Mika in French Press - 2014

[Mousetrap]

I think what Mousetrap says is plausible about the situation with family/friends being uncomfortable. But if they plan to stay together for the rest of their lives...well...unless you're waiting for some great-granny to die so she never has to hear about it...just pull that plaster off!!

 

Well, personally I prefer Mika to keep his private life in secret... But LOL

[Christine]

I agree - although part of me really likes the way he likes to be private. And it's non of my business anyway

 

I just don't believe it's about privacy. I mean Mika just had a magazine in his house to take pictures of his home, his dog, his siblings. He talks about Paloma's accident and her pregnancy. What could be more private than that? If he had been with a woman for 7 years there would be no mystery and no talk of "privacy". She would be on his arm all the time (instead of his mother or sisters) and no one would give it a second thought. And yes of course it's none of anyone's business. I just think it's sad if a history of dealing with homophobia makes anyone uncomfortable about being "open" even to the smallest degree.

[RAK1]

I just don't believe it's about privacy. I mean Mika just had a magazine in his house to take pictures of his home, his dog, his siblings. He talks about Paloma's accident and her pregnancy. What could be more private than that? If he had been with a woman for 7 years there would be no mystery and no talk of "privacy". She would be on his arm all the time (instead of his mother or sisters) and no one would give it a second thought. And yes of course it's none of anyone's business. I just think it's sad if a history of dealing with homophobia makes anyone uncomfortable about being "open" even to the smallest degree.

 

I don't know about that, Dizzee Rascal had a girlfriend for 4 years before anyone even realised, and he is more high profile here than Mika is.

[MaIrKtA]

Just to get everything together

 

INTERVIEW FOR PARIS MATCH

 

Scans

 

PART 1

 

PART 2

 

PART 3

 

thanks a lot!

[katydid1994]

Thanks for the article, pics and translation.

 

What he needs to hide is that suit *my eyes*

 

That suit makes me love the blue one.

[camille*]

 

Why did you want to talk about your homosexuality in your songs?

 

 

It's not an easy subject to bring up...my mother had understood a long time ago: my songs are about life and identity, I never came out via my lyrics but I never forbid myself to deal with that topic . However I did it to my family two years ago. My sister Jasmina was the only one who was surprised.

 

Thanks Anne

 

May I just add that the article doesn't say '2 years ago' but '2 years before'; when I read it yesterday I took it as 2 years before the release of LICM, but now I'm not so sure anymore, this is confusing, maybe 2 years before he came out publicly. Not 2 years ago anyway.

[clara85]

Thanks for the article, pics and translation

[charlie20]

Originally Posted by crazyaboutmika View Post

Why did you want to talk about your homosexuality in your songs?

 

 

It's not an easy subject to bring up...my mother had understood a long time ago: my songs are about life and identity, I never came out via my lyrics but I never forbid myself to deal with that topic . However I did it to my family two years ago. My sister Jasmina was the only one who was surprised.

 

Could it be that instead of "two years ago", the translation and/or the meaning of that phrase is "two years before (previously,earlier) the "official" coming out?Because I have found these other articles reporting the interview

in Paris Match:

http://www.20min.ch/ro/entertainment/people/story/-J-espere-avoir-trouve-l-amour-de-ma-vie--22150723

http://www.voici.fr/news-people/actu-people/mika-se-confie-sur-sa-belle-histoire-d-amour-avec-son-compagnon-521220

http://www.puretrend.com/article/mika-amoureux-j-espere-avoir-trouve-l-amour-de-ma-vie_a84887/1

and they say:

"Le jeune homme a fait coming out auprès de sa famille deux ans avant de dédier sa chanson «The Origin of Love» à l’homme qu'il aime. Sa maman, elle, «avait compris depuis longtemps»."

"Son coming out, il l’a réalisé auprès de sa famille deux ans avant de dédier sa chanson The Origin of Love à l’homme qui partage sa vie, même si « [sa] mère avait compris depuis longtemps »…"

"Avant de révéler son homosexualité au public en 2012, le chanteur s'était déjà confié à ses proches : "Je l'avais déjà fait avec ma famille deux ans auparavant", expliquant même que sa mère avait tout compris depuis bien longtemps !"

"The young man did coming out with his family two years before dedicating his song "The Origin of Love" to the man he loves. His mother, she "had long understood."

"His coming out, he realized it with his family two years before dedicating his song The Origin of Love to the man who shares his life, even if «[his] mother had long understood»…"

"Before revealing his homosexuality to the public in 2012, the singer had already told his family: "I had already done with my family two years before," explaining that even his mother had understood for a long time!".

 

Edit:

Oh sorry,Camille, I had not seen your reply!But I agree with you.

Edited February 15, 2014 by charlie20
I had not seen the reply above

[crazyaboutmika]

Thanks Anne

 

May I just add that the article doesn't say '2 years ago' but '2 years before'; when I read it yesterday I took it as 2 years before the release of LICM, but now I'm not so sure anymore, this is confusing, maybe 2 years before he came out publicly. Not 2 years ago anyway.

Thanks camille

I got distracted

Two years before the release of LICM would make more sense

I need to read it again

[crazyaboutmika]

Could it be that instead of "two years ago", the translation and/or the meaning of that phrase is "two years before (previously,earlier) the "official" coming out?Because I have found these other articles reporting the interview

in Paris Match:

http://www.20min.ch/ro/entertainment/people/story/-J-espere-avoir-trouve-l-amour-de-ma-vie--22150723

http://www.voici.fr/news-people/actu-people/mika-se-confie-sur-sa-belle-histoire-d-amour-avec-son-compagnon-521220

http://www.puretrend.com/article/mika-amoureux-j-espere-avoir-trouve-l-amour-de-ma-vie_a84887/1

and they say:

"Le jeune homme a fait coming out auprès de sa famille deux ans avant de dédier sa chanson «The Origin of Love» à l’homme qu'il aime. Sa maman, elle, «avait compris depuis longtemps»."

"Son coming out, il l’a réalisé auprès de sa famille deux ans avant de dédier sa chanson The Origin of Love à l’homme qui partage sa vie, même si « [sa] mère avait compris depuis longtemps »…"

"Avant de révéler son homosexualité au public en 2012, le chanteur s'était déjà confié à ses proches : "Je l'avais déjà fait avec ma famille deux ans auparavant", expliquant même que sa mère avait tout compris depuis bien longtemps !"

"The young man did coming out with his family two years before dedicating his song "The Origin of Love" to the man he loves. His mother, she "had long understood."

"His coming out, he realized it with his family two years before dedicating his song The Origin of Love to the man who shares his life, even if «[his] mother had long understood»…"

"Before revealing his homosexuality to the public in 2012, the singer had already told his family: "I had already done with my family two years before," explaining that even his mother had understood for a long time!".

 

Edit:

Oh sorry,Camille, I had not seen your reply!But I agree with you.

Merci les filles

I meant to type two years before but I guess I was half asleep when doing that part

It's almost like a part is missing in the Paris Match interview but now it makes sense , thank you girls

Edited February 15, 2014 by crazyaboutmika

[crazyaboutmika]

I put Sylvie' s and my edited (thanks Camille and Charlie) translation into one post , so it's easier to find and read.

The new star of The Voice received us at his place in London

Downtown London, the artist opens his home's doors. Around him, from the left to the right:

 

Zuleika, 23 y.o., art student; Paloma, 32 y.o. designer, Fortuné, 21 y.o., architecture student; Yasmine, 34 y.o. illustrator.

My family - my shield

It wasn't needed more than one show for the little new coach of The Voice strongly imposes himself. Today we understand better from where his love for young talents comes. At his place, Mika says what does having a team mean. His 3 sisters, Yasmine, Paloma, Zuleika, and his younger brother Fortuné give to him more than just their support: they encourage and protect him. More than 9 million albums sold worlwide, some exuberant shows, a acid pop and a fanciful unvers: star Mika shines in a peculiar family constellation, which loves arts. He enjoyed to play his daily life for us with the ones he loves.

“My sister’s accident set our lifes on fire. Now, I go on without asking for permission”

Life is too short to rest lazy in the bed. At 11y.o. Mika used to sing in a Strauss opera and recorded some ads jungles. Nothing was given to this dyslexic, mute like when 10, boy, except his talent and an amazing trust in life. A strength which he shares with his sister Paloma. Three years before an accidental fall of 10 metres, which made her come close to death, the designer is pregnant. At Pennimans’ they don’t forget their origins: “Our home is Lebanese. If you are about to cry, you get onto the table, you swing your fist and yell as loud as you can.” Joannie imposes herself as the mother queen of this bonded clan. Her presence and advice do count more than everything, she’s Mika’s shadow.

 

(the sentence on the pic with sleeping Mel says that: in his office décoré par Gabriel Bernardi. His many instruments left the day before for LA, where he has to refine his next album)

“When I was a child my look was already too weird, with my red trousers and my bow ties. The teachers used to hate me and so did the students. At best, they insulted me. “

Mika don’t trust norms and so do norms toward him. But he waited till summer 2013 to dedicate his song Origin of Love to the man he loves. This 1,91 metres beanpole is at easy in extremity, he whose voice is in a range of 4 octaves. His lyrics usually are serious on ethereal melodies: he transformed his old wounds in successful songs which make the whole world dance

 

(sentences on the bathroom pic: “When it comes to my homosexuality, my mother did understood it much time ago” An Art deco with elegant details: Mika dooms his fear for the water through an extreme refinement)

 

“ I’m no romantic guy but I hope I found the love of my life”

 

You still have 3 sisters and your younger brother, quite a victory after Paloma’s accident…

Mika: This is crazy, surreal. Three years ago my sister Paloma just found a flat close to our place. During her housewarming she lost her balance, fell out of the window and ended up on the railings. The doctors told she couldn’t make it, she wasn’t supposed to walk again. Today, she can walk e she’s pregnant, the baby is waited for may.

 

How do you get out of such a drama?

 

Mika: This has bonded our family more than ever and, above all, made us wishing to live our own life, without asking for permissions nor apologize… When we are young we don’t think about how quickly the death can strike. Facing this shocking accident we all realized that. It has a kind of set fire on our lifes. I used to tend to isolate myself in order to protect my creation, but I realized that on the contrary, up there in my tower, I began a creative cancer.

 

Have Paloma been stuck between life and death for much time?

 

Mika: Every day, every hour, her life could tumble. We all were helpless. But she managed to find an unbelievable strength. She was amazing. A way more than me. This thing made us grow up. Since her birth, Paloma suffered of a weakness on her left side, she always used to limp. At school, she was exhausted ‘cause she had just one hand available. She always struggled, I admire her very much.

 

When you were a child, was it difficult to live on an almost totally feminine planet, with your sisters and your mother?

 

Mika: Yes, it was like a 3 men team against a 12 women team, including my mother, my sisters, my aunts… and no referee! It was reassuring and sometimes pretty frustrating. My obsession was to find my freedom. I knew much early that it would have been the music. When I was a child I wished to work in a theatre, not to be a comedian, but to be a director or a decorator. I loved the idea of theatre, this closed box with no windows. I was charmed by this red and golden sickness (the two colours of Italian theatre) Jean Cocteau used to talk about. I used to be a socially isolated boy.

I was persecuted by other boys about my sexuality. At 8 y.o. I didn’t know anything on the subject, that didn’t belong to my identity. Kids are formidable, they can find their preys and I was on their target. I looked for solutions to get myself out of it, music protected me form that. I used to do a cinema in my head and my songs told all I wanted to.

Today there's a lot of bullying going on in schools, how did you save yourself from that nightmare?

 

 

By staying a sweet person in spite of the attacks, a bit naive too and pure. I advice children who have to face this to find a distraction in drawing , science , sports...in short to have a passion , even if it's a frivolous so they are protected, not having to defend themselves all the time. This is the only way to mend yourself, to find again enough strengh to change one's life. Around the age of seventeen I finally found my freedom. I accepted my difference and even exagerated it ...

 

 

Is your childhood a good memory in spite of all this?

 

 

Yes in spite of those awful times . Thanks to my parents, I learned true values and become stronger. Unity in a family is a strong protection, a solid shield. But I was dyslexic, and my school time was a disaster . After all the mockeries , the changes of schools because my parents were moving,I became mute. My mother hired a russian music teacher who gave me singing lessons at home , and that unbloked me.

 

 

 

What were the symptoms of your dyslexia?

 

 

For a long time, I wasn't even able to write. Now I'm still unable to spell. Not long ago I got help by a specialist? Her method is to learn to ears the sound of words which she completes with drawings? I learned Italian within a month and a half without ever writing a word! Now my biggest challenge is to learn how to play the piano with a music sheet, which is a big challenge for me.

 

 

You often talk about your mother but rarely about your father. Why?

 

 

He was often away. He was a diplomat.He worked very hard , so it wasn't easy for him to have five kids. My father is a "work addict" (in English in the text) but he was very much there for us however. He is happy and proud of my success and also very conforting in case of failure. My work has always been a collaboration with my mother from the very begining

If I talk about her so often , that's in a working contest. People are always amazed when they find out that she's my mother. Together we're rather funny. As far as my father is concerned he is part of my private life. That's wierd but that's the way it is.

 

 

Why did you want to talk about your homosexuality in your songs?

 

 

It's not an easy subject to bring up...my mother had understood a long time ago: my songs are about life and identity, I never came out via my lyrics but I never forbid myself to deal with that topic . However I did it to my family two years before (coming out on stage when he dedicated The Origin Of Love 'to the man he loves in 2012 at Heaven in London ) My sister Jasmina was the only one who was surprised.

 

 

Where is your hit factory?

 

 

Either at my place, in my studio-office, or in a garage in the north of London. I spend between eleven and twelve hours there with a sound ingenier or a collaborator.I always enjoy new ideas. A young man from Finland sent me his ideas through e-mail not long ago and I liked them. I suggested we 'd spend a day together and we wrote something huge!

 

 

What are the secrets of the Mika touch?

 

 

I write the lyrics on a computer or playing the piano . I build each song as if I piled up children bricks. I can even compose in a pub when I'm drunk. I wrote "Only Love You When I'm drunk in the lobby of a hotel in Miami with Jodi Marr. It was almost midnight and the waiter came to us and said "You seem to be in a good mood" and I answered to him " We love you because we're drunk or else you're unbearable" And he said "**** you" Jodie and I looked at each other and we wrote the song in ten minutes.

 

 

You lead a big team. What sort of boss are you , a cool one or a dictator?

 

 

I don't know . I m a perfectionist maybe... I'm always giving myself a hundred percent and tough , but first with myself . In a studio no one is pretending. In art the truth is essential. If you want to reach the truth you have to be very demanding sometimes. I'm excessive. A year, at school, I didn't like the Christmas tree. I was too skinny. So I forced my mother to buy another one. She left me at school and she said to me :"You'll deal with the consequences on your own" I dragged the tree all the way through the corridor into the classroom. So I was called into the director' s office ! (who was a lady as the word "directrice was used))

 

 

Do you earn a lot of money?

 

 

Yes , but I slam it all. When I turned thirty I invited twenty seven people of my family for a three weeks holiday. I had rented nine cars to drive to the Piemont mountains. On the first night we had dinner on a terrace. My favorite dishes were served: roast chicken, pizza and pasta with tomatoe sauce. There wasn't any music nor flowers, only candles. Around midnight when the conversations slowed down, I said: "Time for bed" . At that precise moment a firework started above the wineyards. I'm superstitious. Just like Chinese people, I believe for events , noise is necessary. And we sure got noise! We all laughed. After that we carried on our trip to Italy , all cars following one another in a line.

 

 

Do you like driving a lot?

 

 

I love driving. After the three weeks I drove all the way to Greece , to Bulgaria....for me a holiday is getting into your car and driving 10 000 kilometers with my dog in the back.

 

 

But you don't only have one dog in your life! What sort of lover are you?

 

 

Romanticism as far as I m concerned might be a bit ghoulish I'm not a huge romantic! When I'm at a wedding and the bride and bridegroom have chosen "Happy Ending" for their first dance, I'm totally down. Are they twats or what? It's a story about a break up!

 

 

Are you in love?

 

 

Yes. I hope I found the love of my life. Is this the right one? I keep questioning life but it stays mute.

 

 

What s a night out with friends for you ?

 

 

That's my absolute happiness. I have had the same friends since childhood. They are still around me. With them I love to spend hours on the sofa in jeans and socks and laugh at jokes which are not even funny. But in mondane evenings I m a disaster , I don't speak to anyone, I don't really know social codes....But I love to invite lots of people to my house and I do it often. I like to eat and drink wine. I listen to very loud music.

 

 

The Voice is breaking the records for the number of viewers this year with nine millions people watching. ..is this the Mika effect?

 

 

I don't know but it was watched a lot the previous years as well. The first time we met the coaches and I was at at restaurant. I spent hours eating without saying a word. I have a hearty appetite ,but when I'm afraid I eat even more. I was totally ashamed of myself on that day. I ate so much I almost fell asleep.

 

 

So is it during the show that your complicity started?

 

 

After two minutes on the set when we started talking about music and not any more about television or production. It was a true explosion. I felt at ease , and in connivance with the other members coaches. They are clever people. I see us like four friends who are having a drink in a pub after work and who are talking about songs. The athmosphere is good.

 

Do you watch yourself in The Voice?

 

 

No, I don't like to. Even if I say silly things or if my choices might be disapointing, I take the risk. I don't want to control what I say nor change my personality on the set.

Physical appearance is hidden in this show. However isn't it essential to have good looks to be successful?

Good looks help of course. But what matters most is to feel in harmony with yourself. A singer unveils more than a strip teaser. For that to go well it takes a sincere and authentic link between the looks and what's inside. A singer is beautiful because everything is coherent in her: her personality, her voice,what she says in her songs, the way she expresses herself. Bob Dylan, Gainsbourg, Streisand and even Daft Punk with their helmets they are all very beautiful. One forgets the body, it's only a wrapping....

 

When Mika isn't singing what does he do?

 

 

I buy lots of book, but I don't read anything. Seing all those books conforts me. I love the cosy feeling they create around me. That's the idea of potential. I collect Barbara's radio interviews and ,a few days ago I heard her say to a journalist"I have hundreds of books around me, but I'm far from having read them all. " It was as if she was talking to me. Expectation is more delicious than reality.

__________________

[crazyaboutmika]

I put Sylvie' s and my edited (thanks Camille and Charlie) translation into one post , so it's easier to find , share and read.

 

 

The new star of The Voice received us at his place in London

Downtown London, the artist opens his home's doors. Around him, from the left to the right:

 

Zuleika, 23 y.o., art student; Paloma, 32 y.o. designer, Fortuné, 21 y.o., architecture student; Yasmine, 34 y.o. illustrator.

My family - my shield

It wasn't needed more than one show for the little new coach of The Voice strongly imposes himself. Today we understand better from where his love for young talents comes. At his place, Mika says what does having a team mean. His 3 sisters, Yasmine, Paloma, Zuleika, and his younger brother Fortuné give to him more than just their support: they encourage and protect him. More than 9 million albums sold worlwide, some exuberant shows, a acid pop and a fanciful unvers: star Mika shines in a peculiar family constellation, which loves arts. He enjoyed to play his daily life for us with the ones he loves.

“My sister’s accident set our lifes on fire. Now, I go on without asking for permission”

Life is too short to rest lazy in the bed. At 11y.o. Mika used to sing in a Strauss opera and recorded some ads jungles. Nothing was given to this dyslexic, mute like when 10, boy, except his talent and an amazing trust in life. A strength which he shares with his sister Paloma. Three years before an accidental fall of 10 metres, which made her come close to death, the designer is pregnant. At Pennimans’ they don’t forget their origins: “Our home is Lebanese. If you are about to cry, you get onto the table, you swing your fist and yell as loud as you can.” Joannie imposes herself as the mother queen of this bonded clan. Her presence and advice do count more than everything, she’s Mika’s shadow.

 

(the sentence on the pic with sleeping Mel says that: in his office décoré par Gabriel Bernardi. His many instruments left the day before for LA, where he has to refine his next album)

“When I was a child my look was already too weird, with my red trousers and my bow ties. The teachers used to hate me and so did the students. At best, they insulted me. “

Mika don’t trust norms and so do norms toward him. But he waited till summer 2013 to dedicate his song Origin of Love to the man he loves. This 1,91 metres beanpole is at easy in extremity, he whose voice is in a range of 4 octaves. His lyrics usually are serious on ethereal melodies: he transformed his old wounds in successful songs which make the whole world dance

 

(sentences on the bathroom pic: “When it comes to my homosexuality, my mother did understood it much time ago” An Art deco with elegant details: Mika dooms his fear for the water through an extreme refinement)

 

“ I’m no romantic guy but I hope I found the love of my life”

 

You still have 3 sisters and your younger brother, quite a victory after Paloma’s accident…

Mika: This is crazy, surreal. Three years ago my sister Paloma just found a flat close to our place. During her housewarming she lost her balance, fell out of the window and ended up on the railings. The doctors told she couldn’t make it, she wasn’t supposed to walk again. Today, she can walk e she’s pregnant, the baby is waited for may.

 

How do you get out of such a drama?

 

Mika: This has bonded our family more than ever and, above all, made us wishing to live our own life, without asking for permissions nor apologize… When we are young we don’t think about how quickly the death can strike. Facing this shocking accident we all realized that. It has a kind of set fire on our lifes. I used to tend to isolate myself in order to protect my creation, but I realized that on the contrary, up there in my tower, I began a creative cancer.

 

Have Paloma been stuck between life and death for much time?

 

Mika: Every day, every hour, her life could tumble. We all were helpless. But she managed to find an unbelievable strength. She was amazing. A way more than me. This thing made us grow up. Since her birth, Paloma suffered of a weakness on her left side, she always used to limp. At school, she was exhausted ‘cause she had just one hand available. She always struggled, I admire her very much.

 

When you were a child, was it difficult to live on an almost totally feminine planet, with your sisters and your mother?

 

Mika: Yes, it was like a 3 men team against a 12 women team, including my mother, my sisters, my aunts… and no referee! It was reassuring and sometimes pretty frustrating. My obsession was to find my freedom. I knew much early that it would have been the music. When I was a child I wished to work in a theatre, not to be a comedian, but to be a director or a decorator. I loved the idea of theatre, this closed box with no windows. I was charmed by this red and golden sickness (the two colours of Italian theatre) Jean Cocteau used to talk about. I used to be a socially isolated boy.

I was persecuted by other boys about my sexuality. At 8 y.o. I didn’t know anything on the subject, that didn’t belong to my identity. Kids are formidable, they can find their preys and I was on their target. I looked for solutions to get myself out of it, music protected me form that. I used to do a cinema in my head and my songs told all I wanted to.

Today there's a lot of bullying going on in schools, how did you save yourself from that nightmare?

 

 

By staying a sweet person in spite of the attacks, a bit naive too and pure. I advice children who have to face this to find a distraction in drawing , science , sports...in short to have a passion , even if it's a frivolous so they are protected, not having to defend themselves all the time. This is the only way to mend yourself, to find again enough strengh to change one's life. Around the age of seventeen I finally found my freedom. I accepted my difference and even exagerated it ...

 

 

Is your childhood a good memory in spite of all this?

 

 

Yes in spite of those awful times . Thanks to my parents, I learned true values and become stronger. Unity in a family is a strong protection, a solid shield. But I was dyslexic, and my school time was a disaster . After all the mockeries , the changes of schools because my parents were moving,I became mute. My mother hired a russian music teacher who gave me singing lessons at home , and that unbloked me.

 

 

 

What were the symptoms of your dyslexia?

 

 

For a long time, I wasn't even able to write. Now I'm still unable to spell. Not long ago I got help by a specialist? Her method is to learn to ears the sound of words which she completes with drawings? I learned Italian within a month and a half without ever writing a word! Now my biggest challenge is to learn how to play the piano with a music sheet, which is a big challenge for me.

 

 

You often talk about your mother but rarely about your father. Why?

 

 

He was often away. He was a diplomat.He worked very hard , so it wasn't easy for him to have five kids. My father is a "work addict" (in English in the text) but he was very much there for us however. He is happy and proud of my success and also very conforting in case of failure. My work has always been a collaboration with my mother from the very begining

If I talk about her so often , that's in a working contest. People are always amazed when they find out that she's my mother. Together we're rather funny. As far as my father is concerned he is part of my private life. That's wierd but that's the way it is.

 

 

Why did you want to talk about your homosexuality in your songs?

 

 

It's not an easy subject to bring up...my mother had understood a long time ago: my songs are about life and identity, I never came out via my lyrics but I never forbid myself to deal with that topic . However I did it to my family two years before (coming out on stage when he dedicated The Origin Of Love 'to the man he loves in 2012 at Heaven in London ) My sister Jasmina was the only one who was surprised.

 

 

Where is your hit factory?

 

 

Either at my place, in my studio-office, or in a garage in the north of London. I spend between eleven and twelve hours there with a sound ingenier or a collaborator.I always enjoy new ideas. A young man from Finland sent me his ideas through e-mail not long ago and I liked them. I suggested we 'd spend a day together and we wrote something huge!

 

 

What are the secrets of the Mika touch?

 

 

I write the lyrics on a computer or playing the piano . I build each song as if I piled up children bricks. I can even compose in a pub when I'm drunk. I wrote "Only Love You When I'm drunk in the lobby of a hotel in Miami with Jodi Marr. It was almost midnight and the waiter came to us and said "You seem to be in a good mood" and I answered to him " We love you because we're drunk or else you're unbearable" And he said "**** you" Jodie and I looked at each other and we wrote the song in ten minutes.

 

 

You lead a big team. What sort of boss are you , a cool one or a dictator?

 

 

I don't know . I m a perfectionist maybe... I'm always giving myself a hundred percent and tough , but first with myself . In a studio no one is pretending. In art the truth is essential. If you want to reach the truth you have to be very demanding sometimes. I'm excessive. A year, at school, I didn't like the Christmas tree. I was too skinny. So I forced my mother to buy another one. She left me at school and she said to me :"You'll deal with the consequences on your own" I dragged the tree all the way through the corridor into the classroom. So I was called into the director' s office ! (who was a lady as the word "directrice was used))

 

 

Do you earn a lot of money?

 

 

Yes , but I slam it all. When I turned thirty I invited twenty seven people of my family for a three weeks holiday. I had rented nine cars to drive to the Piemont mountains. On the first night we had dinner on a terrace. My favorite dishes were served: roast chicken, pizza and pasta with tomatoe sauce. There wasn't any music nor flowers, only candles. Around midnight when the conversations slowed down, I said: "Time for bed" . At that precise moment a firework started above the wineyards. I'm superstitious. Just like Chinese people, I believe for events , noise is necessary. And we sure got noise! We all laughed. After that we carried on our trip to Italy , all cars following one another in a line.

 

 

Do you like driving a lot?

 

 

I love driving. After the three weeks I drove all the way to Greece , to Bulgaria....for me a holiday is getting into your car and driving 10 000 kilometers with my dog in the back.

 

 

But you don't only have one dog in your life! What sort of lover are you?

 

 

Romanticism as far as I m concerned might be a bit ghoulish I'm not a huge romantic! When I'm at a wedding and the bride and bridegroom have chosen "Happy Ending" for their first dance, I'm totally down. Are they twats or what? It's a story about a break up!

 

 

Are you in love?

 

 

Yes. I hope I found the love of my life. Is this the right one? I keep questioning life but it stays mute.

 

 

What s a night out with friends for you ?

 

 

That's my absolute happiness. I have had the same friends since childhood. They are still around me. With them I love to spend hours on the sofa in jeans and socks and laugh at jokes which are not even funny. But in mondane evenings I m a disaster , I don't speak to anyone, I don't really know social codes....But I love to invite lots of people to my house and I do it often. I like to eat and drink wine. I listen to very loud music.

 

 

The Voice is breaking the records for the number of viewers this year with nine millions people watching. ..is this the Mika effect?

 

 

I don't know but it was watched a lot the previous years as well. The first time we met the coaches and I was at at restaurant. I spent hours eating without saying a word. I have a hearty appetite ,but when I'm afraid I eat even more. I was totally ashamed of myself on that day. I ate so much I almost fell asleep.

 

 

So is it during the show that your complicity started?

 

 

After two minutes on the set when we started talking about music and not any more about television or production. It was a true explosion. I felt at ease , and in connivance with the other members coaches. They are clever people. I see us like four friends who are having a drink in a pub after work and who are talking about songs. The athmosphere is good.

 

Do you watch yourself in The Voice?

 

 

No, I don't like to. Even if I say silly things or if my choices might be disapointing, I take the risk. I don't want to control what I say nor change my personality on the set.

Physical appearance is hidden in this show. However isn't it essential to have good looks to be successful?

Good looks help of course. But what matters most is to feel in harmony with yourself. A singer unveils more than a strip teaser. For that to go well it takes a sincere and authentic link between the looks and what's inside. A singer is beautiful because everything is coherent in her: her personality, her voice,what she says in her songs, the way she expresses herself. Bob Dylan, Gainsbourg, Streisand and even Daft Punk with their helmets they are all very beautiful. One forgets the body, it's only a wrapping....

 

When Mika isn't singing what does he do?

 

 

I buy lots of book, but I don't read anything. Seing all those books conforts me. I love the cosy feeling they create around me. That's the idea of potential. I collect Barbara's radio interviews and ,a few days ago I heard her say to a journalist"I have hundreds of books around me, but I'm far from having read them all. " It was as if she was talking to me. Expectation is more delicious than reality.

__________________

[BiaIchihara]

after reading this interview, I feel less guilty for having so many books and haven't read all of them, but the feeling of being surrounded by many books is really good :teehee:

[A. Clay]

Thanks SO much for the translations; much appreciated.

[mamiam]

Thanks camille

I got distracted

Two years before the release of LICM would make more sense

I need to read it again

 

Isn't it amazing how one word can create a discussion, wondering and confusion ?! Anyway, you did a very good job with this big translation - thanks a lot for your efforts, it's much appreciated

 

Love,love

me

[Marilyn Mastin]

Thanks SO much for the translations; much appreciated.

I second that. Our translators work so hard, and are much appreciated.

[elesimply]

thanks for the translation, I really loved reading the interview and watching the pictures!

[Marta.]

thank you so much!

Edited February 16, 2014 by Marta.

[charlie20]

You are welcome, crazyaboutmika, I'm glad to have been of help to you! You have been and you're very good at translating, thank you very much for your work! It was the journalist to be unclear in the article, in fact I think it is likely she took some other freedoms and made other mistakes in the article.

[smokesignal]

Thanks Anne

 

May I just add that the article doesn't say '2 years ago' but '2 years before'; when I read it yesterday I took it as 2 years before the release of LICM, but now I'm not so sure anymore, this is confusing, maybe 2 years before he came out publicly. Not 2 years ago anyway.

 

That doesn't make it more plausible in the sense that it still would have required him to keep a long-term relationship a secret from his family, including Yasmine, who basically went wherever he did, while even some fans saw his boyfriend in that period and recognised him as such.

 

I must say though, it would explain one thing. You get back with your ex and then run off to another continent to write a record, now that's weird. But getting back together with your ex, then coming out to your family and then running off to another continent and write origin of love, that makes slightly more sense. Well, only slightly, but it would fit the chronology, as far as we can speak of such a thing when it comes to Mika...

[Christine]

That doesn't make it more plausible in the sense that it still would have required him to keep a long-term relationship a secret from his family, including Yasmine, who basically went wherever he did, while even some fans saw his boyfriend in that period and recognised him as such.

 

I agree. If he really said that and really believes he was hiding something I think he is very very naive. And as far as his sexual orientation goes I can't believe his older sisters weren't aware of it when he was a teenager if not earlier. I mean he was bullied about it as a child so even other children could sense it. Maybe he dated girls at some point so I guess it's plausible Yasmine believed he also liked girls. But as Mika said himself he has never worn a beard so even that would have been before he was famous/involved in his current relationship.

[guylainem123]

if most of us could tell/guess/suspect, how could the people close to him, people he saw on a daily basis not do so also?

 

Maybe that's when he wrote it black on white, but i can't imagine they were surprised by it.

 

my opinion anyways...

[Alireine]

I agree. If he really said that and really believes he was hiding something I think he is very very naive. And as far as his sexual orientation goes I can't believe his older sisters weren't aware of it when he was a teenager if not earlier. I mean he was bullied about it as a child so even other children could sense it. Maybe he dated girls at some point so I guess it's plausible Yasmine believed he also liked girls. But as Mika said himself he has never worn a beard so even that would have been before he was famous/involved in his current relationship.

 

I don't get this part or does beard mean something else than these hairs on the bottom of the mouth?

 

Concerning this subject it's difficult for me to have any advice as I was not a fan at that time and I don't know if Mika's relationship with his boyfriend was really obvious or not

[cathouzouf]

I don't get this part or does beard mean something else than these hairs on the bottom of the mouth?

 

Concerning this subject it's difficult for me to have any advice as I was not a fan at that time and I don't know if Mika's relationship with his boyfriend was really obvious or not

 

It means he never tried to appear as somebody he is not... Like Elton John who was once married with a woman

Edited February 16, 2014 by cathouzouf

[crazyaboutmika]

You guys are very welcome

Thanks to the other translators as well, it's good to be a team as Mika is everywhere