2015 - Adelphi Theatre, London 18 October - REPORTS/PICS/VIDS

[Blue Sky]

Yang you are not the one getting the final say on how fans should react to this incident or how fans should interact with Mika. Your opinion matters only as much as mine or anyone else's, so why so judgmental? Mika is 100% responsible for stirring up this anti-Jemma sentiment and that is way out of line. He should know his own fan club better and how drama is fueled by his own comments/actions. There is a long history here that gives some of us a different perspective on this incident and makes it less forgiveable. 

[jemmalee]

Yeah but BBB's video is on youtube and is available to everyone. Despite this fact, I'm not saying that if they don't like French songs, they are bad fans. But if they are begging him NOT to sing ONE French song because they don't like it or don't know it, ignoring the fact that there're audiences in the room who happen to like it, that is just wrong.

As myself and others have tried to explain this to you and you still don't get it, then perhaps just leave this topic alone? I said one thing in jest for five seconds of my life and now have to pay sacrifices for 6 months later. I've said sorry to Mika so please just stop this now. I was wrong but Mika in how he has lied and reacted, in my opinion is much worse.

[yang]

So it's not his fault that people have been calling me a xenophobic racist? The whole thing has been blown out of all proportion. Mika can sing what he wants, it's his show. How I've been treated for shouting out something said in jest is totally out of order. I have received abuse on social media from people who have never interacted with me or heard about me before Tuesday. I'm sure loads of you have come into this thread to read the drama and then pm each other the latest gossip. I'm totally sick of it.

I am not a xenophobe. I love France and my French friends. I'm not racist and if you knew me personally you would definitely know this. I am not a mean person. I'm not intolerant. I accidentally hurt the feelings of a pop star as I was hurt leading up to the moment.

This doesn't give Mika the right to slag me off at a concert in France saying that I need more sex in my life and then 6 months later say on television that I'm mean & intolerant. This also doesn't give the right for anyone to abuse me. The last couple of days have been complete hell for me and I'm sure it's not going to stop anytime soon. That is Mika's fault.

 

Please do not hate me, I absolutely do not think it's 100% your fault to be attacked like this. What they do are not right in any level, that I am very certain.

 

I am just going to point out several facts. First, few people know you are the fan he is talking about until you jump out and saying how much you are hurt by his words, which again, I am very sorry about that. Second, when watching the video my sympathy for you was decreased by some level in the end when you were begging MIKA to not sing ANY French songs, because by doing so you are also trying to stop other fans who will buy the UK gig ticket and love the song live to hear the song live too. It's like because you don't like a dish, you try to stop the dish from serving on the table, ignoring the fact there are some other people who happen to like the dish are also eating with you.  

 

Again, I absolutely do not think it's 100% your fault, I just do not think it's 100% MIKA's fault either.

[jemmalee]

I am not hating on you.

[yang]

Yang you are not the one getting the final say on how fans should react to this incident or how fans should interact with Mika. Your opinion matters only as much as mine or anyone else's, so why so judgmental? Mika is 100% responsible for stirring up this anti-Jemma sentiment and that is way out of line. He should know his own fan club better and how drama is fueled by his own comments/actions. There is a long history here that gives some of us a different perspective on this incident and makes it less forgiveable. 

 

Yeah I am not the one to have the final say on how fans should react to this incident or how fans should interact with MIKA. 

 

I am not giving the final call, I am just giving my opinion by saying "I think", or "my feeling to your video", how is that judgmental?

[Christine]

Once again, can I direct you to the fact that not all UK fans are members of the fan club, so many of them don't have a clue where this or any of the French songs come from, as they aren't watching every single move Mika makes, only when he brings out new music here. And this doesn't make them bad fans, it makes them fans who like the music he releases here.

 

Yes.

 

Yeah but BBB's video is on youtube and is available to everyone. Despite this fact, I'm not saying that if they don't like French songs, they are bad fans. But if they are begging him NOT to sing ONE French song because they don't like it or don't know it, ignoring the fact that there're audiences in the room who happen to like it, that is just wrong.

People who go to a London gig to hear BBB are a tiny minority. Most people who go to gigs are not hardcore fans. I have been following Mika since 2006 and even I do not own a copy of BBB. When the average person goes to a gig they want to hear the songs they are familiar with. The songs on the radio, the songs on their CDs. They are not there to hear some random song that they will not understand at all because the lyrics sound like gibberish to them.

 

This whole thing about Mika wanting people to accept French because it is part of him is egomaniacal and self absorption in the extreme. How can he possibly expect random people who turn up at his gigs to know or care where he spent his childhood? How can he expect them to know or care what he is doing on French TV? How can he expect them all to import albums from France so they are familiar with his French songs? It is totally ridiculous. I have been to see Rufus Wainwright and Josh Groban at least 4 or 5 times each and I couldn't care less about some random niche thing they may have released somewhere outside of Canada because I haven't got the first clue about what they are doing outside of Canada. I go to see them and expect them to play the songs that are popular in Canada. I buy a ticket and they perform. Paying for a ticket is where my responsibility to them ends. I do not have to validate Rufus Wainwright's identity as a francophone so that he doesn't humiliate me on television or go around pouting about how closed minded Torontonians are.

 

The reason these songs are not on the English albums is because his record company knows that English people, on average, are not interested. Even his own management told him not to release a French song in France because it would be a disaster. He was so chuffed with himself because it became a hit in France but the UK is not France. He can't expect English people to respond to a French song the way French people do. This is just common sense for heaven's sake. If Mika spent his life in Lebanon I could understand his ignorance but he knows full well how British people think and what is going on in the UK music industry.

 

People keep criticizing fans for telling Mika they don't want to hear songs but I don't even understand why Mika needs to be told and cannot get over the fact that he is so upset that someone did. These 300 hardcore fans who follow Mika everywhere he goes and praise him for everything he does and accept him for everything he is are not the real world. These are not typical concert goers. Most people do not go to gigs because they have some personal attachment to the singer, they go to hear music they enjoy. Most people have their own taste in music that is based on their life experience and they do not experience the world through the eyes of a pop star they saw once or twice at a gig.

[RAK1]

Yeah but BBB's video is on youtube and is available to everyone. Despite this fact, I'm not saying that if they don't like French songs, they are bad fans. But if they are begging him NOT to sing ONE French song because they don't like it or don't know it, ignoring the fact that there're audiences in the room who happen to like it, that is just wrong.

So if 80% of the audience don't really like it, and 20% do, how does that work? I'm just playing devils advocate here, I'm curious to how that would work.

[jemmalee]

So if 80% of the audience don't really like it, and 20% do, how does that work? I'm just playing devils advocate here, I'm curious to how that would work.

It doesn't.

[yang]

So if 80% of the audience don't really like it, and 20% do, how does that work? I'm just playing devils advocate here, I'm curious to how that would work.

 

So he played 16 English songs and 1 French song. 1/17 is much smaller than 1/5, and it's still too much for some one.  It just does not make any sense.

 

I really do not think the part who love BBB is too small to be ignored. How much audience are there? Around 1500 right? You don't think there are more than 100 people in the audience who happens to like and want to hear that song?

 

Christine you mentioned that BBB is not reflecting well in NYC, but in Brooklyn at least people around me are really liking that song, I can hear loud BBB singing with him, it maybe a small portion, but definitely not too small to be ignored.

 

Jemma, another reason that I can not leave this topic alone, besides I don't think mika should hold full responsibility, is that I really like BBB live, even before he did the Elvis move. If he is pressured to not sing any French songs in UK, same pattern may happen in US too, that would be really sad.

Edited March 11, 2016 by yang

[Christine]

So he played 16 English songs and 1 French song. 1/17 is much smaller than 1/5, and it's still too much for some one.  It just does not make any sense.

It makes perfect sense.

 

These are the top 15 songs on Mika's UK itunes chart. These are a fair representation of the songs people will want and expect to hear when they go to a gig in the UK. If I recall Mika did not play 5 of these songs. He did not play FIVE of his most popular songs in the UK and instead chose one song that most people do not have any interest in. This is total self-indulgence and is not about giving the fans what they want.

 

1

Grace Kelly

2

Lollipops

3

Happy Ending

4

Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)

5

Love Todays

6

Popular Song

7

Popular Song (feat. Ariana Grande)

8

Any Other World

9

All She Wants

10

Talk About You

11

Rain

12

We Are Golden

13

Relax, Take It Easy

14

Staring At the Sun

15

Grace Kelly

Edited March 11, 2016 by Christine

[RAK1]

So he played 16 English songs and 1 French song. 1/17 is much smaller than 1/5, and it's still too much for some one.  It just does not make any sense.

 

I really do not think the part who love BBB is too small to be ignored. How much audience are there? Around 1500 right? You don't think there are more than 100 people in the audience who happens to like and want to hear that song?

 

Christine you mentioned that BBB is not reflecting well in NYC, but in Brooklyn at least people around me are really liking that song, I can hear loud BBB singing with him, it maybe a small portion, but definitely not too small to be ignored.

 

Jemma, another reason that I can not leave this topic alone, besides I don't think mika should hold full responsibility, is that I really like BBB live, even before he did the Elvis move. If he is pressured to not sing any French songs in UK, same pattern may happen in US too, that would be really sad.

It's not about not loving it, it's the fact they most likely don't know it.

It may be on his Vevo page, but most fans who don't follow him closely won't see it, and that is anywhere in the world, not just in the UK.

The majority of those people probably hoped to hear songs from the UK release of the album, so they don't matter I guess.

I don't mind BBB, but if given a choice between hearing that and All She Wants, I would go for the latter. If he wanted to go down the French route, maybe EMD would have been a better choice, as he has done it at UK gigs before, and it seemed to go down okay.

[yang]

It makes perfect sense.

 

These are the top 15 songs on Mika's UK itunes chart. These are a fair representation of the songs people will want and expect to hear when they go to a gig in the UK. If I recall Mika did not play 5 of these songs. He did not play FIVE of his most popular songs in the UK and instead chose one song that most people do not have any interest in. This is total self-indulgence and is not about giving the fans what they want.

 

1

Grace Kelly

2

Lollipops

3

Happy Ending

4

Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)

5

Love Todays

6

Popular Song

7

Popular Song (feat. Ariana Grande)

8

Any Other World

9

All She Wants

10

Talk About You

11

Rain

12

We Are Golden

13

Relax, Take It Easy

14

Staring At the Sun

15

Grace Kelly

 

Why do you keep saying he plays BBB purely for self-indulgence, why do you have to keep thinking him in a negative way? You are not him, you do not know what he thought.

 

He played it in not only French speaking countries but also other non-French speaking countries too, and in these non-French speaking countries he got good response most times.

 

BBB is the first song on Vevo, yeah maybe a lot UK fans do not know it, but all the foreign fans fly to London know it for sure and a lot of them like it. ( You can hear the loud "Qui" when he asked in French) . Don't say he does not know that before the show, he knows there are fans fly from all over the world to see him, a large part of these fans are from France, it's the special nature of his fans.

Edited March 11, 2016 by yang

[yang]

The majority of those people probably hoped to hear songs from the UK release of the album, so they don't matter I guess.

 

Of course they matters, almost all of the songs he sing in UK is English, just ONE French song. And the fact that all these arguments is just about where he should sing one particular song is just ridiculous in so many level.

 

I know it's only minority of audience love BBB, the rest either don't know or don't like it. But is it so hard to bare one song for these small part audience, so hard to hear that it need to be begged to stop?

[Christine]

 

BBB is the first song on Vevo, yeah maybe a lot UK fans do not know it, but all the foreign fans fly to London know it for sure and a lot of them like it. ( You can hear the loud "Qui" when he asked in French) . Don't say he does not know that before the show, he knows there are fans fly from all over the world to see him, a large part of these fans are from France, it's the special nature of his fans.

 

Back to the sucking up to B when he's there for A scenario again. He performs for French fans CONSTANTLY. He performed in the UK once in THREE YEARS. His priority should be giving the UK audience the show they want because it's their country.

 

You can keep arguing and arguing about this but I don't understand what concern it is of yours what takes place at a UK gig and what you are trying to accomplish by "proving" that Mika made a wise choice by putting BBB on the setlist. If you are seriously suggesting that Mika should prioritize the interests of French fans who have dozens and dozens of chances to see him over the interests of British fans who have one chance to see him in 3 years then you are just being ridiculous. I am not going to argue with you for the sake of arguing so goodnight.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Christine

[RAK1]

Why do you keep saying he plays BBB purely for self-indulgence, why do you have to keep thinking him in a negative way? You are not him, you are closer to him than us but that does not mean you know what he thought.

 

He played it in not only French speaking countries not also other non-French speaking countries too, and in these non-French speaking countries he got good response most times.

 

BBB is the first song on Vevo, yeah maybe a lot UK fans do not know it, but all the foreign fans fly to London know it for sure and a lot of them like it. ( You can hear the loud "Qui" when he asked in French) . Don't say he does not know that before the show, he knows there are fans fly from all over the world to see him, a large part of these fans are from France, it's the special nature of his fans.

So you are saying the UK fans don't matter, as much as the small amount of fans who have travelled from abroad to the show?

I'm travelling to a few gigs in Europe in the next few months, so can I expect him to drop playing BBB for All She Wants at one of them? 

That's not going to happen, as I don't expect it should, especially the French shows, as it's popular there.

And all the French fans there had been to a lot of gigs in France where they heard it, can't say I've ever seen him do anything like that for fans from other countries who have travelled around to see him. He never did the Italian version of Stardust for the Italian fans, who had travelled over. 

I'm sure Debs who travels to lots of shows, would have loved to heard Make You Happy, but he didn't sing that.

So if he does it for one set of fans, why not all?

Fair is fair.

[yang]

So you are saying the UK fans don't matter, as much as the small amount of fans who have travelled from abroad to the show?

I'm travelling to a few gigs in Europe in the next few months, so can I expect him to drop playing BBB for All She Wants at one of them? 

That's not going to happen, as I don't expect it should, especially the French shows, as it's popular there.

And all the French fans there had been to a lot of gigs in France where they heard it, can't say I've ever seen him do anything like that for fans from other countries who have travelled around to see him. He never did the Italian version of Stardust for the Italian fans, who had travelled over. 

I'm sure Debs who travels to lots of shows, would have loved to heard Make You Happy, but he didn't sing that.

So if he does it for one set of fans, why not all?

Fair is fair.

 

He changed his setlist to fit UK better, he sung far less songs that's not released in UK comparing to other heaven tour gigs, didn't he?  Does the setlist have to be completely exclusive?

 

Even excluding France fans, there exists few UK area fans love that song.

 

Deb said herself she requested Mika to sing Promiseland on behalf of some fans, and he did that. Even in France a lot audience seems not knowing that song at all.

 

And as I said, it's one thing that you request him to sing some songs, it's a completely different thing that you request him to NOT sing some songs.

 

You like him to sing ASW, ask that, you want him to sing Rain, ask that, I don't think there are any problems with that.

[yang]

Back to the sucking up to B when he's there for A scenario again. He performs for French fans CONSTANTLY. He performed in the UK once in THREE YEARS. His priority should be giving the UK audience the show they want because it's their country.

 

You can keep arguing and arguing about this but I don't understand what concern it is of yours what takes place at a UK gig and what you are trying to accomplish by "proving" that Mika made a wise choice by putting BBB on the setlist.

 

He gave priority to UK audience, his setlist fited UK better comparing to other setlist of his gigs, didn't it?

He sung French songs in a lot non-French area gigs too, and most times he got good reaction, why could not he expect the same in UK?

 

I argue for two reasons, first I don't think it's 100% mika's fault for this situation; second and more selfishly, I want to hear BBB live in US, because I love this song, and based on your logic he should not put BBB in the US setlist either.

Edited March 11, 2016 by yang

[RAK1]

He changed his setlist to fit UK better, he sung far less songs that's not released in UK comparing to other heaven tour gigs, didn't he?  Does the setlist have to be completely exclusive?

 

Even excluding France fans, there exists few UK area fans love that song.

 

Deb said herself she requested Mika to sing Promiseland on behalf of some fans, and he did that. Even in France a lot audience seems not knowing that song at all.

 

And as I said, it's one thing that you request him to sing some songs, it's a completely different thing that you request him to NOT sing some songs.

 

You like him to sing ASW, ask that, you want him to sing Rain, ask that, I don't think there are any problems with that.

Yes, a few MFC members do, but you don't seem to be grasping that there are many more out there that hadn't heard of it before that night, it's hard to sing along to a song you have never heard before. THIS is the point I have been making. And he was singing Promiseland anyway, he did in Madrid, and quite a lot of other gigs.

And I doubt he'll sing ASW. as he doesn't seem to want to.

[Christine]

I argue for two reasons, first I don't think it's 100% mika's fault for this situation; second and more selfishly, I want to hear BBB live in US, because I love this song, and based on your logic he should not put BBB in the US setlist either.

 

You can lobby Mika all you want to play BBB in the US. This has absolutely nothing to do with the UK. What Mika does in the UK has absolutely nothing to do with you or what you want. 1500 people do not have to forfeit the chance to listen to their favourite songs so you can hear BBB on the other side of the world. This is the most bizarre line of thinking I have ever heard. Please just stop

[yang]

You can lobby Mika all you want to play BBB in the US. This has absolutely nothing to do with the UK. What Mika does in the UK has absolutely nothing to do with you or what you want. 1500 people do not have to forfeit the chance to listen to their favourite songs so you can hear BBB on the other side of the world. This is the most bizarre line of thinking I have ever heard. Please just stop

 

I am not against anyone lobbying mika to play the songs they want, they want to hear their favorite songs? Ask him! Even by doing so it takes the French songs position I can still understand.

 

But don't you see the difference here? It is one thing you ask him to sing some songs, it's not the same thing as you ask him to not sing some songs, the latter one is much more exclusive.

 

I keep arguing for this, because if today some UK fans stop him from singing French songs, tomorrow some US fans could do the same thing to stop him singing French songs too. This could set a bad precedent that other people can follow. You said here multiple times that you didn't want him to sing BBB in US too.

 

And since you're selling your UK gig ticket, why do you still care if he sing French songs in the next UK gig or not?

[Christine]

But don't you see the difference here? It is one thing you ask him to sing some songs, it's not the same thing as you ask him to not sing some songs, the latter one is much more exclusive.

 

The difference is lobbying Mika to play your favourite song is nothing but selfishness. Telling Mika not to play his French songs in a market that doesn't value them benefits the vast majority of people involved, including Mika. He is not doing himself any favours by alienating people and replacing their favourite songs with ones that don't hold any meaning for them. You and Mika's other fans who love his French songs can cling to your belief that people who want an English-only gig are intolerant and closed minded or rude or dumb or whatever it is you want to say or think about them. It doesn't change reality. It doesn't change their behaviour. They are just going to stop buying albums and gig tickets as they have been doing year after year as Mika ignores them and their preferences. And before you know it, you won't be hearing BBB in NYC because Mika will stop coming to NYC altogether because his fanbase is too small.

 

Going back to some of your previous comments can you please not say that I am close to Mika? If that was true I would be calling him up and telling him to apologize to Jemma so she didn't have to make that video and we wouldn't be having this ridiculous debate about whether it is justified for Mika to throw one of his fans under a bus because he is butthurt.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Christine

[yang]

The difference is lobbying Mika to play your favourite song is nothing but selfishness. Telling Mika not to play his French songs in a market that doesn't value them benefits the vast majority of people involved, including Mika. He is not doing himself any favours by alienating people and replacing their favourite songs with ones that don't hold any meaning for them. You and Mika's other fans who love his French songs can cling to your belief that people who want an English-only gig are intolerant and closed minded or rude or dumb or whatever it is you want to say or think about them. It doesn't change reality. It doesn't change their behaviour. They are just going to stop buying albums and gig tickets as they have been doing year after year as Mika ignores them and their preferences. And before you know it, you won't be hearing BBB in NYC because Mika will stop coming to NYC altogether because his fanbase is too small.

 

Going back to some of your previous comments can you please not say that I am close to Mika? If that was true I would be calling him up and telling him to apologize to Jemma so she didn't have to make that video and we wouldn't be having this ridiculous debate about whether it is justified for Mika to throw one of his fans under a bus because he is butthurt.

 

If you are talking about his marketing I can totally understand. But how many UK/US albums he is selling today anyway? The loyal customers(in this case, loyal fans) should not be that easy to switch, right?

He is selling much better in France, right? Maybe that is why he constantly want to please them more?

 

I said "closer", I mean closer than me. I edited it anyway. But you kept mentioning how long you were a fan and how well you knew about his gigs and he was not chatting less even someone also in that gig said he was. And, you said so in the chat yourself, you told us you met MIKA's partner occasionally to talk about fan stuff.

 

If you are not very close to MIKA to know what he thinks, and clearly you can not read mind, how can you keep saying he's self-indulgent to sing BBB or TOOL, and that's his purpose not others? You can say you think, or you assume, but you always sound very certain that you know it.

Edited March 11, 2016 by yang

[Christine]

I said "closer", I mean closer than me. I edited it anyway. But you kept mentioning how long you were a fan and how well you knew about his gigs and he was not chatting less even someone also in that gig said he was. And, you said so in the chat yourself, you told us you met MIKA's partner occasionally to talk about fan stuff.

Being familiar with Mika's gigs is not being "closer" to him. That word implies we have some sort of personal relationship. Lots of older fans have interacted with his partner because it was his job to interview us. But he is professional and it's not like he gossips with fans about Mika

 

If you are not very close to MIKA to know what he thinks, and clearly you can not read mind, how can you keep saying he's self-indulgent to sing BBB or TOOL, and that's his purpose not others? You can say you think, or you assume, but you always sound very certain that you know it.

Self indulgence is not a thought, it's an action. I don't need to read his mind to draw conclusions about what he's doing. It doesn't matter what he thinks, it matters what the result is. Besides everyone keeps telling me that Mika should sing French songs (or do all kinds of other things I don't approve of) because he can do whatever he wants. Doing whatever you want is exactly what self-indulgence is.

[yang]

Being familiar with Mika's gigs is not being "closer" to him. That word implies we have some sort of personal relationship. Lots of older fans have interacted with his partner because it was his job to interview us. But he is professional and it's not like he gossips with fans about Mika

 

 

Self indulgence is not a thought, it's an action. I don't need to read his mind to draw conclusions about what he's doing. It doesn't matter what he thinks, it matters what the result is. Besides everyone keeps telling me that Mika should sing French songs (or do all kinds of other things I don't approve of) because he can do whatever he wants. Doing whatever you want is exactly what self-indulgence is.

 

Ahh, OK, new phrase to learn~

[yang]

Well, I did not mock anyone, I just asked how you define the 'we' you are talking in the name of. So it is that group then, I see. Thank you.

 

 

Whether I live in a English speaking country or not, you are in no position to point out I post misspelling comments. It's very impolite to classify people to groups based on the flaws in their figure. It's equally impolite to refer people to "a group with misspelling comments".   

 

.

 

So who needs to read guidelines?

 

  Like the way I realize it's none of my business if MIKA does not mind being harshly criticized by MFCers, in this case she does not mind, so it's none of you business.