MIKA in Polish Press

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

At last I can create this thread!

Nothing new but today I found a short video on a Polish website Interia - Interia TV.

 

A Polish journalist talks about Relax and it's similarity to a Cutting Crew song  from 1986 "I just died in your arms".

 

I am not able to download the file.

The text under the video:

 

Everyone knows this voice, but only a few noticed the inspiration from the song "I just died in your arms". Mika and the story of the exceptionally chillout "Relax" in the new episode of Hits from Satellite.

 

"Mika became a star all of sudden. 

The first version of the song had a little conservative arrangement.

       ""I wanted to create a song to dance - in  a classical meaning - sais Mika - It was supposed to be a song recorded by real musicians with a funk bass line. I manged to invite musicians who were working with Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson"".

 

The audience heard the final result of the work in June 2006. 

There is a saying which is true very often : The audience likes the songs which they already knows.

There are many examples for it.

It concerns as well the song Relax.

When you listen very carefully to the refrain it can remind you something. (we can hear a beginning of the song "I Just Died in Your Arms")

Mika borrowed a melody from a British band Cutting Crew song recorded 20 years before. 

"I Just Died in Your Arms" was a huge hit all over the world with The Billboard on the top.

So no wonder that  Mika's song reminded a lot of good memories in the audience. He could be sure for the future. And it was very fruitful.

Internauts started to download the song like crazy.

It invited the record company to make a second release of the song.

The first one was limited only to a few European countries.

The second one was global - even in some exotic countries like Venezuela, Slovakia or Poland.

In USA Mika could only dream about dancing charts where he ended up on the 14th place.

 

Mika started his career in a very good way. After Relax there was other songs (we can hear Grace Kelly, Love Today, We Are Golden)

and then the first album. From today's perspective it's hard to talk about a huge career because Mika's scores started to drop down.

And it is still too early to talk about Relax as a "classic".

 

 

 

https://m.interia.pl/interia-tv/video,vId,3064469

Edited April 16, 2021 by Anna Ko Kolkowska

[Kumazzz]

11 hours ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

 

https://m.interia.pl/interia-tv/video,vId,3064469

The site says

 

"Materiał nie jest dostępny w twojej lokalizacji."

 

I can't d/l the video.

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

An interview with Mae Muller before Eurovision 2023.

 

They mention Grace Kelly video where we can see Mae sitting on the piano in a green dress.

 

 

 

 

https://muzyka.interia.pl/raport-eurowizja-2023/news-z-piosenka-o-zdradzie-na-eurowizje-mae-muller-trzeba-sluchac,nId,6695363

 

 

Mateusz Kamiński

 

Sam Ryder za sprawą piosenki "Space Man" przywrócił Brytyjczykom nadzieję, że w konkursie Eurowizji nie powiedzieli jeszcze ostatniego słowa. Ubiegłoroczne drugie miejsce, a także zorganizowanie konkursu w Liverpoolu, zwiększa tylko ich apetyt na zwycięstwo. Przepustką do wygranej ma być 25-letnia Mae Muller, która w tym roku powalczy o triumf z piosenką "I Wrote A Song". - Moja piosenka (...) to wzięcie wszystkich negatywnych emocji i zamienienie ich w coś pozytywnego - mówi w rozmowie z Interią.

 

Mae Muller wciąż pracowała w lokalnym pubie, kiedy podpisała swój pierwszy kontrakt. Jeśli jej twarz wydaje ci się znajoma, to dobrze kombinujesz - to właśnie Mae mogliśmy oglądać jeszcze jako dziecko w klipie do piosenki Miki "Grace Kelly", gdy w żółtej sukience siedząc na pianinie parafrazowała wypowiedź legendarnej aktorki z filmu "Dziewczyna z prowincji". 

 

Teraz Muller przypomina o sobie jako pełnoprawna artystka. Ma już na koncie trzy EP-ki, w tym przebojowy numer "Better Days", z którym wystąpiła m.in. w programie Jimmy'ego Fallona. Choć ma zaledwie 25 lat, a na koncie 5 milionów odsłuchów miesięcznie w Spotify, Mae jest głodna kolejnych wyzwań. 

W tym roku na 67. Konkursie Piosenki Eurowizji w Liverpoolu będzie reprezentować swój kraj z piosenką "I Wrote A Song", przy której pomagali jej m.in. nominowany do BRIT Awards Lewis Thompson oraz Karen Poole, która współpracowała już m.in. z Kylie Minogue czy Lily Allen.

 

Mateusz Kamiński, Interia: - Będziesz reprezentować Wielką Brytanię w tegorocznym konkursie Eurowizji. To dość odpowiedzialna rola? 

Mae Muller: - Jest to dla mnie chyba najważniejsze dotąd zadanie i jestem za nie niezwykle wdzięczna. Wiem, jak wielką sprawą jest Eurowizja, a jej atmosfera jest bardzo ekscytująca. Przez miesiące musiałam trzymać w tajemnicy swój udział więc, teraz gdy mogę o tym mówić to... (pisk radości).  

Shakira ostro pojechała po Pique, Miley Cyrus podbiła świat "Flowers", a ty 'napisałaś piosenkę'. "I Wrote a Song" to numer o rozstaniu. 

- Miley i Shakira, czyli absolutne ikony muzyki, zrobiły to i gdyby połączyć te wszystkie piosenki w jedną, to opowiadają one o kobietach, które są silne pomimo tych wszystkich rzeczy, przez które przeszły - pomimo tego co może się wydarzyć i tego, kiedy czują, że ktoś je zranił. I myślę, że moja piosenka "I Wrote A Song" jest właśnie o tym - to wzięcie wszystkich negatywnych emocji i zamienienie ich w coś pozytywnego. Ta piosenka jest o tym, by zawsze wybierać siebie i właśnie siebie stawiać na pierwszym miejscu. Byłoby wspaniale, gdyby ludzie mogli utożsamiać się z nią tak, jak będą tylko chcieli.  

Mówisz, że chcesz być przykładem i inspiracją dla wszystkich kobiet. Czy uważasz, że kobiety w świecie muzyki są niesprawiedliwie traktowane? 

 

- Mam wielkie szczęście mając w swoim zespole wiele kobiet i widzę też ich coraz więcej za kulisami. Ale zdecydowanie jest jeszcze wiele do zrobienia w tych sprawach. Większość songwriterów to kobiety i czuję, że twórcy piosenek w ogóle powinni być lepiej traktowani. Będąc artystką, będąc przed kamerą czujesz trochę presję, kiedy zdajesz sobie sprawę, że jest pewien standard tego, jak ludzie sądzą, że powinnaś wyglądać, gdy najważniejsza powinna być muzyka. Jest sporo do zrobienia i wydaje mi się, że odpowiedzią na to jest słuchanie. Trzeba słuchać kobiet, gdy mówią o tym, przez co przechodzą. Słuchać naszych doświadczeń i uwierzyć nam.  W moim położeniu jestem naprawdę szczęśliwa, bo mam wokół siebie wiele niesamowitych kobiet. 

Niedawno było sporo kontrowersji na temat nieproporcjonalnej liczby artystek w line-upie Glastonbury, gdzie na głównej scenie nie ma żadnej kobiecej headlinerki. 

- Sądzę, że organizatorzy festiwali też mogliby bardziej się postarać i tworzyć line-up przynajmniej 50/50. Jest tak wiele wspaniałych artystek. Glastonbury jest kultowym festiwalem i na pewno chciałabym tam kiedyś wystąpić. To się jeszcze nie zdarzyło, ale trzymam kciuki. Może w przyszłym roku. Przyjedziesz? (śmiech) 

Oczywiście! (śmiech) Wracając do Eurowizji - Sam Ryder podczas zeszłorocznego konkursu zajął drugie miejsce, a Wielka Brytania nie odniosła takiego sukcesu w imprezie od wielu lat. Czy to tchnęło w twój kraj nadzieję na zwycięstwo? Czujesz presję, by pobić jego wynik? 

- Uwielbiam Sama, który zrobił naprawdę wyśmienitą robotę! Nigdy nie pomyślałam jednak w stylu "chcę być lepsza", bo wiem, że jesteśmy bardzo różni. Co jest niesamowite w Eurowizji, to ta różnorodność - jednego roku wygrywa taki projekt, a w kolejnym ktoś całkowicie inny. Ta wszechstronność pokazuje, jak wspaniała jest muzyka. W tym roku chcę, żeby wszyscy byli ze mnie dumni, chciałabym też utrzymać tę pozytywną atmosferę, którą Sam tak wspaniale wytworzył. 

Wiesz, poza tym ekscytuje mnie to, że zrobię to na swój sposób. Jesteśmy różnymi artystami, więc nasze występy też będą różne. Ale mam nadzieję, że mnie też dobrze pójdzie. (śmiech) 

Z Eurowizji wywodzi się wiele przebojów - który jest twoim ulubionym?  

- Oczywiście, że ABBA! Według mnie to najlepsza grupa w historii i jestem ich wielką fanką. A samo to, że wywodzą się z Eurowizji jest już ikoniczne. Lubię Maneskin, bardzo podobała mi się też piosenka Netty, "Toy". Była czymś nietuzinkowym, interesującym, mądrym i inspirującym. Więc sam widzisz, tych troje artystów jest od siebie całkiem różnych. Ale to jest właśnie świetne w Eurowizji. 

 

Czy występ na Eurowizji to jedynie spełnienie patriotycznego obowiązku, a może własnego marzenia? 

- To pewna mieszanka, na którą składa się wiele rzeczy. Całe życie żyję w Wielkiej Brytanii i staram się pokazywać to swoją muzyką. Śpiewam ze swoim brytyjskim akcentem, a wywodzę się z Camden w Londynie, gdzie żyła Amy Winehouse. Jestem dumna, że mogę reprezentować Wielką Brytanię, a przy tym mam też zamiar dobrze się bawić! Pamiętam jednak, że spoczywa na mnie odpowiedzialność, żeby dać jak najlepszy występ, mam dużo respektu wobec konkursu, który dla wielu znaczy tak wiele. Więc jest tak pół na pół - jadę tam i bawię się każdą chwilą, a z drugiej strony wiem, że to całkiem poważna sprawa i nie mogę narobić tam bałaganu. 

Obserwujesz swoich konkurentów z innych krajów? 

- W tym roku startuje wielu utalentowanych artystów, wręcz ponad skalę! Ekscytuje mnie to, że mogę być tego częścią. Jest tyle wspaniałych piosenek i wokalistów, codziennie ich słucham, odkąd skończyłam swoje sprawy - nagrałam piosenkę, nagrałam klip. Teraz w końcu mogę cieszyć się tym, co stworzyli i bardzo podoba mi się to, co widzę.  

Mam wrażenie, że w ostatnich latach Eurowizja z "kiczowatego konkursu" stała się znów bardzo ważnym wydarzeniem w branży muzycznej. 

- Tak, wydaje mi się, że ludzie patrzą na nią teraz trochę inaczej. Rzeczywiście biorą ją chyba bardziej na poważnie. Zawsze to miała być frajda, coś co oglądało się z rodziną, ale w ostatnich latach obserwując tak z boku można poczuć tę zmianę. 

Tegoroczna Eurowizja odbywa się w Liverpoolu, czyli poniekąd muzycznej stolicy Wielkiej Brytanii. Trochę jakby wasza muzyka powróciła do kolebki, do domu? 

- Liverpool ma tak wiele powiązań z muzyką, przede wszystkim The Beatles. Czy muszę mówić coś więcej?! To najbardziej wpływowy zespół w historii muzyki. Nie możesz być songwriterem nie będąc fanem Beatlesów. Na pewno będzie to bardzo inspirujące miejsce. Wielka Brytania jest bardzo podekscytowana, że w imieniu Ukrainy może zorganizować konkurs. Chcę, żebyśmy pamiętali, że my jesteśmy gospodarzami, ale tak naprawdę ta noc należy do Ukrainy. Chcę, żeby mogli celebrować ten dzień razem z nami. Ale na pewno jesteśmy bardzo podekscytowani. 

Teraz pewnie jesteś najmocniej skupiona na Eurowizji. A co planujesz później? 

Teraz naprawdę myślę tylko o Eurowizji. Ale później wydam na pewno jeszcze więcej muzyki. Zrobiłam album, który jest już niemal gotowy, a znajdą się na nim moje ulubione piosenki. Najlepsze, jakie kiedykolwiek napisałam! Czuję, że dzięki nim pokażę naprawdę różne strony mnie i bardzo ekscytuję się na samą myśl, że ludzie je usłyszą. Potem na pewno będzie jeszcze trasa, więc dzieje się i liczę, że ci, którzy odkryją mnie dzięki tej eurowizyjnej podróży zostaną ze mną na chwilę dłużej. (śmiech) 

 

 

 

English

 

 

Mateusz Kamiński

 

Sam Ryder, thanks to the song "Space Man", restored the British hope that they had not yet said the last word in the Eurovision Song Contest. Last year's second place, as well as the organization of the competition in Liverpool, only increases their appetite for victory. 25-year-old Mae Muller, who will fight for the triumph this year with the song "I Wrote A Song", is to be the ticket to the win.

- My song (...) is about taking all negative emotions and turn them into something positive - she says in an interview with Interia.

Mae Muller was still working in a local pub when she signed her first contract. If her face seems familiar to you, you're thinking well - it was Mae that we could see as a child in the clip for Mika's song "Grace Kelly", when in a yellow dress, sitting on the piano, she paraphrased the statement of the legendary actress from the movie "The Country Girl".

 

Now Muller reminds herself of herself as a full-fledged artist. She has already released three EPs, including the hit number "Better Days", with which she performed, among others. in the Jimmy Fallon program. Although she is only 25 years old and has 5 million listeners per month on Spotify, Mae is hungry for new challenges.

 

This year, at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, she will represent her country with the song "I Wrote A Song", with the help of, among others, BRIT Awards nominee Lewis Thompson and Karen Poole, who has already collaborated with, among others, with Kylie Minogue or Lily Allen.

 

Mateusz Kamiński, Interia: - You will represent Great Britain in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Is it quite a responsible role?
Mae Muller: - This is probably the most important task for me so far and I am extremely grateful for it. I know what a big deal Eurovision is, and its atmosphere is very exciting. For months I had to keep my participation a secret, so now that I can talk about it... (scream of joy).
Shakira went after Pique hard, Miley Cyrus conquered the world of "Flowers", and you 'wrote a song'. "I Wrote a Song" is a number about parting.
- Miley and Shakira, the absolute icons of music, did it, and if you put all these songs together, they're about women who are strong despite all the things they've been through - despite what might happen and when they feel that someone hurt them. And I think my song "I Wrote A Song" is about that - it's taking all the negative emotions and turning them into something positive. This song is about always choosing yourself and putting yourself first. It would be great if people could identify with it however they want.
You say you want to be an example and inspiration for all women. Do you think that women in the music world are treated unfairly?

 

- I am very lucky to have many women in my team and I also see more and more of them behind the scenes. But there is definitely still a lot to do in these matters. Most songwriters are women, and I feel that songwriters in general should be treated better. Being an artist, being in front of the camera feels a bit of a pressure when you realize there's a certain standard of what people think you should look like when the music should be the focus. There's a lot to be done, and I think the answer to that is listening. You have to listen to women when they talk about what they're going through. Listen to our experiences and believe us. In my position, I am really happy because I have many amazing women around me.

 

Recently, there was a lot of controversy about the disproportionate number of artists in the Glastonbury line-up, where there is no female headliner on the main stage.
- I think that the festival organizers could also try harder and create a line-up of at least 50/50. There are so many great artists. Glastonbury is a cult festival and I would definitely like to perform there someday. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe next year. You will come? (laughter)

 

Of course! (laughs) Returning to Eurovision - Sam Ryder took second place during last year's contest, and Great Britain has not been so successful in the event for many years. Did it give your country hope for victory? Feeling pressure to beat his score?
- I love Sam he did a really great job! However, I never thought "I want to be better", because I know that we are very different. What is amazing about Eurovision is this diversity - one year such a project wins, and the next someone completely different. This versatility shows how great music is. This year, I want everyone to be proud of me, and I would also like to maintain the positive atmosphere that Sam created so wonderfully.
You know, I'm also excited to do it my way. We are different artists, so our performances will also be different. But I hope I do well too. (laughter)

 

Many hit songs come from Eurovision - which is your favourite?
- Of course ABBA! In my opinion, they are the best group in history and I am a huge fan of them. And the fact that they come from Eurovision is already iconic. I like Maneskin, and I really liked Netty's song "Toy". She was something extraordinary, interesting, wise and inspiring. So you see, these three artists are quite different from each other. But that's what's great about Eurovision.

 

Is the performance at Eurovision only the fulfillment of a patriotic duty, or maybe one's own dream?
- It's a mix of many things. I've lived in Great Britain all my life and I try to show it with my music. I sing with my British accent and come from Camden, London, where Amy Winehouse lived. I'm proud to represent Great Britain, and I'm also going to have fun! However, I remember that it is my responsibility to give the best performance, I have a lot of respect for the competition, which means so much to so many. So it's half and half - I'm going there and enjoying every moment, and on the other hand, I know it's quite serious and I can't make a mess there.

 

Do you follow your competitors from other countries?
- Many talented artists are taking part this year, even beyond scale! I'm excited to be a part of this. There are so many great songs and vocalists, I listen to them every day since I finished my business - I recorded a song, I recorded a clip. Now I can finally enjoy what they have created and I really like what I see.

 

 

I have the impression that in recent years Eurovision has turned from a "kitsch competition" into a very important event in the music industry again.
- Yes, I think people look at her a little differently now. They actually take it more seriously. It was always supposed to be fun, something to watch with the family, but in recent years, watching from the sidelines, you can feel this change.
This year's Eurovision takes place in Liverpool, which is, in a way, the musical capital of Great Britain. A bit like your music has returned to its cradle, home?
- Liverpool has so many connections with music, especially The Beatles. Do I need to say more?! This is the most influential band in the history of music. You can't be a songwriter without being a Beatles fan. It will be a very inspiring place for sure. Great Britain is very excited to organize the competition on behalf of Ukraine. I want us to remember that we are the hosts, but this night really belongs to Ukraine. I want them to be able to celebrate this day with us. But we are definitely very excited.

You're probably most focused on Eurovision right now. And what are you planning later?

 

Now I really only think about Eurovision. But later I will definitely release even more music. I made an album that is almost ready, and it will contain my favorite songs. The best I've ever written! I feel that thanks to them I will show really different sides of me and I get very excited at the thought that people will hear them. After that, there will definitely be a tour, so it's happening and I hope that those who discover me thanks to this Eurovision journey will stay with me for a while longer. (laughter)

 

 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

Polish Radio ESKA (a big radio station) reacted on Mika's TikTok with his Eurovision songs rate.

The link to this Mika's TikTok post is as well in the text.

 

As Mika put Polish singer Blanka on the second place (after the UK song by Mae Muller) it became viral between Polish listeners.

 

I don't have to mention that there is a lot of comments under this video from Polish TikTokers and a lot of them don't understand Mika's choice.

 

 

https://www.eska.pl/news/blanka-doceniona-przez-zagraniczna-gwiazde-jest-zachwycony-solo-aa-tD9B-ky8v-UNh7.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=eskapl&utm_content=post-link&fbclid=IwAR1VADI2bYzGtcj9uo7I9_fF87CcjRPhjUW4zhoSPP8UCJKt-fdoZeC6Gtg

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/wwweskapl/posts/pfbid028xz22TExKSTTW1pqRJYpZusJxFdxzivGNLct6DY13Puw3792ynF48nmNFeSc6eJ3l?comment_id=190383073330107&notif_id=1681339873620604&notif_t=comment_mention&ref=notif

 

 

 

Blanka appreciated by a foreign star. He is delighted by her song Solo!
Adrian Rybak
2023-04-16

Blanka is trying to conquer the world. The Polish representative at Eurovision 2023 was initially very bitterly received by the Polish audience, but she decided not to give up and fight for her own. Now it has been appreciated by a foreign artist who is not only known to millions of people, but also has a lot in common with Eurovision itself. Who is it about?

 

In just a few weeks, Blanka will face the most important challenge in her life. She will perform at Eurovision 2023 as a representative of Poland. Since winning the pre-selection, she has not had it easy, because she has received a lot of criticism. Internet users suspected a set-up. The quality of Solo's song and Blanca's singing and dancing skills were also questioned. Despite the enormous pressure, the singer did not give up going to the competition. Over time, the already famous "bejba" became viral, and the song itself began to gain a larger group of fans. Now Solo has been appreciated by a foreign star. You may know this artist from such hits as Grace Kelly or Relax Take It Easy.

 

The star in question is of course Mika. The British artist on his TikTok profile published a list of ten favorite songs from this year's Eurovision and Blanka was in this list on ... 2nd place! She was surpassed only by Mae Muller from Great Britain. However, Mika gave Poland a higher place than Loreen, who was considered the favorite. The Swede closed the podium.

 

 

 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

Polish website QUEER.PL sent me a link to its long text about Mika written before the release of his new French album.

There is a few "mistakes" or misinterpretations but I am happy that at last someone took time to write a long text about Mika and his music 

 

https://queer.pl/artykul/206891/glowa-pelna-kwiatow-premiera-szostego-studyjnego-albumu-miki?fbclid=IwAR3p-AFzSt5dB4zWGGnBVoIbMQkbKO_xVGNtBu0KzGnJTsh9CTUylNwlI-c

 

 

Google translation into English:

 

A head full of flowers - premiere of Mika's sixth studio album

 

 

 

 

The premiere of Mika's sixth studio album, Que ta tête fleurisse toujours, is announced for December 1, 2023. Four years since the artist's last LP, My Name Is Michael Holbrook (apart from live albums and hit compilations). Mika released the song announcing the new album quite unexpectedly, performing the song at the Francofolies festival in the Belgian city of Spa and breaking several years of secrecy surrounding the work on the new album.

The official video for the single C'est la Vie is a not very complicated animation: a lot of greenery in the background, on which a demonstratively bent and bent singer in a pale pink suit with a huge peony bursting out of it, more or less in the place of the heart, floats. French lyrics slide along the way. At one point, flowers fall out of his head, which opens. The title of the album can be translated: "May flowers always grow from your head."

 

 

The artist's star shone on the Vistula River for a short time, in fact only with his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion from 2007. The song Relax, Take It Easy in Poland was then captured by an advertising campaign of one of the mobile operators. Soon after, this charming boy was practically forgotten in Poland. At the same time, Mika (sometimes: MIKA) is still appreciated in Great Britain, even if he is no longer as popular there as he was a dozen or so years ago, but he is loved like few others in France (and the entire European "Francophonie"), in Italy he is popular that they put him there to host the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin in 2022 with Laura Pausini, and in South Korea his concerts can fill the Olympic Stadium in Seoul.

So let's finally dig him out of the harmful oblivion he fell into on the Vistula River.

 

A boy from Beirut

Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr. was born on August 18, 1983 in the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, in the family of an American Michael Holbrook Penniman and a Lebanese woman Joanna Mouakad, who met in New York. He is the middle of their five children. The other four are three sisters, Yasmina, Paloma and Zuleika, and a brother, Fortuné. Mika is his nickname from Lebanon, derived from the name Michael in Arabic, invented by his mother and quickly adopted by the rest of his family and friends.

He has dual citizenship - American (inherited from his father) and British (by inheritance) - but when the conversation comes to his nationality, he always means his Lebaneseness. In reactions to serious questions (what is most Lebanese in his music or personality? - he will answer: undisguised sentimentality) - and in jokes, because he is also a bit of a joker with a charming distance to himself.

― But I have to pluck my eyebrows because I'm Lebanese! Without it, I would have one big eyebrow across my entire forehead! – he laughed on British television, drawing this eyebrow on his face with his finger.

In the French edition of the television format "The Voice", in which he was a juror-mentor for five seasons (and will return to this role in 2024), he once slumped in this huge armchair, in a theatrically exaggerated gesture of disappointment (he was not chosen by someone as a mentor ) and sighed:

― In this edition, only those jurors who turn around first are selected. And what am I suppose to do? I'm always late, I'm Lebanese, it's genetic for me.

When in the summer of 2020, a huge explosion in the Beirut port wiped out a large part of the city, Mika, despite pandemic lockdowns, organized the I Love Beirut charity concert on his own. He called for help, among others. Kylie Minogue, Salma Hayek (also with Lebanese roots) and the legendary, now disbanded Lebanese band Mashrou 'Leila (Hamed Sinno sang with them, partly in Arabic, Promiseland). He broadcast it from an empty theater on YouTube. He collected one million euros for the Red Cross to help his beloved city.

Paris, London and the Gulf War

However, Mika did not spend much time in Lebanon. In the 1980s, the country was torn apart by a war of varying intensity. When Mika was only a year old, his family fled to Paris, where his well-connected father got a well-paid job (in a bank). From then on, in exile, Lebanese culture was what their mother filled their family home with.

 

In Paris, little Mika also absorbed another language and another culture. He would later repeatedly affirm his attachment to specifically French melodicism. Barbara (1930-1997), little known in Poland, is still one of his favorite performers. In his first season on the jury of "The Voice", Mika will lead to the victory of 17-year-old Catalan Roma Kendji Girac, with whom in the final he will sing probably Barbara's biggest hit (she sold a million copies in 12 hours), L'Aigle noir.

Childhood in a wealthy district of Paris (with a school with uniforms) was abruptly interrupted by 1990 and the First Gulf War. Michael Holbrook's father found her outburst on a business trip to Kuwait. The captured man found himself in captivity for many months. Left with five children, Joannie packed up and looked for a way to survive the situation in London, where there is also a significant Lebanese community.

Many months without his father, but knowing how serious a threat he was in, were a traumatic experience for the boy. At the same time, it tied him forever to the poetics and structures of fairy tales. Fear and horror are some of his great themes. Toy Boy is about a boy-doll who is tormented by fears that from the point of view of the adult world there is something suspicious about the boy who hugs him falling asleep with him. Like the uncensored Brothers Grimm, the doll's eyes will be gouged out at the end. In Lady Jane we have a character who encourages a man in love to tread water (drown).

In 1991, Michael Holbrook's father was released and returned to his family. Initially, for the boy it was an extension of the trauma - it was so difficult for him to recognize this emaciated and bearded man as his father.

However, the family remained in London.

 

"Because I write songs"

In London, Mika had no problem with the language because his parents already spoke English in Lebanon. But he had problems at school. He didn't even mention it at home, but the children there were punished by sitting still for hours on an exposed chair, even if they needed to go to the bathroom. At most, they were additionally humiliated. One day little Mika forgot his school bag. Yasmina, his older sister (she will design several album covers for him in the future), found out and took it to him at school. She walked into the classroom and saw him sitting there. She took him by the hand and took him home, raising the alarm in the family. The mother made such a fuss at school that... little Mika was expelled from school.

Joanna decided that the boy would study at home, even if he had to struggle with dyslexia so severe that for some time - as he later said - he practically couldn't write. As long as he studies music seriously. At the age of seven he had already written his first song, even if he later said that "it was terrible". This is how little Mika came under the care of a Russian opera singer who was teaching singing in London at the time. Alla Ablaberdyeva, known in London as Alla Ardakov, turned out to be so severe and unceremonious (she used methods such as violently lifting a singing boy off the floor to exercise his diaphragm) that at times Mika missed school. She was severe, but he owes her first performance on stage at the age of eleven - in Richard Strauss' opera The Woman Without a Shadow (Die Frau ohne Schatten).

For several years, Mika studied classical music - mainly singing - at the Royal Conservatory in London. Even though his voice moves freely within five octaves, he spent these years convinced that as an opera performer he would never be as good as some of his colleagues. One of them, the Swede Ida Falk Winland, noticed how tired he was, because sometimes he only completed tasks with trivial tasks just to have some peace and quiet.

― Mika, why are you here? – she finally asked him.

"Because I write songs," he admitted.

He admitted, because he hid it from his teachers, that he was looking for a music publisher for them (working on a pop album while studying was not welcomed in these respectable walls).

- What? Show me.

He played and sang Happy Ending to her. Later, they will perform this song together many times, both in the official version, which will be included on the debut album, and in various concert performances.

 

Grace Kelly

He was 21 years old then. He prepared a demo with his songs (33 songs) and wandered around with it from studio to studio. Later he said he heard from them:

― You're great, but couldn't you write something more like Robbie Williams or Craig David? – it was the best seller back then.

The fourth time, he left the meeting so frustrated that he did what Mika likes best, which is to sit at the piano and write a song in one night. Grace Kelly, one of the most joyful and nonchalant acts of revenge in music history. "I could be brown, I could be blue, I could be violet sky" - he sings, twisting spectacular falsettos - but if he has to choose, he prefers to be "like Grace Kelly". For Lebanese grandmother Mika, the unforgettable Hitchcock actress, who later became Princess of Monaco, was the embodiment of perfection. Towards the end, the text goes completely haywire: "Can you unhook yourself? Look older? What else do I have to do to get it on your shelf?” He sent this song to the label. They understood - they never responded.

 

But the demo finally ended up in good hands at Island Records in London. In 2006, Grace Kelly made a sensation as a single (topping the charts in Great Britain), the Dodgy Holiday EP was also released digitally, and industry experts had no doubts: Mika would be the biggest new event in pop music in 2007. And so it happened. The Life in Cartoon Motion longplay sold 8.3 million copies.

"Music Genius"

The journalist who first introduced 23-year-old Mika to the television audience was the presenter of the French program "Taratata", Nagui. He even shouted to the audience in the studio and in front of the TV sets that they had in front of them a "musical genius". After a long break from everyday contact with French, Mika spoke the language with charming mistakes (he was confused about the grammatical genders of nouns).

 

Nagui wasn't exaggerating. Not only because Mika is an extraordinary performer who charges across the range of his voice, shooting out thunderous falsettos and playing with the listener with vocalizations. He once said that his dream was to create songs that no one would be able to reproduce in karaoke. Mika is not only a performer, but also the total author of his songs: he composes music and writes lyrics at the same time. Music and words result from each other and fuel each other. Only texts in languages other than English Mika writes with "autochthons". In French, many of them are co-authored by Doriand, in Italian, Mika often performs lyrics by Lucio Dalli.

Mika is a sponge for music, styles, even mannerisms of various artists. A sponge that absorbs all these influences and fascinations, mixes them in its own way and finally throws out something that in one fell swoop is very clearly associated with something (e.g. with the music of the 80s, with Freddie Mercury, or with the Beatles, or with romantic French chanson from the 1950s) and at the same time bears a clear signature of his own personality and interests.

 

In Grace Kelly he sounded "a bit like Freddie" (this is even mentioned in the lyrics) - and a bit like Freddie, he used elements of opera for his purposes. He opened the song with a musical phrase borrowed from The Marriage of Figaro. "I can be brown, I can be blue" plays on the same notes as Mozart's "Figaro-ci, Figaro-là". And for good reason. The Viennese opera was conceived as a form of insult to the rules and social relations of its time - like Grace Kelly to the relations in the contemporary entertainment industry.

Mika believes in songs that take stories, states or feelings that are painful or complicated, but enchant them in the form of a simple story, evoking strong images, pumped with music, sometimes in contrast to the theme, danceable, joyful or simple. In songs that make difficult things expressible or allow you to become familiar.

Relax, Take It Easy was created on the night after the London Underground bombings in July 2005. Mika was returning home on the Underground when an alarm was announced, trains were stopped in various places, passengers were evacuated at stations they didn't know. Returning home at night, he sat down (again) at the piano and encapsulated in this song a mixture of confused feelings: from fear, through coming to terms with the lack of control over the situation that was overwhelming him, to the hope of regaining a beneficial contact with a loved one. Elle me dit - the song also has a version (probably not a translation) in English, titled Emily - it talks about a period when his family was already in such trouble that they had no money to pay the bills. Stuck in the Middle - about a rocky relationship with a strict, traditional and very demanding grandmother.

 

The boy who didn't tell everything

With his first two albums (the second being The Boy Who Knew Too Much, 2009), Mika was trapped in a rather paradoxical relationship with his British label. To some extent, it exploited his queer-boyish sex appeal, far from his masculine, conquering, muscular masculinity. Beautiful, big, erotically dreamy Arab eyes. A disarming smile – or with lips parted as if in expectation or surprise. Crazy luscious curls. Tall but very slim figure. Island Records knew perfectly well that this was part of the charm with which Mika captivated his audience, perfectly rhyming with the eroticism of the lyrics of his songs. Mika never made a secret of the fact that he wrote a great Love Today, because he was bursting with happiness after being comfortable in bed with someone for the first time in his life. At the same time, the studio was concerned that there was something too "hot" about it. That its homoerotic temperature may rise above the controlled level at any time and translate into a marketing risk. That instead of the planet-scale superstar they had hoped to create, they would end up with an artist of a small niche of identity. Mika kept his balance on this unstable edge, but he felt like he couldn't quite be himself.

 

Both first albums included songs with homoerotic content, but, for example, told in the third person (Billy Brown), or with disturbing but unclear homoerotic overtones (Toy Boy). But there were also songs "about boys and girls" for balance. In addition, many songs used the lockpicks offered by the English language. When a man in love addresses someone he loves in the second person, as long as he doesn't use first names or call that person a woman or a man (boy or girl), English adjectives (or second-person verbs) do not differentiate between genders - the listener can do about it what he wants, imagine what he prefers. All this together could be presented as the voice of an entire generation that already accepted human sexual diversity, but did not have to say anything more.

For the first few years as a young star, Mika, clearly embarrassed by his publisher's concerns, despite the clear (and correctly interpreted by many from the beginning) "hints" placed in his work (and in his image), avoided open declarations regarding his sexuality and personal life.

The huge success of the first two albums resulted in long tours with lots of performances. When he performs a lot, Mika doesn't usually write - he needs concentration that is impossible during periods of concerts. After a long break from writing, he had trouble switching back from the performer mode to the author and composer mode.

“I felt like the audience already knew what my new song was going to sound like before I even started writing it,” he later confided.

He was a bit of a prisoner of his own success.

Then a serious accident threatened the health of Paloma's beloved sister. The topic will come back one day in the song Paloma, dedicated to her, which also plays with the meaning of this name ("dove" in Spanish). But not right away, only for a later album (one of many examples of how slowly and carefully Mika develops his themes). At this stage, the emotional upheaval pushed him to break the block. He put aside his worries about the reaction of the audience and the industry - he simply started writing what he was curious about and what he wanted to try. He gave himself the freedom to explore new inspirations and sounds (like synth-pop). After all, he had already experienced the experience of being a big pop star - apart from that, he also wanted to be himself.

“Only when you're not afraid to be silly can you do something truly creative,” he will say one day about that moment.

This is how the Origin of Love album was born. The album, which did not sell like the previous ones, probably did not exist in the public consciousness in Poland at all, and at the same time, some of the songs from there in some countries - such as France and South Korea - were among Mika's most immortal hits. In France, Underwater always sings with an audience - thousands of people - as a choir.

The year was 2012. Then, 28-year-old Mika finally told the world:

― Yes, all my love songs are about loving a man.

Becoming fully yourself is a project that will conclude with the album, My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019). Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr. and the boyish persona nicknamed Mika, through which he spoke for a long time, but also behind which he hid, will finally become one.

When he first publicly admitted that he was gay and in a relationship with a man, that man was the man he is with to this day: Greek director and editor Andreas Dermanis (they have been together for 18 years). He will later make a video for the brilliant (and unusual for him) song Yo Yo. He will be the hero of one of the songs on the upcoming French album. Based on a glance at the title list, you might expect it to be Moi, Andy et Paris. Mika laughed in a radio interview that it was a little revenge (for jumping sideways?) because Andreas doesn't speak French.

 

"I love this country"

― J'aime ce pays - he once said about France, probably more than once. Since his adult, mainly professional return, he has spent many years there on and off, even though he has been living mainly in Italy (Tuscany) for some time now.

He says that France allowed him to be himself. A country where, even with his sexuality, he felt completely accepted from the very beginning. On the Seine, no one was afraid of the consequences of his gayly "too hot" aura. He now talks about his homosexuality openly and without fear, seriously and jokingly. There was a visible transformation in him. He sings without fear the lyrics in which he asks "where have the gay guys gone?" (Good Guys); tells the anxieties of a boy brought up in a religious culture (Mika's family, also on the Arab side, is Catholic), about "sins" and "all the loves he had to hide" (No Place In Heaven); he fantasizes that he could be a "good wife" for someone (Good Wife; all three songs from the album No Place in Heaven, 2015). The video for Underwater (from the album Origin of Love) can be read homoerotic. He allowed his over-the-top gentleness to freely come to the fore, without hiding behind boyishness. Suits embroidered with birds or flowers, jackets sparkling with sequins, bright socks, shoes sparkling with glitter (from Louboutin, designed especially for him, so that they look like inconspicuous, very shiny sneakers, but strong enough so that he won't break his legs when jumping so much and constantly standing on the tips of your fingers).

There is a beautiful adjective in English and French - flamboyant. Nothing describes it well enough in Polish - not in the sense of referring to a certain figure of a homosexual man. No one today dresses it in a more disarming way than Mika.

 

Jane Birkin
The latest French album will feature a song about Jane Birkin (revealed on November 17), which talks about "dreaming about love à la Jane Birkin." Jane Birkin is a legendary actress and singer, who died this summer, best associated in the world with the 1972 hit, Je t'aime, moi non plus, sung with her partner Serge Gainsbourg. The Englishwoman who chose France was a bigger star there than in her homeland, even though she never got rid of her foreign accent (or maybe she never wanted to). If love à la Jane Birkin is reciprocated love for France and the French, then Mika's dream has already come true. It is as popular there as anywhere else in the world. The Apocalypse Calypso tour related to the latest album (starts in March 2024) has most of the concerts planned in France - and this is not the first time. It will occur at least once in almost every region of the country.

Mika has already recorded songs in French (Elle me dit, Boum boum boum, the French version of Grace Kelly, covers of other artists). For the first time, however, the entire original album will consist exclusively of songs in Molière's language. Just as Jane Birkin came to terms with her foreign accent, Mika wanted the new album to also bear traces of the mistakes he sometimes makes in French. First of all, he treats it as his personal signature, a sign of his own form of intimate contact with this language. Secondly, he is excited by the poetic possibilities opened up by using foreign languages (he also speaks Italian, which he learned in two months to be a juror on the local "X Factor", and Spanish). As he says, sometimes the fact that you don't know how to say something in a given language "normally" prompts you to look for an unexpected metaphor.

He chose a phrase for the album's title as if to spite the Anglo-Saxons - too difficult for them to read and remember. Maybe it's because he never made it to the top of the charts in America - even though his records sell well there and he gives successful concerts, he literally never was played on the radio. Too "hot" texts (or, as they say, too explicit). Today Mika doesn't care.

 

The title of the album, Que ta tête fleurisse toujours, is a phrase from the song C'est la Vie - a quote from his mother. She once gave him a birthday present, on which she drew his face with colorful flowers bursting from it. She signed it, "May flowers always grow from your head." It was one of his last birthdays at which she was present. Joannie died of cancer in February 2021. The song is a kind of farewell tribute to her mother – and to what she kept alive (“her Lebanon that [now] is blurring”). It doesn't sound like a funeral song at all. In one of the already recorded performances, she sings C'est la Vie with a choir of kids, like a great affirmation of life. But Mika has such a song philosophy.

Mika once said that his big dream is an album that will be like the Lebanese community he remembers from London, where everyone speaks three languages at once. CD with songs in Arabic, English and French. Maybe this one will be next - and maybe it's already being quietly developed, but it needs a few more years to complete it.

 

Jarosław Pietrzak

[SusanT]

The author must really appreciate Mika, otherwise why would he have written such a  detailed article. 😊

Edited December 6, 2023 by SusanT

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

3 hours ago, SusanT said:

The author must really appreciate Mika, otherwise why would he have written such a  detailed article. 😊

Yes, it looks like. But he is a "recent" fan. There is a few small mistakes in his text but they are not very important. Core fans would find it easily.

He lives in Amsterdam and he has already a ticket for the show 

He contacted me saying he would like to write another text about Mika's songs.

It would be fantastic!!!!

Edited December 6, 2023 by Anna Ko Kolkowska

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

Another text in Polish media about Mika's new album.

I like it pretty well written 9even if small errors occur)

 

https://musiclife.pl/mika-wydal-pierwszy-w-karierze-francuskojezyczny-album-odsluch/?fbclid=IwAR3J2FymxGa4JBRnxUcK6Us9N3DaS63V0x7g2KBJlC-cmAmREZ0TbcX5baM

 

Translation into English:

 

MIKA released the first French-language album in his career, "Que ta tête fleurisse toujours".

 

The Beirut-born artist spent the last few months writing and producing the album, devoting a lot of time to collaborating with young representatives of the French scene. This liberating experience had an amazing effect.

 

At the age of 40, MIKA took the risk of starting over, as it were, by deciding that his sixth album would be his first fully French-language release. Growing up, among others in Paris, the musician gave the French language a universal dimension. For the artist, it became the key to talking about his intimacy, and it also allowed him to change his attitude towards melody. MIKA faces his fears without inhibition, presenting them in full light. Love, sex, aging, death - the artist sings about it all, dancing to his own amazement. The new album returns the emotional fireworks of his colorful pop music, combined with sensual and at the same time humanistic poetry. A successful mix of pop music from the 80s and 90s and French chanson perfectly corresponds to sincere lyrics that encourage the listener to engage in a little self-reflection.
– It's a birthday present. A head in full bloom of creativity that expresses its heritage with the caption: "May your head always bloom," says MIKA.

The artist took the theme of his rebirth and the title of the new album from a drawing and words sent to him by his mother shortly before her death. MIKA writes and composes with an open heart, there are no taboos for him. On the album, which is a message of love for her mother and an ode to the passing of time, he opens up to new horizons, looking for joy in sad circumstances.

MIKA - angel or devil, celebrates "l'Apocalypse Calypso". In search of bodies burning with desire, he dances until the morning to "Sweetie Banana" and its phenomenal rhythms. In "30 Seconds" he talks about the moments when everything explodes. It touches on the theme of risk, love at first sight that strikes without warning, and a choice that changes your destiny, leaving you committed to a relationship for the rest of your life. In "Je sais que je t'aime" he traces the beauty of passion in the remains of life as a couple. In "Moi, Andy et Paris" he talks honestly as never before about his 18-year-old love for his partner. Emotions run high and make arguments a thing of the past in the city of love: Paris.

The spirit of Jane Birkin, her elegance, freedom and uniqueness hover over the entire album. Echoing her British accent, MIKA pays tribute to the artist in a song titled simply "Jane Birkin", written before her death. "Bougez" is an ironic manifesto against punishment for pleasure, as well as the paradoxical dictates of consumer society. The pop star is calling for resistance in these high-pressure, awkward times. Perhaps MIKA is taking revenge on his abusive teacher who tied him to a chair.
MIKA lives many lives, speaks many languages, has many passports and belongs to many places. The artist's multiple identities and his desire to explore, never-satisfied curiosity and crazy energy driving him to act around the world became the inspiration for "Passager", which is a reference to Georges Moustaki.

“Que ta tête fleurisse toujours” is a prayer and a call to creativity, showing us once again that MIKA never stops blooming.