said Mika.

 

Although he's on tour now - the singer said he's managed to keep track of the World Cup.

 

Mika said: "I played a show in Seoul the night before last night and they made us go on stage at 6 o'clock, so we went on stage at 6 o'clock. I was off-stage by 8:15. They emptied the venue by 8:20.

 

"It was the big Olympic arena hall thing. They emptied it out in 5 minutes and brought in a whole new audience. And they put huge screens up while my crew was taking away my stuff and they showed the South Korea match and I stayed and watched the whole thing. It was amazing."

 

While his music sounds very upbeat, Mika said don't let that fool you.

 

"It sounds euphoric, it sounds joyful. At the root of it, there's a lot of quite twisted darkness to it. It's like a gothic fairy tale. And it's that dark side that balances the more sweet side of some of the music. It's the contrast between the two that makes it interesting," said the singer-songwriter. - CNA /ls

[sirfalstaff]

"I studied for 9 and a half years and I used to bribe my teacher with chocolate, and then we used to listen to Cantopop or Mandopop, and so I just got fat and learnt a lot about Mandarin and Cantonese pop music. So I learnt nothing and it cost a fortune to learn nothing," said Mika.

 

Goodness. I can't imagine a fat Mika! :roftl: Come to think of it, I should have taken my Chinese lessons seriously as well!

 

Thanks for posting!

[Yuna]

Here is one of the interviews MIKA did in Singapore. The video of this interview was posted as another thread in the forum, but this is in article format and has some additional details.

 

Please take this down if it has already been posted somewhere else in the forum.

 

Link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/1064336/1/.html

 

 

 

British singing sensation Mika shares affinity with HDB flats

 

 

SINGAPORE : British singing sensation Mika, whose music has been hailed by many in the music scene as uplifting and pure pop, was in town recently as part of his tour - and he found time to share about his music and life.

 

And the quirky singer has a close affinity to Singapore's Housing Development Board (HDB) flats.

 

HDB flats are the soul of the heartlands here, but why does Mika - all the way in London - feel so close to them?

 

"It was in my A-levels actually - for two years I had to study Singapore and the housing plans and the development. And so finally, I saw them for the first time (here) and I was like, that took two years for me to study," said Mika.

 

The singer - whose original name is Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr - was born in Beirut. His family moved to Paris and then to London.

 

And life could have been very different for the singer if he had stayed on at the London School of Economics.

 

As it turned out, he only spent a total of five hours there.

 

"I started at 11 in the morning and then at 3:40 in the afternoon, I had a moment of crisis and I looked at the clock, and I was like 'Oh my god, if I don't get myself out of here in the next 10 minutes, I'm never going to be a musician again'. So I left all the books I had bought - 200 pounds worth of books - and I picked up my bag and walked out of the door at 4 in the afternoon and never went back," recalled Mika.

 

He hung on much longer with Mandarin but wished the outcome had been better.

 

"I studied for 9 and a half years and I used to bribe my teacher with chocolate, and then we used to listen to Cantopop or Mandopop, and so I just got fat and learnt a lot about Mandarin and Cantonese pop music. So I learnt nothing and it cost a fortune to learn nothing," said Mika.

 

Although he's on tour now - the singer said he's managed to keep track of the World Cup.

 

Mika said: "I played a show in Seoul the night before last night and they made us go on stage at 6 o'clock, so we went on stage at 6 o'clock. I was off-stage by 8:15. They emptied the venue by 8:20.

 

"It was the big Olympic arena hall thing. They emptied it out in 5 minutes and brought in a whole new audience. And they put huge screens up while my crew was taking away my stuff and they showed the South Korea match and I stayed and watched the whole thing. It was amazing."

While his music sounds very upbeat, Mika said don't let that fool you.

 

"It sounds euphoric, it sounds joyful. At the root of it, there's a lot of quite twisted darkness to it. It's like a gothic fairy tale. And it's that dark side that balances the more sweet side of some of the music. It's the contrast between the two that makes it interesting," said the singer-songwriter. - CNA /ls

 

thank you for posting!!

 

Hello Mika You didn't finished the gig at 8:15....was around 7:45 actually ..

[Blue Sky]

We already have a thread about this.

 

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23837&highlight=singapore+flats

 

Sometimes it pays to do a search. You can see I only searched Singapore and flats and up it came.