Mika in Italian press - 2022

mellody · March 18, 2022

An interview in La Repubblica, 18 March 2022 - only available to subscribers.

https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2022/03/18/news/mika-341892547/

Faustine · March 18, 2022

Est-il possible de le mettre pour les personnes non abonnées ?

mellody · March 19, 2022

23 minutes ago, Faustine said:

Est-il possible de le mettre pour les personnes non abonnées ?

I hope someone can post the whole text for us, I can't read it either.

flymk33 · March 19, 2022

Mika, l'Eurovision e il resto del mondo. "Due anni fermo a sistemare il cervello. Ora sono un uragano"

di Gianni Santoro

La conduzione (con Cattelan e Pausini) dello show in programma a Torino dal 10 al 14 maggio, il tour a settembre, ma anche l'America, il Marocco, Parigi. "In questi ventiquattro mesi di Covid ho avuto modo di non fare niente, che è anche la cosa più potente al mondo"

L'ascolto è riservato agli abbonati

18 MARZO 2022

AGGIORNATO ALLE 23:28

8 MINUTI DI LETTURA

"Ho 38 anni, fra un anno e mezzo ne avrò 40. Allora voglio un uragano di attività. Invece di diminuire voglio aumentare". Mika è un fiume in piena. Era in pieno tour mondiale quando due anni fa arrivò il primo lockdown e la frenata fu brusca. "Il Covid mi ha dato la possibilità non solo di essere presente in famiglia quando mia madre stava morendo, ma anche in qualche modo di... guarire. Questa idea della guarigione del cervello è quasi un tabù. Ho avuto l'opportunità di sistemare il mio cervello. O di lasciare che si sistemasse da solo. Quindici anni di carriera e vita pubblica fottono la mente. Il successo, il fallimento, l'arte, l'egoismo... Lavoro da quando avevo otto anni".

Era un gioco a quell'età?

"No, no, era un job, un lavoro. Se metti un bambino a cantare davanti a tremila persone e poi gli dai un assegno quel bambino inizia a maturare molto velocemente. Mi buttarono fuori da scuola perché ero un disastro, allora mia madre mi disse: "Ok, allora lavorerai, imparerai dalla vita". Pochi mesi dopo cantavo alla Royal Opera di Londra nella produzione di un'opera di Strauss, La donna senza ombra. È ripartito tutto così dopo che per sette-otto mesi avevo dimenticato come leggere e scrivere".

A causa di un trauma?

"Sì, una storia complicata. Ci eravamo trasferiti dalla Francia in Inghilterra, mio padre era stato preso come ostaggio nella prima guerra del Golfo (banchiere, era in un viaggio di affari, ndr), e quando tornò era diverso. Perdemmo tutto. E poi a scuola avevo un'insegnante violenta, psicologicamente e fisicamente. Il cervello si spense un po' alla volta. Prima ero brillante, diventai un idiota. Mia madre disse: "Dobbiamo stabilire un nuovo sistema di valori per te: l'arte, la bellezza, non i voti a scuola"".

In questi due anni quindi ha avuto modo di rallentare e fare un bilancio.

"No, di non fare niente. Che è anche la cosa più potente al mondo".

C'era il rischio che non tornasse poi la voglia di fare?

"Chi se ne frega. Ma è tornata, per la gioia di farlo, non per la paura. A maggio dello scorso anno sono entrato in studio da solo. Il primo giorno mi sono messo lì e ho detto: voglio tornare al pianoforte. Ho iniziato con un ritmo alla Steve Reich. Poi ho aggiunto un'altra cosa, un loop di otto pianoforti che era come un cuscino: ero a casa, ho costruito una casa per il primo pezzo. E ho cominciato a recitare e a urlare come un pazzo. "Ti chiedi a volte dove va, dove va il sole, ti chiedi a volte dove vanno i ragazzi la notte, ti chiedi perché esci sempre dal mio letto prima che l'amore si metta fra di noi". Uno stato euforico, come se la musica fosse una droga.

E ora ha mille cose da fare.

"Ora vado in studio a Parigi per l'album, poi vado dai Berberi in montagna con una 4x4 per registrare musiche per la colonna sonora di un film francese, poi a Boston per la preproduzione per il tour americano, poi le arene in Canada, poi suonerò al festival di Coachella, poi sono a Rabat per 5 giorni per la colonna sonora, poi un nuovo video, poi a Torino per Eurovision e poi di nuovo con gli arrangiatori per la parte sinfonica del film. E quindi al matrimonio di mio fratello".

Come sarà la colonna sonora?

"È un film francese su un piccolo ragazzo di 11 anni che fa un viaggio dal Marocco in tutto il deserto del Sahara fino ad Abu Dhabi. E io devo accompagnare questo viaggio con 60-65 minuti di musica. Mi sono chiesto 50.000 volte: come si fa una cosa del genere? Come faccio tutto, come se fosse una scultura. Andrò con una 4x4 con il mio zaino e il mio assistente fonico a visitare queste tribù e a capire cos'è questa musica che non si può scrivere e non esiste scritta, va catturata e per capire devi viverla, vibrarla. Faremo questi field recordings con vari musicisti, per poi prendere queste informazioni e farle diventare una colonna sonora di un film anche con un'orchestra sinfonica. Non volevo fare questo errore gigante di cercare di scrivere la musica di una cultura dove la scrittura della musica non esiste. Parliamo di una zona che non è influenzata o contaminata dall'ovest. Se andiamo verso Tangeri lì c’è l’influenza dell’Andalusia ma arrivando dai Berberi le influenze sono dell’Africa profonda, ci sono anche legami con la musica del Congo. L’importante è non fare suonare all'orchestra sinfonica di Parigi o di Londra cose arabeggianti come fosse Aladdin".

E un tour italiano, The Magic Piano, in partenza da Verona il 18 e 19 settembre, con doppie date in ogni città, Firenze, Bari, Milano, Roma: la prima a teatro e la seconda in un'arena.

"Suonerò anche brani nuovi. Questa dualità mi permette di esprimere proprio i due aspetti della mia musica. Un concerto solo con il piano e un grande show spettacolare. Due serate che si parlano tra di loro, ci sarà un racconto, non autobiografico ma alla fine si parla anche della mia vita perché come tutti gli artisti sono un po' autoreferenziale".

Intanto l'Eurovision Song Contest, dal 10 al 14 maggio a Torino.

"Mi esibirò anche e sto pensando a una performance provocatoria. Sarà una sorpresa. Eurovision non è soltanto uno show, è come un'Expo ma concentrato in pochi giorni".

Meglio cantare o presentare?

"È uguale. Devi sempre pensare a quello che arriva alla gente a casa. È quello che faccio anche seduto al tavolo di X Factor, devi essere al servizio della persona sul divano davanti a uno schermo".

Ha mai pensato di gareggiare all'Eurovision?

"Non lo so, non è mai capitato. Però ci sono cose dell'Eurovision che mi piacevano tantissimo. In Inghilterra è sempre stata una serata sacra, prima in famiglia, poi al pub con troppe birre. Ricordo brani del passato come Puppet on a string. Era di Lulù o Petula Clark? Era tv in bianco e nero. Non c’ero ancora ma fa parte della cultura popolare. È un Sanremo diciamo più.. discutibile da alcuni punti di vista. Poi ricordo Katrina and the Waves, e poi c’erano degli olandesi che cantavano Flying on the wings of love. Se la canti in un pub in Inghilterra tutti la intonano in coro".

Lo scorso anno ci fu la consacrazione dei Maneskin.

"Io non c’ero quando vinsero X Factor. Però mi ricordo quando sono venuti a cantare l’anno successivo e lì ho visto una cosa molto precisa. Ero scioccato dalla precisione e dalla cura del dettaglio dell'insieme. Questo gruppo ha capito la forza del dettaglio e la forza del gesto collettivo. Mi piace un sacco la precisione con la quale suonano, è tutto molto molto preciso ma poi può essere un po’ selvaggio".

Tornerà come giudice a X Factor?

"Ah non lo so, la produzione mi piace da morire. Lavorare con Sky, anche con tutti i produttori. Il problema che è in questo momento, dopo due anni, c'è un ingorgo enorme di attività perché è stato tutto rimandato. Io sono uno dei pochi artisti che è stato riconfermato dopo due anni a Coachella, per esempio. Come fai a dire no? E se dico di no? Vorrebbe dire che saranno quasi quattro anni senza una mia presenza ai festival, per un artista non si può fare. Sono già stato a Coachella in passato. Com’è? È un festival. È polveroso. Per il deserto: quando stai cantando ti viene la tosse. Tutti i cantanti te lo dicono. È molto secco. Ma uno show è uno show".

All'Eurovision presenterà con Alessandro Cattelan e Laura Pausini.

"Con Ale mi faccio grandi risate. Laura è una grandissima lavoratrice. Quando ho organizzato il concerto benefico per il Libano "I love Beirut" l'ho chiamata 24 ore prima e le ho detto: "Se ti procuro il Colosseo ci vai?". Mi ha detto subito sì e ha lavorato fino alle quattro del mattino. Mi sento molto onorato di fare parte di questo trio perché non sono italiano ma l'Italia e la sua cultura musicale e televisiva mi sono entrate nel cuore. Ho sempre difeso l'idea dell'Europa. Pur avendo passaporto americano. Anche all'epoca dell'Illuminismo e di Victor Hugo quello che è successo è stato possibile grazie all'apertura tra i confini. I tempi più bui dell'Europa sono stati quando c'erano muri alzati. Non a caso la scenografia dell'Eurovision avrà un sole al centro, una grande luce, idea di Francesca (Montinaro, ndr). Un concetto bellissimo".

Americano, libanese, inglese, ma anche un po' italiano, francese: per chi tifa?

"Ho una predilezione per questa canzone norvegese che parla di lupi e banane, molto divertente. Ma sono neutrale, non posso esprimere preferenze. Nei brani ci sono tantissimi suoni orientali. Anche nel nuovo pezzo dell'Ucraina, è una sorta di rap bizantino".

Hanno fatto bene ad escludere la Russia?

"Non avevano scelta, considerando quello che sta succedendo. In una situazione estrema una decisione andava presa. Ci sarà tutta l'Europa, delegazioni di tutti i paesi, come si fa a far finta di niente quando c'è tanta violenza?".

Ha pensato di organizzare un concerto per la pace?

"È molto presto. In piena crisi è difficile dire: andiamo a cantare. Ho sempre paura quando un artista comincia a predicare opinioni sociali o politiche. Cosa può fare il mondo della musica non lo so, so però che deve raccontare quello che sta succedendo, la crisi umanitaria e questi grandi spostamenti. Sono tutti impreparati, non soltanto le persone che si stanno spostando, ma anche i sistemi di accoglienza. È una sfida gigante per l'Unhcr, un'organizzazione che conosco bene e che sta facendo tantissimo. C'è sempre il rischio che tutte queste storie umane diventino solamente statistiche e ci dimentichiamo degli individui. Il nostro compito è provocare empatia".

In questi anni sono cambiati i suoi punti di riferimento artistici?

"In questo momento sono Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Frankie Knuckles, Fischerspooner, l’italo disco sconosciuta degli anni 80... Ma la mia grandissima passione è il bebop, per me musica sacra e spirituale. C'è tutta una parte del jazz che parla dell'aspetto spirituale, però nella cultura popolare non si capisce ancora che quella è musica sacra. C’è un legame fra l'idea di un Dio e gli esseri umani. Coltrane lo diceva in continuazione. Con il suo sguardo molto umanista. Anche io sono radicalmente umanista. Sono molto colpito, per esempio, da questa idea di essere un cristiano secolare. Credo in Gesù Cristo, assolutamente sì. L’uomo, il filosofo, l’umanista radicale che ha ricevuto una punizione gigante per i suoi pensieri anti sistema. I vangeli lo hanno reso più mistico, più potente da un punto di vista religioso. Però considerare Gesù Cristo come se fosse un filosofo, un essere umano che ha ricevuto una punizione per i suoi pensieri radicali, ti dà uno sguardo più umanista anche sulla cristianità. Che secondo me nei nostri tempi non è una cosa cattiva da dire: è una cosa molto utile questa idea che non devi confessare a un Dio immaginario ma alla persona accanto a te".

Compone sempre in inglese? E l'Italia l'ha influenzata musicalmente?

"Io compongo in inglese perché scrivo testi e musica allo stesso tempo. Devono arrivare insieme perché secondo me ballano insieme. La musica italiana: è stata una scoperta grandissima la cultura dei cantautori italiani che prima non non conoscevo così tanto, conoscevo la cultura della chanson francese, da Gainsbourg a Moustaki, a Barbara, Trenet, grandissimo. La cultura italiana la conoscevo meno e poi ho scoperto Tenco, Dalla… La storia di Dalla, questa musica molto melodica e la combinazione con un messaggio anche urgente, politico. È una cosa che si è un po’ persa, ma è fondamentale. E poi la poesia e la filosofia estrema della combinazione di immagini e musica di Battiato. Un vero intellettuale pop nel senso bello e vero".

A proposito di artisti italiani, stava preparando uno spettacolo insieme a Dario Fo ma forse è andato perso.

"C'è una sceneggiatura di questa odd couple che si ritrova mentre fuori c’è il grande diluvio universale. All’inizio era in un appartamento, poi Dario l'ha cambiato. Inizia con un letto e due figure, poi metto la testa fuori io, e c’è anche lui, non riusciamo a dormire. E si scopre che siamo nella zona casalinga dei mobili di un grande Department Store come un Coin, Rinascente, e fuori appunto c'è il diluvio universale. C'è anche la visita di un angelo. Gabriele o Cupido. C’è la sospensione della realtà per confrontare realtà e surrealtà un po’ alla Beckett: un po’ Fo e un po’ Beckett. Era pensata come un'opera di teatro in televisione. Senza pubblico, come una sitcom radicale. Una sfida. Non so se lo vedremo mai".

Ripeterebbe l'esperienza televisiva di Stasera CasaMika?

"Quello è stato un miracolo. Molto bella la prima stagione, però anche alcune cose molto molto progressive nella seconda. La seconda stagione era più difficile per il pubblico. Per esempio, c’era questa fiction inserita dentro lo show. Se ci ripenso, chissà come ho fatto a convincere Rai Due a portarmi in Sardegna con una troupe cinematografica per tre giorni per seguirmi per 36 ore con un pastore… perché volevo fare un momento televisivo sui mestieri. E dunque ho detto: cominciamo con il più vecchio lavoro che esiste. E non è la prostituzione, anche se mi piacerebbe anche girare un segmento su quello. Mi sono detto: cominciamo con il pastore. È un mestiere dimenticato, anche se è il più importante. C’era questa sequenza con questo vecchio pastore che ha fatto il pastore da solo dall'età di 9 anni. E lui, quasi ottant’anni, dice: noi non contiamo niente, io sono seduto qua e so che il mondo se ne frega completamente di me. Inserire momenti così nella televisione popolare commerciale secondo me è una figata. Mi piacerebbe rifarlo. Secondo me però i tempi sono cambiati. I love Beirut ne è la prova. E l'evento del Pride che ho fatto per Indeed ha avuto dei contatti individuali di oltre 100 milioni di persone. Il mondo sta cambiando ed esistono spazi per quei tipi di progetti, un progetto di nicchia può avere un pubblico enorme. E non parlo solo delle piattaforme che esistono, c’è molto di più".

Edited April 3, 2022 by flymk33

Chiara 83 · March 19, 2022

Thank you for sharing! Grazie mille 😇

holdingyourdrink · March 19, 2022

Here is the quick translation:

Mika, Eurovision and the rest of the world. "Two years stopped to fix the brain. Now I'm a hurricane"
by Gianni Santoro
The conduct (with Cattelan and Pausini) of the show scheduled in Turin from 10 to 14 May, the tour in September, but also America, Morocco, Paris. "In these twenty-four months of Covid I have had the opportunity to do nothing, which is also the most powerful thing in the world"

Listening is reserved for subscribers
MARCH 18, 2022
UPDATED AT 11:28 PM
8 MINUTES READING

"I'm 38, in a year and a half I'll be 40. So I want a hurricane of activity. Instead of decreasing I want to increase". Mika is a river in flood. He was in full world tour when the first lockdown came two years ago and the braking was abrupt. "Covid has given me the opportunity not only to be present in the family when my mother was dying , but also to somehow ... heal. This idea of brain healing is almost taboo. I have had the opportunity to fix. my brain. Or to let it settle on its own. Fifteen years of career and public life screw up the mind. Success, failure, art, selfishness ... I've been working since I was eight.

Was it a game at that age?

"No, no, it was a job, a job. If you put a child to sing in front of three thousand people and then you give him a check, that child starts to mature very quickly. They threw me out of school because I was a mess, then my mother. said: "Ok, then you will work, you will learn from life." A few months later I was singing at the Royal Opera in London in the production of a Strauss opera, The Woman Without a Shadow. reading and writing".

Due to trauma?

"Yes, a complicated story. We had moved from France to England, my father had been taken as a hostage in the first Gulf War (banker, he was on a business trip, ed), and when he came back it was different. We lost everything. And then at school I had a violent teacher, psychologically and physically. The brain went out a little at a time. Before I was brilliant, I became an idiot. My mother said, "We have to establish a new value system for you: art, beauty, not school grades "".

In these two years, therefore, he has had the opportunity to slow down and take stock.

"No, to do nothing. Which is also the most powerful thing in the world."

Was there a risk that the desire to do something would not return?

"Who cares. But she came back, for the joy of doing it, not for fear. In May of last year I went into the studio alone. The first day I sat there and said: I want to go back to the piano. I have I started with a Steve Reich rhythm. Then I added one more thing, an eight-piano loop that was like a pillow: I was at home, I built a house for the first piece. And I started acting and screaming like a madman. . "Sometimes you wonder where it goes, where the sun goes, sometimes you wonder where the kids go at night, you wonder why you always get out of my bed before love gets between us." A euphoric state, like if music were one

And now he has a thousand things to do.

"Now I go to the studio in Paris for the album, then I go to the Berbers in the mountains in a 4x4 to record music for the soundtrack of a French film, then to Boston for the preproduction for the American tour, then the arenas in Canada, then I will play at the Coachella festival, then I am in Rabat for 5 days for the soundtrack, then a new video, then in Turin for Eurovision and then again with the arrangers for the symphonic part of the film. And then at my brother's wedding ".

What will the soundtrack be like?

We are talking about an area that is not influenced or contaminated by the west. If we go to Tangier there is the influence of Andalusia but coming from the Berbers the influences are from deep Africa, there are also links with the music of the Congo. The important thing is not to make the symphony orchestra of Paris or London play Arabic things like Aladdin ".

And an Italian tour, The Magic Piano, departing from Verona on 18 and 19 September, with double dates in each city, Florence, Bari, Milan, Rome: the first in a theater and the second in an arena.

"I will also play new songs. This duality allows me to express precisely the two aspects of my music. A concert only with the piano and a great spectacular show. Two evenings that talk to each other, there will be a story, not autobiographical but at the end it also speaks of my life because like all artists I am a bit self-referential ".

Meanwhile, the Eurovision Song Contest, from 10 to 14 May in Turin.

"I will also perform and I am thinking of a provocative performance. It will be a surprise. Eurovision is not just a show, it is like an Expo but concentrated in a few days".

Better to sing or present?

"It's the same. You always have to think about what comes to people at home. It's what I do even sitting at the X Factor table , you have to be at the service of the person on the sofa in front of a screen."

Have you ever thought about competing at Eurovision?

"I don't know, it never happened. But there are things about Eurovision that I really liked. In England it has always been a sacred evening, first with the family, then at the pub with too many beers. I remember songs from the past like Puppet on a string. Was it from Lulu or Petula Clark? It was black and white TV. I wasn't there yet but it's part of popular culture. It's a Sanremo let's say .. questionable from some points of view. Then I remember Katrina and the Waves, and then there were Dutchmen who sang Flying on the wings of love. If you sing it in a pub in England everyone will sing it in chorus ".

Last year there was the consecration of the Maneskin.

"I was not there when they won X Factor. But I remember when they came to sing the following year and there I saw something very precise. I was shocked by the precision and attention to detail of the whole. This group understood the strength of detail and the strength of the collective gesture. I really like the precision with which they play, it's all very very precise but then it can be a bit wild ".

Will he return as a judge to X Factor?

"Ah I don't know, I like production to death. Working with Sky, even with all producers. The problem is that right now, after two years, there is a huge traffic jam because everything has been postponed. Me. I am one of the few artists who has been reconfirmed after two years at Coachella, for example. How can you say no? And if I say no? I've been to Coachella before. How is it? It's a festival. It's dusty. For the desert: when you're singing you get a cough. All the singers tell you. It's very dry. But a show is a show. ".

At Eurovision he will present with Alessandro Cattelan and Laura Pausini.
idea of Francesca (Montinaro, ed). A beautiful concept ".

American, Lebanese, English, but also a little Italian, French: who are you cheering for?

"I have a fondness for this Norwegian song about wolves and bananas, very funny. But I'm neutral, I can't express preferences. There are so many oriental sounds in the songs. Even in the new piece from Ukraine, it's a kind of Byzantine rap." .

We’re they right to exclude Russia?

"They had no choice, considering what is happening. In an extreme situation a decision had to be taken. There will be all of Europe, delegations from all countries, how can you ignore it when there is so much violence?".

Have you thought about organizing a peace concert?

"It is very early. In the midst of the crisis it is difficult to say: let's go sing. I am always afraid when an artist begins to preach social or political opinions. What the world of music can do I don't know, but I know that he has to tell what is happening. , the humanitarian crisis and these large displacements. They are all unprepared, not only the people who are moving, but also the reception systems. It is a giant challenge for UNHCR, an organization I know well and is doing a lot. There is always the risk that all these human stories become just statistics and we forget about the individuals. Our job is to provoke empathy. "

Have your artistic points of reference changed in recent years?

But considering Jesus Christ as if he were a philosopher, a human being who has received punishment for his radical thoughts, gives you a more humanistic look at Christianity as well. Which, in my opinion, is not a bad thing to say in our times: this idea that you don't have to confess to an imaginary God but to the person next to you is a very useful thing. "

Do you always compose in English? And has Italy influenced you musically?

"I compose in English because I write lyrics and music at the same time. They have to come together because I think they dance together. Italian music: the culture of Italian singer-songwriters was a great discovery that I didn't know so much before, I knew the culture of chanson. French, from Gainsbourg to Moustaki, to Barbara, Trenet, very great. I knew less about Italian culture and then I discovered Tenco, Dalla… The story of Dalla, this very melodic music and the combination with an urgent, political message. something that has gotten a bit lost, but it is fundamental. And then the poetry and extreme philosophy of Battiato's combination of images and music. A true pop intellectual in the beautiful and true sense ".

Speaking of Italian artists, he was preparing a show with Dario Fo but perhaps he got lost.

"There is a script of this odd couple who find themselves while outside there is the great universal flood. At first it was in an apartment, then Dario changed it. It starts with a bed and two figures, then I put my head outside, and he is there too, we can't sleep. And it turns out that we are in the home area of the furniture of a large Department Store such as a Coin, Rinascente, and outside there is the universal deluge. the visit of an angel. Gabriel or Cupid. There is the suspension of reality to compare reality and surreality a bit Beckett-style: a bit Fo and a bit Beckett. It was conceived as a drama on television. Without audience, like a radical sitcom. A challenge. I don't know if we'll ever see it. "

Would you repeat the TV experience of Tonight CasaMika?

we don't count for anything, I'm sitting here and I know the world doesn't give a damn about me. In my opinion, inserting moments like that on popular commercial television is cool. I'd like to do it again. In my opinion, however, times have changed. I love Beirut is proof of this. And the Pride event I did for Indeed had individual contacts of over 100 million people. The world is changing and there are spaces for those types of projects, a niche project can have a huge audience. And I'm not just talking about the platforms that exist, there is much more ". The Pride event I did for Indeed had individual contacts of over 100 million people. The world is changing and there are spaces for those types of projects, a niche project can have a huge audience. And I'm not just talking about the platforms that exist, there is much more ". The Pride event I did for Indeed had individual contacts of over 100 million people. The world is changing and there are spaces for those types of projects, a niche project can have a huge audience. And I'm not just talking about the platforms that exist, there is much more ".

Edited March 19, 2022 by holdingyourdrink

krysady · March 19, 2022

So many exciting news! :pbjt:

holdingyourdrink · March 19, 2022

8 minutes ago, krysady said:

So many exciting news!

It’s too much to process! I am beyond excited!!

This explains his radio silence the last couple of weeks. He was probably in the Moroccan dessert recording :thumb_yello:

krysady · March 19, 2022

23 minutes ago, holdingyourdrink said:

This explains his radio silence the last couple of weeks. He was probably in the Moroccan dessert recording

Imagine 60 minutes of Mika's music during a movie! :pbjt: Mika's music with an orchestra!! :pbjt: And new songs for the Magic Piano tour! :pbjt: And a new video! :pbjt:

Have I mentioned I am excited? :pbjt:

holdingyourdrink · March 19, 2022

Just now, krysady said:

Have I mentioned I am excited?

Right there with you!!!! :cheer:

crazyaboutmika · March 19, 2022

10 hours ago, mellody said:

An interview in La Repubblica, 18 March 2022 - only available to subscribers.

https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2022/03/18/news/mika-341892547/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbRvRI0Na8_/?utm_medium=copy_link

crazyaboutmika · March 19, 2022

3 hours ago, holdingyourdrink said:

Here is the quick translation:

Mika, Eurovision and the rest of the world. "Two years stopped to fix the brain. Now I'm a hurricane"
by Gianni Santoro
The conduct (with Cattelan and Pausini) of the show scheduled in Turin from 10 to 14 May, the tour in September, but also America, Morocco, Paris. "In these twenty-four months of Covid I have had the opportunity to do nothing, which is also the most powerful thing in the world"

Listening is reserved for subscribers
MARCH 18, 2022
UPDATED AT 11:28 PM
8 MINUTES READING

"I'm 38, in a year and a half I'll be 40. So I want a hurricane of activity. Instead of decreasing I want to increase". Mika is a river in flood. He was in full world tour when the first lockdown came two years ago and the braking was abrupt. "Covid has given me the opportunity not only to be present in the family when my mother was dying , but also to somehow ... heal. This idea of brain healing is almost taboo. I have had the opportunity to fix. my brain. Or to let it settle on its own. Fifteen years of career and public life screw up the mind. Success, failure, art, selfishness ... I've been working since I was eight.

Was it a game at that age?

"No, no, it was a job, a job. If you put a child to sing in front of three thousand people and then you give him a check, that child starts to mature very quickly. They threw me out of school because I was a mess, then my mother. said: "Ok, then you will work, you will learn from life." A few months later I was singing at the Royal Opera in London in the production of a Strauss opera, The Woman Without a Shadow. reading and writing".

Due to trauma?

"Yes, a complicated story. We had moved from France to England, my father had been taken as a hostage in the first Gulf War (banker, he was on a business trip, ed), and when he came back it was different. We lost everything. And then at school I had a violent teacher, psychologically and physically. The brain went out a little at a time. Before I was brilliant, I became an idiot. My mother said, "We have to establish a new value system for you: art, beauty, not school grades "".

In these two years, therefore, he has had the opportunity to slow down and take stock.

"No, to do nothing. Which is also the most powerful thing in the world."

Was there a risk that the desire to do something would not return?

"Who cares. But she came back, for the joy of doing it, not for fear. In May of last year I went into the studio alone. The first day I sat there and said: I want to go back to the piano. I have I started with a Steve Reich rhythm. Then I added one more thing, an eight-piano loop that was like a pillow: I was at home, I built a house for the first piece. And I started acting and screaming like a madman. . "Sometimes you wonder where it goes, where the sun goes, sometimes you wonder where the kids go at night, you wonder why you always get out of my bed before love gets between us." A euphoric state, like if music were one

And now he has a thousand things to do.

"Now I go to the studio in Paris for the album, then I go to the Berbers in the mountains in a 4x4 to record music for the soundtrack of a French film, then to Boston for the preproduction for the American tour, then the arenas in Canada, then I will play at the Coachella festival, then I am in Rabat for 5 days for the soundtrack, then a new video, then in Turin for Eurovision and then again with the arrangers for the symphonic part of the film. And then at my brother's wedding ".

What will the soundtrack be like?

We are talking about an area that is not influenced or contaminated by the west. If we go to Tangier there is the influence of Andalusia but coming from the Berbers the influences are from deep Africa, there are also links with the music of the Congo. The important thing is not to make the symphony orchestra of Paris or London play Arabic things like Aladdin ".

And an Italian tour, The Magic Piano, departing from Verona on 18 and 19 September, with double dates in each city, Florence, Bari, Milan, Rome: the first in a theater and the second in an arena.

"I will also play new songs. This duality allows me to express precisely the two aspects of my music. A concert only with the piano and a great spectacular show. Two evenings that talk to each other, there will be a story, not autobiographical but at the end it also speaks of my life because like all artists I am a bit self-referential ".

Meanwhile, the Eurovision Song Contest, from 10 to 14 May in Turin.

"I will also perform and I am thinking of a provocative performance. It will be a surprise. Eurovision is not just a show, it is like an Expo but concentrated in a few days".

Better to sing or present?

"It's the same. You always have to think about what comes to people at home. It's what I do even sitting at the X Factor table , you have to be at the service of the person on the sofa in front of a screen."

Have you ever thought about competing at Eurovision?

"I don't know, it never happened. But there are things about Eurovision that I really liked. In England it has always been a sacred evening, first with the family, then at the pub with too many beers. I remember songs from the past like Puppet on a string. Was it from Lulu or Petula Clark? It was black and white TV. I wasn't there yet but it's part of popular culture. It's a Sanremo let's say .. questionable from some points of view. Then I remember Katrina and the Waves, and then there were Dutchmen who sang Flying on the wings of love. If you sing it in a pub in England everyone will sing it in chorus ".

Last year there was the consecration of the Maneskin.

"I was not there when they won X Factor. But I remember when they came to sing the following year and there I saw something very precise. I was shocked by the precision and attention to detail of the whole. This group understood the strength of detail and the strength of the collective gesture. I really like the precision with which they play, it's all very very precise but then it can be a bit wild ".

Will he return as a judge to X Factor?

"Ah I don't know, I like production to death. Working with Sky, even with all producers. The problem is that right now, after two years, there is a huge traffic jam because everything has been postponed. Me. I am one of the few artists who has been reconfirmed after two years at Coachella, for example. How can you say no? And if I say no? I've been to Coachella before. How is it? It's a festival. It's dusty. For the desert: when you're singing you get a cough. All the singers tell you. It's very dry. But a show is a show. ".

At Eurovision he will present with Alessandro Cattelan and Laura Pausini.
idea of Francesca (Montinaro, ed). A beautiful concept ".

American, Lebanese, English, but also a little Italian, French: who are you cheering for?

"I have a fondness for this Norwegian song about wolves and bananas, very funny. But I'm neutral, I can't express preferences. There are so many oriental sounds in the songs. Even in the new piece from Ukraine, it's a kind of Byzantine rap." .

We’re they right to exclude Russia?

"They had no choice, considering what is happening. In an extreme situation a decision had to be taken. There will be all of Europe, delegations from all countries, how can you ignore it when there is so much violence?".

Have you thought about organizing a peace concert?

"It is very early. In the midst of the crisis it is difficult to say: let's go sing. I am always afraid when an artist begins to preach social or political opinions. What the world of music can do I don't know, but I know that he has to tell what is happening. , the humanitarian crisis and these large displacements. They are all unprepared, not only the people who are moving, but also the reception systems. It is a giant challenge for UNHCR, an organization I know well and is doing a lot. There is always the risk that all these human stories become just statistics and we forget about the individuals. Our job is to provoke empathy. "

Have your artistic points of reference changed in recent years?

But considering Jesus Christ as if he were a philosopher, a human being who has received punishment for his radical thoughts, gives you a more humanistic look at Christianity as well. Which, in my opinion, is not a bad thing to say in our times: this idea that you don't have to confess to an imaginary God but to the person next to you is a very useful thing. "

Do you always compose in English? And has Italy influenced you musically?

"I compose in English because I write lyrics and music at the same time. They have to come together because I think they dance together. Italian music: the culture of Italian singer-songwriters was a great discovery that I didn't know so much before, I knew the culture of chanson. French, from Gainsbourg to Moustaki, to Barbara, Trenet, very great. I knew less about Italian culture and then I discovered Tenco, Dalla… The story of Dalla, this very melodic music and the combination with an urgent, political message. something that has gotten a bit lost, but it is fundamental. And then the poetry and extreme philosophy of Battiato's combination of images and music. A true pop intellectual in the beautiful and true sense ".

Speaking of Italian artists, he was preparing a show with Dario Fo but perhaps he got lost.

"There is a script of this odd couple who find themselves while outside there is the great universal flood. At first it was in an apartment, then Dario changed it. It starts with a bed and two figures, then I put my head outside, and he is there too, we can't sleep. And it turns out that we are in the home area of the furniture of a large Department Store such as a Coin, Rinascente, and outside there is the universal deluge. the visit of an angel. Gabriel or Cupid. There is the suspension of reality to compare reality and surreality a bit Beckett-style: a bit Fo and a bit Beckett. It was conceived as a drama on television. Without audience, like a radical sitcom. A challenge. I don't know if we'll ever see it. "

Would you repeat the TV experience of Tonight CasaMika?

we don't count for anything, I'm sitting here and I know the world doesn't give a damn about me. In my opinion, inserting moments like that on popular commercial television is cool. I'd like to do it again. In my opinion, however, times have changed. I love Beirut is proof of this. And the Pride event I did for Indeed had individual contacts of over 100 million people. The world is changing and there are spaces for those types of projects, a niche project can have a huge audience. And I'm not just talking about the platforms that exist, there is much more ". The Pride event I did for Indeed had individual contacts of over 100 million people. The world is changing and there are spaces for those types of projects, a niche project can have a huge audience. And I'm not just talking about the platforms that exist, there is much more ". The Pride event I did for Indeed had individual contacts of over 100 million people. The world is changing and there are spaces for those types of projects, a niche project can have a huge audience. And I'm not just talking about the platforms that exist, there is much more ".

Thank you :bow: :hug: This makes me so happy :cloud: and totally :excite: :squirrel: :wootjump: :mikalove:

Edited March 19, 2022 by crazyaboutmika

virgi · March 19, 2022

If someone needs it, I posted the French translation on twitter!

Paoletta · March 19, 2022

Fortunè wedding aww it's beautiful !!!

mellody · March 19, 2022

Thanks @flymk33 for posting! I'll fix the layout of your post a bit, so it's easier to read. And @holdingyourdrink thanks for the translation, but a few bits were missing (I suppose Google translate messed that up). Here's the whole thing:

Mika, Eurovision and the rest of the world. "Two years stopped to fix the brain. Now I'm a hurricane"
by Gianni Santoro
The conduct (with Cattelan and Pausini) of the show scheduled in Turin from 10 to 14 May, the tour in September, but also America, Morocco, Paris. "In these twenty-four months of Covid I have had the opportunity to do nothing, which is also the most powerful thing in the world"

Listening is reserved for subscribers
MARCH 18, 2022
UPDATED AT 11:28 PM
8 MINUTES READING

"I'm 38, in a year and a half I'll be 40. So I want a hurricane of activity. Instead of decreasing I want to increase". Mika is a river in flood. He was in full world tour when the first lockdown came two years ago and the braking was abrupt. "Covid has given me the opportunity not only to be present in the family when my mother was dying, but also to somehow ... heal. This idea of brain healing is almost taboo. I have had the opportunity to fix. my brain. Or to let it settle on its own. Fifteen years of career and public life screw up the mind. Success, failure, art, selfishness ... I've been working since I was eight. "

Was it a game at that age?
"No, no, it was a job, a job. If you put a child to sing in front of three thousand people and then you give him a check, that child starts to mature very quickly. They threw me out of school because I was a mess, then my mother. said: "Ok, then you will work, you will learn from life." A few months later I was singing at the Royal Opera in London in the production of a Strauss opera, The Woman Without a Shadow. It all started again after I had forgotten how to read and write for seven to eight months ".

Due to trauma?
"Yes, a complicated story. We had moved from France to England, my father had been taken as a hostage in the first Gulf War (banker, he was on a business trip, ed), and when he came back it was different. We lost everything. And then at school I had a violent teacher, psychologically and physically. The brain went out a little at a time. Before I was brilliant, I became an idiot. My mother said, "We have to establish a new value system for you: art, beauty, not school grades "".

In these two years, therefore, you've had the opportunity to slow down and take stock.
"No, to do nothing. Which is also the most powerful thing in the world."

Was there a risk that the desire to do something would not return?
"Who cares. But it came back, for the joy of doing it, not for fear. In May of last year I went into the studio alone. The first day I sat there and said: I want to go back to the piano. I have I started with a Steve Reich rhythm. Then I added one more thing, an eight-piano loop that was like a pillow: I was at home, I built a house for the first piece. And I started acting and screaming like a madman. . "Sometimes you wonder where it goes, where the sun goes, sometimes you wonder where the kids go at night, you wonder why you always get out of my bed before love gets between us." A euphoric state, as if music were a drug.

And now you have a thousand things to do.
"Now I go to the studio in Paris for the album, then I go to the Berbers in the mountains in a 4x4 to record music for the soundtrack of a French film, then to Boston for the preproduction for the American tour, then the arenas in Canada, then I will play at the Coachella festival, then I am in Rabat for 5 days for the soundtrack, then a new video, then in Turin for Eurovision and then again with the arrangers for the symphonic part of the film. And then at my brother's wedding ".

What will the soundtrack be like?
"It's a French film about a little 11-year-old boy who travels from Morocco across the Sahara Desert to Abu Dhabi. And I have to accompany this journey with 60-65 minutes of music. I've asked myself 50,000 times: how Do you do such a thing? How do I do everything, as if it were a sculpture. I will go with a 4x4 with my backpack and my sound assistant to visit these tribes and understand what this music is that cannot be written and does not exist written , it has to be captured and to understand it you have to live it, vibrate it. We will do these field recordings with various musicians, and then take this information and turn it into a movie soundtrack even with a symphony orchestra. I didn't want to make this giant mistake of trying to write the music of a culture where the writing of music does not exist. We are talking about an area that is not influenced or contaminated by the west. If we go to Tangier there is the influence of Andalusia but coming from the Berbers the influences are from Afr There are also links with Congo music. The important thing is not to let the symphony orchestra of Paris or London play Arabic things like Aladdin ".

And an Italian tour, The Magic Piano, departing from Verona on 18 and 19 September, with double dates in each city, Florence, Bari, Milan, Rome: the first in a theater and the second in an arena.
"I will also play new songs. This duality allows me to express precisely the two aspects of my music. A concert only with the piano and a great spectacular show. Two evenings that talk to each other, there will be a story, not autobiographical but at the end it also speaks of my life because like all artists I am a bit self-referential ".

Meanwhile, the Eurovision Song Contest, from 10 to 14 May in Turin.
"I will also perform and I am thinking of a provocative performance. It will be a surprise. Eurovision is not just a show, it is like an Expo but concentrated in a few days".

Better to sing or present?
"It's the same. You always have to think about what comes to people at home. It's what I do even sitting at the X Factor table, you have to be at the service of the person on the sofa in front of a screen."

Have you ever thought about competing at Eurovision?
"I don't know, it never happened. But there are things about Eurovision that I really liked. In England it has always been a sacred evening, first with the family, then at the pub with too many beers. I remember songs from the past like Puppet on a string. Was it from Lulu or Petula Clark? It was black and white TV. I wasn't there yet but it's part of popular culture. It's a Sanremo let's say .. questionable from some points of view. Then I remember Katrina and the Waves, and then there were Dutchmen who sang Flying on the wings of love. If you sing it in a pub in England everyone will sing it in chorus ".

Last year there was the consecration of the Maneskin.
"I was not there when they won X Factor. But I remember when they came to sing the following year and there I saw something very precise. I was shocked by the precision and attention to detail of the whole. This group understood the strength of detail and the strength of the collective gesture. I really like the precision with which they play, it's all very very precise but then it can be a bit wild ".

Will you return as a judge to X Factor?
"Ah I don't know, I like production to death. Working with Sky, even with all producers. The problem is that right now, after two years, there is a huge traffic jam because everything has been postponed. Me. I am one of the few artists who has been reconfirmed after two years at Coachella, for example. How can you say no? And if I say no? I've been to Coachella before. How is it? It's a festival. It's dusty. For the desert: when you're singing you get a cough. All the singers tell you. It's very dry. But a show is a show. ".

At Eurovision you will present with Alessandro Cattelan and Laura Pausini.
"With Ale I have great laughs. Laura is a very hard worker. When I organized the benefit concert for Lebanon" I love Beirut "I called her 24 hours before and said:" If I get you the Colosseum, will you go there? " . He immediately said yes and he worked until four in the morning. I feel very honored to be part of this trio because I am not Italian but Italy and its musical and television culture have entered my heart. I have always defended the idea of Europe. Despite having an American passport. Even at the time of the Enlightenment and Victor Hugo, what happened was possible thanks to the opening between the borders. Europe's darkest times were when there were walls raised. It is no coincidence that the Eurovision scenography will have a sun in the center, a great light, an idea by Francesca (Montinaro, ed). A beautiful concept ".

American, Lebanese, English, but also a little Italian, French: who are you cheering for?
"I have a fondness for this Norwegian song about wolves and bananas, very funny. But I'm neutral, I can't express preferences. There are so many oriental sounds in the songs. Even in the new piece from Ukraine, it's a kind of Byzantine rap." .

Were they right to exclude Russia?
"They had no choice, considering what is happening. In an extreme situation a decision had to be taken. There will be all of Europe, delegations from all countries, how can you ignore it when there is so much violence?".

Have you thought about organizing a peace concert?
"It is very early. In the midst of the crisis it is difficult to say: let's go sing. I am always afraid when an artist begins to preach social or political opinions. What the world of music can do I don't know, but I know that he has to tell what is happening. , the humanitarian crisis and these large displacements. They are all unprepared, not only the people who are moving, but also the reception systems. It is a giant challenge for UNHCR, an organization I know well and is doing a lot. There is always the risk that all these human stories become just statistics and we forget about the individuals. Our job is to provoke empathy. "

Have your artistic points of reference changed in recent years?
"Right now I'm Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Frankie Knuckles, Fischerspooner, the unknown Italian disco of the 80s ... But my great passion is bebop, sacred and spiritual music for me. jazz that speaks of the spiritual aspect, but in popular culture it is still not clear that that is sacred music. There is a link between the idea of a God and human beings. Coltrane said it all the time. With his gaze a lot humanist. I too am radically humanist. I am very impressed, for example, by this idea of being a secular Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ, absolutely yes. The man, the philosopher, the radical humanist who received a giant punishment for his anti-system thoughts. The gospels have made him more mystical, more powerful from a religious point of view. But considering Jesus Christ as if he were a philosopher, a human being who has received a punishment for his radical thoughts, gives you one a more humanist look also on Christianity. Which, in my opinion, is not a bad thing to say in our times: this idea that you don't have to confess to an imaginary God but to the person next to you is a very useful thing. "

Do you always compose in English? And has Italy influenced you musically?
"I compose in English because I write lyrics and music at the same time. They have to come together because I think they dance together. Italian music: the culture of Italian singer-songwriters was a great discovery that I didn't know so much before, I knew the culture of chanson. French, from Gainsbourg to Moustaki, to Barbara, Trenet, very great. I knew less about Italian culture and then I discovered Tenco, Dalla… The story of Dalla, this very melodic music and the combination with an urgent, political message. something that has gotten a bit lost, but it is fundamental. And then the poetry and extreme philosophy of Battiato's combination of images and music. A true pop intellectual in the beautiful and true sense ".

Speaking of Italian artists, you were preparing a show with Dario Fo but perhaps it got lost.
"There is a script of this odd couple who find themselves while outside there is the great universal flood. At first it was in an apartment, then Dario changed it. It starts with a bed and two figures, then I put my head outside, and he is there too, we can't sleep. And it turns out that we are in the home area of the furniture of a large Department Store such as a Coin, Rinascente, and outside there is the universal deluge. the visit of an angel. Gabriel or Cupid. There is the suspension of reality to compare reality and surreality a bit Beckett-style: a bit Fo and a bit Beckett. It was conceived as a drama on television. Without audience, like a radical sitcom. A challenge. I don't know if we'll ever see it. "

Would you repeat the TV experience of Stasera CasaMika?
"That was a miracle. Very good the first season, but also some very very progressive things in the second. The second season was more difficult for the audience. For example, there was this fiction inserted into the show. who knows how I managed to convince Rai Due to take me to Sardinia with a film crew for three days to follow me for 36 hours with a shepherd ... because I wanted to do a television moment on the professions. And so I said: let's start with the oldest job that exists . And it's not prostitution, although I'd also like to shoot a segment about that. I said to myself: let's start with the pastor. It's a forgotten profession, even if it's the most important. There was this sequence with this old pastor who has I have been a shepherd by myself since the age of 9. And he, almost eighty, says: we don't count for anything, I'm sitting here and I know that the world doesn't give a damn about me. Insert moments like this in popular commercial television self condo me is cool. I'd like to do it again. In my opinion, however, times have changed. I love Beirut is proof of this. And the Pride event I did for Indeed had individual contacts of over 100 million people. The world is changing and there are spaces for those types of projects, a niche project can have a huge audience. And I'm not just talking about the platforms that exist, there is much more ".

mellody · March 19, 2022

1 hour ago, mellody said:

In these two years, therefore, you've had the opportunity to slow down and take stock.
"No, to do nothing. Which is also the most powerful thing in the world."

Mika doing "nothing" for 2 years (2x XF, The Voice, I love Beirut, writing songs, Symphonic gigs, indeed gig, Paris posters, etc etc) is still more than I can ever dream of doing in a whole lifetime. :naughty:

I think I know what he means tho. Just a few weeks ago I read an article about how doing nothing is essential for the brain to function properly. When the brain is in stress mode, it does everything the way it has always been done, because things you know give you safety. Only when you allow yourself to do nothing, let your mind wander, daydream, do yoga, stuff like that... it's possible to think out of the box. Then in a moment when you think of nothing specific, suddenly the solution to a problem or a creative idea will come to your mind. So it's good to hear that he allows himself breaks. And also that his brain could heal during this time. I wonder why he says it's a taboo? I have the feeling that mental health is much more a public and accepted topic than it was 10 or 20 years ago. Maybe he refers to the fact that in business (also in the music industry) people are expected to function and aren't given the time to heal. That for sure was a big plus of the pandemic, you suddenly HAD to stop. And when the brain can't follow its usual routine, it is forced to go new ways. I also noticed that for myself, although I have nothing that you could call a career.

1 hour ago, mellody said:

"Sometimes you wonder where it goes, where the sun goes, sometimes you wonder where the kids go at night, you wonder why you always get out of my bed before love gets between us."

Hmm, are these lyrics to one of his new songs? :wub2: I wonder if I'll recognize them in English. :naughty:

1 hour ago, mellody said:

"Now I go to the studio in Paris for the album, then I go to the Berbers in the mountains in a 4x4 to record music for the soundtrack of a French film, then to Boston for the preproduction for the American tour, then the arenas in Canada, then I will play at the Coachella festival, then I am in Rabat for 5 days for the soundtrack, then a new video, then in Turin for Eurovision and then again with the arrangers for the symphonic part of the film. And then at my brother's wedding ".

That's nice of him to tell us his schedule for the next few months. :naughty: And lovely to hear that Fortuné's getting married. :wub2: Does anyone know what "4x4" means?

Mikasister · March 19, 2022

17 minutes ago, mellody said:

Does anyone know what "4x4" means?

mellody · March 19, 2022

1 minute ago, Mikasister said:

Ah, thanks! It reminds me a bit of that novel "Less", that Mika had among the books he read in lockdown in Greece 2 years ago. I read that one because the story sounded interesting, and I remember the protagonist also took a trip through the desert... it didn't go that well in the book, from what I remember they caught some stomach flu there - hope it goes better for Mika! :lol: I should read that book again, don't remember much of it tbh. I guess I need a holiday to have time for reading books. In the desert. Without internet. :roftl: 🙈

Lulul · March 20, 2022

22 hours ago, mellody said:

Right now I'm Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Frankie Knuckles, Fischerspooner, the unknown Italian disco of the 80s ... But my great passion is bebop, sacred and spiritual music for me.

Did some research and most of these artist are based on sound and instrumental music.
I think he wanted to get in the mood for the soundtrack he's working on now, probably.

mellody · March 21, 2022

On 3/19/2022 at 9:55 PM, mellody said:

Two evenings that talk to each other, there will be a story, not autobiographical but at the end it also speaks of my life because like all artists I am a bit self-referential

Well that's good, I mean, we follow him because he is who he is. There's lots of people out there who make great art, but there's only one Mika. :wub2:

On 3/19/2022 at 9:55 PM, mellody said:

but then it can be a bit wild

(re. Maneskin) I would agree with him on that, lol! :roftl:

On 3/19/2022 at 9:55 PM, mellody said:

Have you thought about organizing a peace concert?
"It is very early. In the midst of the crisis it is difficult to say: let's go sing. I am always afraid when an artist begins to preach social or political opinions. What the world of music can do I don't know, but I know that he has to tell what is happening. , the humanitarian crisis and these large displacements. They are all unprepared, not only the people who are moving, but also the reception systems. It is a giant challenge for UNHCR, an organization I know well and is doing a lot. There is always the risk that all these human stories become just statistics and we forget about the individuals. Our job is to provoke empathy. "

Hm, it's very early? For I love Beirut it wasn't a problem... I suppose he's just too busy, which is fine, but it'd probably sound like he didn't care enough if he said that. I love that they asked him these things, also his opinion about Russia being excluded from Eurovision. Agree with him of course, also with what he says about open borders and all the refugees and the reception systems. I don't get tho what he means that he gets afraid when an artist begins to preach social or political opinions. Tell the story, provoke emotion, but without preaching, of course that makes sense. But why does he get "afraid"? Of what? And then, where does storytelling end and preaching begin? All those great singer-songwriters of the 60s/70s were really good at putting their political views in their art. Anyway I wouldn't think that organizing a peace concert (or taking part in one, which I think he might be more likely to do, because the organization surely is a nightmare) is preaching. :dunno:

On 3/20/2022 at 8:33 PM, Lulul said:

Did some research and most of these artist are based on sound and instrumental music.
I think he wanted to get in the mood for the soundtrack he's working on now, probably.

Yes, I noticed that too. Also bebop, apparently that's a very special form of Jazz, I listened to a few pieces - well, admittedly only bits of it, it's not something you can just play while focusing on something else. I wonder if that's what he meant when he talked on the MFC live about doing something more "highbrow" - or he might have meant the soundtrack... btw, I still wonder what the camel head was for, he won't need a camel head for writing a soundtrack?! :dunno_grin: :teehee:

I also like what he says about Jesus, that he sees him as a philosopher who was punished for his radical views. I'm not religious, so don't think much about these things (anymore), but there were times when I used to, and I can much relate to Mika's view. Also this:

On 3/19/2022 at 9:55 PM, mellody said:

this idea that you don't have to confess to an imaginary God but to the person next to you is a very useful thing.

:thumb_yello:

Prisca · March 22, 2022

6 hours ago, mellody said:

btw, I still wonder what the camel head was for, he won't need a camel head for writing a soundtrack?!

I guess to get into the mood, as he wrote in his first camel post. :wink2: The film is in the desert, after all. :original:

Kumazzz · April 1, 2022

La Freccia

aprile 2022

Published on Apr 1, 2022

ISSUU.com

PDF file ( pages of Mika)

Twitter

WEB https://www.fsnews.it/it/eventi/spettacolo/mika-eurovision-2022-tour-italia.html

Mika tra l'Eurovision 2022 e il nuovo tour in Italia

^{In apertura Mika, foto di Lucely Bautista}

Colorato, creativo, un po’ folle. Mika è, senza dubbio, una delle popstar più originali ed eclettiche sulla piazza. Un gioiellino duttile, capace di rimanere credibile quando compone hit e, al contempo, in grado di accendere la curiosità degli spettatori sul piccolo schermo dietro al bancone dei giudici di X Factor o come showman di Stasera CasaMika.

Ora è in corsa con due bellissime avventure: l’Eurovision Song Contest, a Torino dal 10 al 14 maggio, e il The Magic Piano Tour che dal 18 settembre regala due spettacoli totalmente differenti in ogni città toccata: Verona, Firenze, Bari, Milano e Roma. La prima sera in un teatro ci sarà uno show più intimo, la seconda in un’arena la performance cambia in un’esplosione di intrattenimento. Una tournée a cui il cantautore (ormai) italiano d’adozione tiene particolarmente.

Partiamo dal primo progetto, l’Eurovision Song Contest, che condurrai con Alessandro Cattelan e Laura Pausini.

Un programma straordinario. Aver scelto noi tre permette di inserire nella conduzione e nella scrittura dello show la nostra parte personale oltre a quella artistica. L’approccio è molto creativo. Fino a quando non ci si entra non si capisce quanto sia stupefacente. Stiamo cercando di costruire lo spettacolo ed è impressionante la sua complessità: una sfida enorme, in un momento così difficile per l’Europa, offre anche un’altra chiave di lettura, visto che il concorso ha, come fondamenta, l’universalismo del Vecchio Continente.

Torino è una città che ha molta importanza per te. Che ricordi hai legati a quel luogo?

Il bicerin! (ride, ndr). Bordighera e Torino sono stati i primi posti italiani che ho visitato da piccolissimo. Con mia madre e mio padre partivamo dal sud della Francia per andarci e mi ricordo questa bevanda al cioccolato buonissima e gli aperitivi giganti.

Come ci si sente a rappresentare l’Italia da non italiano?

È incredibile. Per la mia identità e filosofia di vita è molto potente. Essere europeo è un’ideologia di cui hanno parlato filosofi e scrittori come il francese Victor Hugo. Si rievocano i tempi in cui la luce intellettuale era più brillante perché i muri erano abbassati. È un fatto, non un concetto. Quando i muri si alzano arrivano tempi bui. Quando c’è condivisione si fa un gigante passo avanti. Io sono americano, ma mi identifico con la filosofia europea.

Come si pone una popstar in un mondo che è cambiato così tanto nel giro di due anni?

La risposta di un artista deve essere sempre poetica. Il Covid-19 è stato un momento surreale, ma anche di trasformazione: quella pausa arrivata così bruscamente ci ha dato la possibilità di ribaltare la vita, farci domande importanti. Dal mio punto di vista, nei miei concerti, sono allergico alla banalità, cerco di trovare un linguaggio unico, ancor più di prima, per non sprecare un’opportunità. Ho un’urgenza di unicità nel raccontare le cose. Quello che sta succedendo con la guerra è di una brutalità e una violenza da lasciare senza parole. Una storia che sappiamo, poi, solo in parte, non avendo accesso a tutte le informazioni. È molto destabilizzante, ma quello che mi spaventa di più è la parte umana.

Sarebbe a dire?

C’è una guerra in Europa, ma non è un conflitto europeo. Il vero problema, per il nostro continente, è dove raccogliere la più grande migrazione di profughi e rifugiati dalla Seconda guerra mondiale. Sono famiglie senza preparazione, bambini che stanno arrivando da soli senza un piano. Il sistema per organizzare questa situazione è delirante quanto la violenza con cui è deflagrata.

L’artista ha anche il compito di alleggerire determinati momenti.

Si può fare, ma rispettando la parte umana. Dobbiamo essere al servizio dell’emozione per provocare empatia. Bisogna evitare di cadere nella fredda trappola delle statistiche, non predicare storie, ma comunicarle con umanità.

A settembre inizia The Piano Magic Tour. Cos’è, per te, il pianoforte?

È casa. Sono un musicista e un autore, sto lavorando a una colonna sonora con tre diverse tribù nel nord dell’Africa e componendo 45 minuti di brani sinfonici per un film. Ma non so né leggere né scrivere le note. Nonostante questo, suono e compongo. Il pianoforte mi permette di scolpire la musica. Il piano ha visto, ha vissuto e sofferto la mia prima delusione, le mie prime melodie, la prima volta che ho baciato una ragazza - ed è andata malissimo - la prima volta che ho baciato un ragazzo - ed è andata molto meglio - la prima volta che ho passato la notte con una persona, la prima volta che ho perso qualcuno cui tenevo. Al pianoforte ho vissuto la malattia di mia mamma, scrivendo e chiedendo a lei di cantare quello che componevo. Il piano c’era quando lei è morta e quando è nato il mio primo nipote. Porto il pianoforte, sul palco, da solo, per fare capire la forma di supporto che mi offre questo strumento. E poi in arena diventa magico. La dualità spettacolare e recondita del piano ci fa capire che siamo tutti capaci di sognare ed essere più forti rispetto alla violenza della vita.

Cos’è la magia per te?

Creare il mondo dal niente. Anche se quello che componi non è una cosa perfetta, ti senti meno impotente. Ci si sente come un supereroe. Poi, quando questa sensazione viene a mancare, si cerca nuovamente quel feeling. E si ricomincia: è un cerchio.

Sei stato coach e giudice di talent show. Cos’è, per te, il talento?

Tantissime cose. È una parola abusata, per me non è legata alla bravura tecnica: la cosa più difficile è arrivare al cuore di tanta gente. Il talento è una luce e, quando si identifica, va coltivato, non schiacciato. Adesso c’è un autosfruttamento delle proprie capacità. Già a 16 anni si ha una fretta incredibile di diventare popolari, senza preparazione. In questo modo, il talento diventa una fiamma che si brucia. La maturità è fondamentale. Per questo mi dispiace che musica e arte stiano scomparendo dalle scuole pubbliche. Questo ha delle conseguenze. L’arte va difesa.

Sei sempre in viaggio. Che cosa rappresenta per te?

Libertà. L’idea che posso essere nello stesso tempo a casa e in diversi posti. È bello muoversi velocemente, ma la fretta diventa droga. Ho un’idea romantica del viaggio: quella degli americani che si spostavano in Europa portando mezza casa con loro, quando per arrivare in un luogo ci volevano tre settimane. Devo coscientemente frenarmi dal viaggiare troppo per goderne di più.

Sarebbe a dire?

Lasciare spazio alle idee e all’ispirazione. È importante anche comprendere quello che stiamo vedendo. Mi sono ritrovato recentemente bloccato ad Atene, con il Covid-19. Non conoscevo la città, c’era il lockdown e non parlavo una parola di greco. Quando sono guaritomi sono sentito un adolescente, ho scoperto lentamente tutte le parti di quel luogo, ma ho anche avuto modo di capire quello che era importante per me. Ho fatto un reset, rivalutando tutto. Bisogna viaggiare anche nelle zone che non conosciamo, senza un’organizzazione. In Italia ho iniziato dal nord e piano piano sto scendendo verso il sud: prima Torino, poi Milano, Firenze. E adesso anche Roma.

Che ne pensi?

È una città pericolosissima perché ti porta a fare cose che non faresti mai. Ha un magnetismo potente. Accade lo stesso a Napoli.

Se dico la parola “treno” cosa ti viene in mente?

Agatha Christie, ovviamente. Ma anche le idee che mi si accendono guardando il paesaggio di fronte ai miei occhi. Il treno è molto meditativo, mi piace tantissimo. Regala un senso di contatto con la terra. Emozionalmente, quando arrivi in una città, ti prepari al luogo che stai raggiungendo, senza lo shock di salire e scendere da un aereo.

Hai qualche ricordo in particolare legato ai binari?

I viaggi in treno, in Cina, con la mia famiglia. A 18 anni, sul treno da Shangai a Pechino, ho iniziato a canticchiare un pezzo seguendo il ritmo dei binari. E, alle 2 del mattino, ho scritto la canzone Lollipop.

Parli spesso di famiglia…

È la parola più complessa, ricca, felice, difficile del mio vocabolario. È giusto così. Però, quando penso a questo concetto, mi viene in mente la collettività, l’idea di non essere chiuso né dominante ma flessibile. La famiglia è come un vento forte: pensi di poter resistere, ma a volte devi cambiare, è un’evoluzione continua.

E se ti dico “Mika” cosa ti balena in testa?

Il pezzo di una catena, frutto di tantissime persone che ci sono adesso o ci sono state e ora non più. Un individuo non isolato, parte di un puzzle più grande fatto di cuore, famiglia, musica e di tutte le anime che riempiono la vita.

Settembre:

Verona, 18 (Teatro Filarmonico) e 19 (Arena di Verona);
Firenze, 21 (Teatro Verdi) e 22 (Nelson Mandela Forum);
Bari, 25 (Teatro Petruzzelli) e 26 (Pala Florio);
Milano, 29 (Teatro degli Arcimboldi) e 30 (Mediolanum Forum).

Ottobre:

Roma, 3 (Auditorium Parco della Musica) e 4 (Palazzo dello Sport).

Articolo tratto da La Freccia

:uk: Google translator

Spoiler

Mika between Eurovision 2022 and the new tour in Italy

Opening Mika, photo by Lucely Bautista

Colorful, creative, a little crazy. Mika is, without a doubt, one of the most original and eclectic pop stars on the square. She is a ductile gem, able to remain credible when she composes hits and, at the same time, able to ignite the curiosity of the spectators on the small screen behind the counter of the X Factor judges or as a showman of Tonight CasaMika.

Now it is running with two beautiful adventures: the Eurovision Song Contest, in Turin from 10 to 14 May, and The Magic Piano Tour which from 18 September offers two totally different shows in every city it touches: Verona, Florence, Bari, Milan. and Rome. The first evening in a theater there will be a more intimate show, the second in an arena the performance changes into an explosion of entertainment. A tour that the (now) adopted Italian singer-songwriter is particularly fond of.

Let's start with the first project, the Eurovision Song Contest, which you will conduct with Alessandro Cattelan and Laura Pausini.

An extraordinary program. Having chosen the three of us allows us to include our personal part in addition to the artistic one in the conduct and writing of the show. The approach is very creative. Until you enter it you don't understand how amazing it is. We are trying to build the show and its complexity is impressive: an enormous challenge, in such a difficult moment for Europe, also offers another interpretation, given that the competition has, as its foundation, the universalism of the Old Continent.

Turin is a city that has a lot of importance for you. What memories do you have related to that place?

The bicerin! (laughs, ed). Bordighera and Turin were the first Italian places I visited as a child. With my mother and father we left the south of France to go there and I remember this delicious chocolate drink and the giant aperitifs.

How does it feel to represent Italy as a non-Italian?

It's incredible. For my identity and philosophy of life it is very powerful. Being European is an ideology that philosophers and writers such as the Frenchman Victor Hugo have talked about. We recall the times when the intellectual light was brighter because the walls were lowered. It is a fact, not a concept. When the walls rise, dark times come. When there is sharing, a giant step forward is taken. I am American, but I identify with the European philosophy.

How does a pop star stand in a world that has changed so much in the space of two years?

An artist's response must always be poetic. Covid-19 was a surreal moment, but also a transformative one: that break that came so abruptly gave us the opportunity to turn our lives upside down, ask ourselves important questions. From my point of view, in my concerts, I am allergic to banality, I try to find a unique language, even more than before, so as not to waste an opportunity. I have an urge for uniqueness in telling things. What is happening with the war is a brutality and a violence that leaves you speechless. A story that we know, then, only in part, not having access to all the information. It's very destabilizing, but what scares me the most is the human part.

That is to say?

There is a war in Europe, but it is not a European conflict. The real problem, for our continent, is where to collect the largest migration of refugees and refugees since the Second World War. They are families with no preparation, children who are arriving alone without a plan. The system for organizing this situation is as delusional as the violence with which it exploded.

The artist also has the task of lightening certain moments.

It can be done, but respecting the human part. We must be at the service of emotion to provoke empathy. We must avoid falling into the cold trap of statistics, not preaching stories, but communicating them with humanity.

The Piano Magic Tour begins in September. What is the piano for you?

It is home. I am a musician and an author, I am working on a soundtrack with three different tribes in the north of Africa and composing 45 minutes of symphonic pieces for a film. But I can neither read nor write the notes. Despite this, I play and compose. The piano allows me to sculpt music. The piano saw, lived and suffered my first disappointment, my first melodies, the first time I kissed a girl - and it went awful - the first time I kissed a guy - and it went so much better - the first time I spent the night with someone, the first time I lost someone I cared about. At the piano I experienced my mother's illness, writing and asking her to sing what I composed. The plan was there when she died and when my first grandson was born. I take the piano, on stage, alone, to make people understand the form of support that this instrument offers me. And then in the arena it becomes magical. The spectacular and hidden duality of the plan makes us understand that we are all capable of dreaming and being stronger than the violence of life.

What is magic for you?

Creating the world from nothing. Even if what you compose isn't perfect, you feel less helpless. It feels like a superhero. Then, when that feeling fails, you look for that feeling again. And it starts again: it is a circle.

You've been a talent show coach and judge. What is talent for you?

Lots of things. It is an overused word, for me it is not linked to technical skill: the most difficult thing is to get to the hearts of so many people. Talent is a light and, when it is identified, it must be cultivated, not crushed. Now there is a self-exploitation of one's abilities. Already at 16 you are in an incredible rush to become popular, without preparation. In this way, talent becomes a burning flame. Maturity is essential. This is why I am sorry that music and art are disappearing from public schools. This has consequences. Art must be defended.

You are always on the go. What does it represent for you?

Freedom. The idea that I can be at home and in different places at the same time. It's nice to move fast, but haste becomes drugs. I have a romantic idea of travel: that of Americans who moved to Europe bringing half the house with them, when it took three weeks to get to a place. I must consciously refrain from traveling too much to enjoy it more.

That is to say?

Leave room for ideas and inspiration. It is also important to understand what we are seeing. I recently found myself stuck in Athens, with Covid-19. I didn't know the city, there was a lockdown and I didn't speak a word of Greek. When I healed I felt like a teenager, I slowly discovered all the parts of that place, but I also got to understand what was important to me. I did a reset, re-evaluating everything. We must also travel to areas we do not know, without an organization. In Italy I started from the north and slowly I'm going south: first Turin, then Milan, Florence. And now Rome too.

What do you think about it?

It is a very dangerous city because it leads you to do things you would never do. It has a powerful magnetism. The same happens in Naples.

If I say the word "train" what comes to your mind?

Agatha Christie, of course. But also the ideas that light up in me looking at the landscape in front of my eyes. The train is very meditative, I love it. It gives a sense of contact with the earth. Emotionally, when you arrive in a city, you prepare yourself for the place you are reaching, without the shock of getting on and off a plane.

Do you have any memories in particular related to the tracks?

I travel by train in China with my family. At 18, on the train from Shanghai to Beijing, I started humming a song following the rhythm of the tracks. And, at 2am, I wrote the song Lollipop.

You often talk about family ...

It is the most complex, rich, happy, difficult word in my vocabulary. Rightly so. However, when I think of this concept, the community comes to mind, the idea of not being closed or dominant but flexible. The family is like a strong wind: you think you can resist, but sometimes you have to change, it's a continuous evolution.

And if I say "Mika" what is flashing in your head?

The piece of a chain, the result of many people who are there now or have been and now no longer. A non-isolated individual, part of a larger puzzle made of heart, family, music and all the souls that fill life.

https://www.fsnews.it/it/eventi/spettacolo/mika-eurovision-2022-tour-italia.html

Edited April 2, 2022 by Kumazzz
update

crazyaboutmika · April 2, 2022

Thank you so much Eriko :flowers2: :hug: you rock :punk:

Kumazzz · April 4, 2022

Israeli ??? :loco:

il Giornale

https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/spettacoli/sono-devastato-lannuncio-choc-mika-concerto-2023138.html

3 Aprile 2022 - 10:57

"Sono devastato...". L'annuncio choc di Mika prima del concerto

Evento d'apertura del nuovo tour annullato per Mika: il cantante è stato costretto a dare forfait per un problema di salute. Preoccupazione tra i fan

C'è grande preoccupazione tra i tantissimi ammiratori di Mika dopo il messaggio lasciato dal cantante sui suoi profili social. Ieri sera, infatti, l'artista israeliano si sarebbe dovuto esibire a Boston ma un non precisato problema di salute gli ha impedito di cantare. Grande il dispiacere da parte di Mika, che proprio da Boston cominciava il suo tour del nord America, che lo terrà impegnato fino al prossimo 20 aprile.

"Sono devastato nel dover cancellare lo spettacolo di questa sera al Roadrunner di Boston. Sono stato male e sono andato urgentemente dal medico di emergenza. Per ordine suo, non posso esibirmi stasera. Spero di vedervi tutti martedì a Brooklyn. Ai miei fan che avevano già acquistato i biglietti per stasera e a quelli già in viaggio per lo spettacolo, dico che mi dispiace tanto. Non cancellerei se potessi cantare, ma proprio non posso", si legge nel messaggio condiviso dal cantante israeliano.

Tantissime le ipotesi formulate fin qui dagli ammiratori di Mika, in pensiero per le condizioni di salute del loro beniamino, che da quel momento non ha più pubblicato nulla. L'ipotesi più plausibile è quella di un problema passeggero alla gola o alle corde vocali, situazione in cui spesso si trovano i cantanti, per i quali quelli sono gli strumenti del mestiere. Un utilizzo eccessivo, che porta a un sovraccarico di lavoro, può causare affaticamento e momentanea indisponibilità all'uso, che richiedono uno stop forzato per garantire la completa ripresa.

Che il problema che ha colpito Mika non sia particolarmente grave lo si intuisce dal suo stesso messaggio, visto che il cantante ha dato appuntamento ai suoi ammiratori a Brooklyn tra appena tre giorni. È quindi probabile che l'artista, amatissimo in tutto il mondo, debba solamente rispettare un breve periodo di riposo per tornare sul palco a incantare le migliaia di persone pronte a cantare le sue hit e i suoi ultimi brani. Ora non resta che attendere ulteriori informazioni da parte di Mika, amatissimo anche in Italia sia come cantante che come performer e conduttore televisivo, grazie alle sue numerose presente nei programmi del nostro Paese.

:uk: Google translator

Spoiler

"I am devastated ...". Mika's shocking announcement before the concert

Opening event of the new tour canceled by Mika: the singer was forced to forfeit due to a health problem. Concern among fans

There is great concern among the many admirers of Mika after the message left by the singer on his social profiles. Last night, in fact, the Israeli artist should have performed in Boston but an unspecified health problem prevented him from singing. Great regret on the part of Mika, who began his North American tour right from Boston, which will keep him busy until April 20.

"I am devastated to have to cancel tonight's show at the Roadrunner in Boston. I was sick and went to the emergency doctor urgently. By his order, I cannot perform tonight. I hope to see you all on Tuesday in Brooklyn. To my fans who had already bought tickets for tonight and those already traveling for the show, I say I'm so sorry. I wouldn't cancel if I could sing, but I just can't ", reads the message shared by the Israeli singer.

Many hypotheses have been formulated so far by Mika's admirers, worried about the health conditions of their favorite, who hasn't published anything since. The most plausible hypothesis is that of a passing problem in the throat or vocal cords, a situation in which singers often find themselves, for whom those are the tools of the trade. Excessive use, leading to overload of work, can cause fatigue and momentary unavailability for use, requiring a forced stop to ensure complete recovery.

That the problem that struck Mika is not particularly serious can be understood from the message of himself, given that the singer has made an appointment with his admirers in Brooklyn in just three days. It is therefore likely that the artist, beloved all over the world, has only to respect a short period of rest to return to the stage to enchant the thousands of people ready to sing his hits and his latest songs. Now all that remains is to wait for further information from Mika, beloved also in Italy both as a singer and as a performer and TV presenter, thanks to his numerous present in the programs of our country.

Mikasister · April 6, 2022

On 4/1/2022 at 11:33 PM, Kumazzz said:

La Freccia

aprile 2022

Published on Apr 1, 2022

ISSUU.com

https://issuu.com/edizionilafreccia/docs/la_freccia_sans_frontieres_aprile_maggio_2022

https://issuu.com/edizionilafreccia/docs/la_freccia_aprile_2022

PDF file ( pages of Mika)

la_freccia_aprile_2022_MIKA.pdf

la_freccia_sans_frontieres_aprile_maggio_2022_MIKA.pdf

Twitter

WEB https://www.fsnews.it/it/eventi/spettacolo/mika-eurovision-2022-tour-italia.html

Mika tra l'Eurovision 2022 e il nuovo tour in Italia

^{In apertura Mika, foto di Lucely Bautista}

Colorato, creativo, un po’ folle. Mika è, senza dubbio, una delle popstar più originali ed eclettiche sulla piazza. Un gioiellino duttile, capace di rimanere credibile quando compone hit e, al contempo, in grado di accendere la curiosità degli spettatori sul piccolo schermo dietro al bancone dei giudici di X Factor o come showman di Stasera CasaMika.

Ora è in corsa con due bellissime avventure: l’Eurovision Song Contest, a Torino dal 10 al 14 maggio, e il The Magic Piano Tour che dal 18 settembre regala due spettacoli totalmente differenti in ogni città toccata: Verona, Firenze, Bari, Milano e Roma. La prima sera in un teatro ci sarà uno show più intimo, la seconda in un’arena la performance cambia in un’esplosione di intrattenimento. Una tournée a cui il cantautore (ormai) italiano d’adozione tiene particolarmente.

Partiamo dal primo progetto, l’Eurovision Song Contest, che condurrai con Alessandro Cattelan e Laura Pausini.

Un programma straordinario. Aver scelto noi tre permette di inserire nella conduzione e nella scrittura dello show la nostra parte personale oltre a quella artistica. L’approccio è molto creativo. Fino a quando non ci si entra non si capisce quanto sia stupefacente. Stiamo cercando di costruire lo spettacolo ed è impressionante la sua complessità: una sfida enorme, in un momento così difficile per l’Europa, offre anche un’altra chiave di lettura, visto che il concorso ha, come fondamenta, l’universalismo del Vecchio Continente.

Torino è una città che ha molta importanza per te. Che ricordi hai legati a quel luogo?

Il bicerin! (ride, ndr). Bordighera e Torino sono stati i primi posti italiani che ho visitato da piccolissimo. Con mia madre e mio padre partivamo dal sud della Francia per andarci e mi ricordo questa bevanda al cioccolato buonissima e gli aperitivi giganti.

Come ci si sente a rappresentare l’Italia da non italiano?

È incredibile. Per la mia identità e filosofia di vita è molto potente. Essere europeo è un’ideologia di cui hanno parlato filosofi e scrittori come il francese Victor Hugo. Si rievocano i tempi in cui la luce intellettuale era più brillante perché i muri erano abbassati. È un fatto, non un concetto. Quando i muri si alzano arrivano tempi bui. Quando c’è condivisione si fa un gigante passo avanti. Io sono americano, ma mi identifico con la filosofia europea.

Come si pone una popstar in un mondo che è cambiato così tanto nel giro di due anni?

La risposta di un artista deve essere sempre poetica. Il Covid-19 è stato un momento surreale, ma anche di trasformazione: quella pausa arrivata così bruscamente ci ha dato la possibilità di ribaltare la vita, farci domande importanti. Dal mio punto di vista, nei miei concerti, sono allergico alla banalità, cerco di trovare un linguaggio unico, ancor più di prima, per non sprecare un’opportunità. Ho un’urgenza di unicità nel raccontare le cose. Quello che sta succedendo con la guerra è di una brutalità e una violenza da lasciare senza parole. Una storia che sappiamo, poi, solo in parte, non avendo accesso a tutte le informazioni. È molto destabilizzante, ma quello che mi spaventa di più è la parte umana.

Sarebbe a dire?

C’è una guerra in Europa, ma non è un conflitto europeo. Il vero problema, per il nostro continente, è dove raccogliere la più grande migrazione di profughi e rifugiati dalla Seconda guerra mondiale. Sono famiglie senza preparazione, bambini che stanno arrivando da soli senza un piano. Il sistema per organizzare questa situazione è delirante quanto la violenza con cui è deflagrata.

L’artista ha anche il compito di alleggerire determinati momenti.

Si può fare, ma rispettando la parte umana. Dobbiamo essere al servizio dell’emozione per provocare empatia. Bisogna evitare di cadere nella fredda trappola delle statistiche, non predicare storie, ma comunicarle con umanità.

A settembre inizia The Piano Magic Tour. Cos’è, per te, il pianoforte?

È casa. Sono un musicista e un autore, sto lavorando a una colonna sonora con tre diverse tribù nel nord dell’Africa e componendo 45 minuti di brani sinfonici per un film. Ma non so né leggere né scrivere le note. Nonostante questo, suono e compongo. Il pianoforte mi permette di scolpire la musica. Il piano ha visto, ha vissuto e sofferto la mia prima delusione, le mie prime melodie, la prima volta che ho baciato una ragazza - ed è andata malissimo - la prima volta che ho baciato un ragazzo - ed è andata molto meglio - la prima volta che ho passato la notte con una persona, la prima volta che ho perso qualcuno cui tenevo. Al pianoforte ho vissuto la malattia di mia mamma, scrivendo e chiedendo a lei di cantare quello che componevo. Il piano c’era quando lei è morta e quando è nato il mio primo nipote. Porto il pianoforte, sul palco, da solo, per fare capire la forma di supporto che mi offre questo strumento. E poi in arena diventa magico. La dualità spettacolare e recondita del piano ci fa capire che siamo tutti capaci di sognare ed essere più forti rispetto alla violenza della vita.

Cos’è la magia per te?

Creare il mondo dal niente. Anche se quello che componi non è una cosa perfetta, ti senti meno impotente. Ci si sente come un supereroe. Poi, quando questa sensazione viene a mancare, si cerca nuovamente quel feeling. E si ricomincia: è un cerchio.

Sei stato coach e giudice di talent show. Cos’è, per te, il talento?

Tantissime cose. È una parola abusata, per me non è legata alla bravura tecnica: la cosa più difficile è arrivare al cuore di tanta gente. Il talento è una luce e, quando si identifica, va coltivato, non schiacciato. Adesso c’è un autosfruttamento delle proprie capacità. Già a 16 anni si ha una fretta incredibile di diventare popolari, senza preparazione. In questo modo, il talento diventa una fiamma che si brucia. La maturità è fondamentale. Per questo mi dispiace che musica e arte stiano scomparendo dalle scuole pubbliche. Questo ha delle conseguenze. L’arte va difesa.

Sei sempre in viaggio. Che cosa rappresenta per te?

Libertà. L’idea che posso essere nello stesso tempo a casa e in diversi posti. È bello muoversi velocemente, ma la fretta diventa droga. Ho un’idea romantica del viaggio: quella degli americani che si spostavano in Europa portando mezza casa con loro, quando per arrivare in un luogo ci volevano tre settimane. Devo coscientemente frenarmi dal viaggiare troppo per goderne di più.

Sarebbe a dire?

Lasciare spazio alle idee e all’ispirazione. È importante anche comprendere quello che stiamo vedendo. Mi sono ritrovato recentemente bloccato ad Atene, con il Covid-19. Non conoscevo la città, c’era il lockdown e non parlavo una parola di greco. Quando sono guaritomi sono sentito un adolescente, ho scoperto lentamente tutte le parti di quel luogo, ma ho anche avuto modo di capire quello che era importante per me. Ho fatto un reset, rivalutando tutto. Bisogna viaggiare anche nelle zone che non conosciamo, senza un’organizzazione. In Italia ho iniziato dal nord e piano piano sto scendendo verso il sud: prima Torino, poi Milano, Firenze. E adesso anche Roma.

Che ne pensi?

È una città pericolosissima perché ti porta a fare cose che non faresti mai. Ha un magnetismo potente. Accade lo stesso a Napoli.

Se dico la parola “treno” cosa ti viene in mente?

Agatha Christie, ovviamente. Ma anche le idee che mi si accendono guardando il paesaggio di fronte ai miei occhi. Il treno è molto meditativo, mi piace tantissimo. Regala un senso di contatto con la terra. Emozionalmente, quando arrivi in una città, ti prepari al luogo che stai raggiungendo, senza lo shock di salire e scendere da un aereo.

Hai qualche ricordo in particolare legato ai binari?

I viaggi in treno, in Cina, con la mia famiglia. A 18 anni, sul treno da Shangai a Pechino, ho iniziato a canticchiare un pezzo seguendo il ritmo dei binari. E, alle 2 del mattino, ho scritto la canzone Lollipop.

Parli spesso di famiglia…

È la parola più complessa, ricca, felice, difficile del mio vocabolario. È giusto così. Però, quando penso a questo concetto, mi viene in mente la collettività, l’idea di non essere chiuso né dominante ma flessibile. La famiglia è come un vento forte: pensi di poter resistere, ma a volte devi cambiare, è un’evoluzione continua.

E se ti dico “Mika” cosa ti balena in testa?

Il pezzo di una catena, frutto di tantissime persone che ci sono adesso o ci sono state e ora non più. Un individuo non isolato, parte di un puzzle più grande fatto di cuore, famiglia, musica e di tutte le anime che riempiono la vita.

Settembre:

Verona, 18 (Teatro Filarmonico) e 19 (Arena di Verona);

Firenze, 21 (Teatro Verdi) e 22 (Nelson Mandela Forum);

Bari, 25 (Teatro Petruzzelli) e 26 (Pala Florio);

Milano, 29 (Teatro degli Arcimboldi) e 30 (Mediolanum Forum).

Ottobre:

Roma, 3 (Auditorium Parco della Musica) e 4 (Palazzo dello Sport).

Articolo tratto da La Freccia

Google translator

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Mika between Eurovision 2022 and the new tour in Italy

Opening Mika, photo by Lucely Bautista

Colorful, creative, a little crazy. Mika is, without a doubt, one of the most original and eclectic pop stars on the square. She is a ductile gem, able to remain credible when she composes hits and, at the same time, able to ignite the curiosity of the spectators on the small screen behind the counter of the X Factor judges or as a showman of Tonight CasaMika.

Now it is running with two beautiful adventures: the Eurovision Song Contest, in Turin from 10 to 14 May, and The Magic Piano Tour which from 18 September offers two totally different shows in every city it touches: Verona, Florence, Bari, Milan. and Rome. The first evening in a theater there will be a more intimate show, the second in an arena the performance changes into an explosion of entertainment. A tour that the (now) adopted Italian singer-songwriter is particularly fond of.

Let's start with the first project, the Eurovision Song Contest, which you will conduct with Alessandro Cattelan and Laura Pausini.

An extraordinary program. Having chosen the three of us allows us to include our personal part in addition to the artistic one in the conduct and writing of the show. The approach is very creative. Until you enter it you don't understand how amazing it is. We are trying to build the show and its complexity is impressive: an enormous challenge, in such a difficult moment for Europe, also offers another interpretation, given that the competition has, as its foundation, the universalism of the Old Continent.

Turin is a city that has a lot of importance for you. What memories do you have related to that place?

The bicerin! (laughs, ed). Bordighera and Turin were the first Italian places I visited as a child. With my mother and father we left the south of France to go there and I remember this delicious chocolate drink and the giant aperitifs.

How does it feel to represent Italy as a non-Italian?

It's incredible. For my identity and philosophy of life it is very powerful. Being European is an ideology that philosophers and writers such as the Frenchman Victor Hugo have talked about. We recall the times when the intellectual light was brighter because the walls were lowered. It is a fact, not a concept. When the walls rise, dark times come. When there is sharing, a giant step forward is taken. I am American, but I identify with the European philosophy.

How does a pop star stand in a world that has changed so much in the space of two years?

An artist's response must always be poetic. Covid-19 was a surreal moment, but also a transformative one: that break that came so abruptly gave us the opportunity to turn our lives upside down, ask ourselves important questions. From my point of view, in my concerts, I am allergic to banality, I try to find a unique language, even more than before, so as not to waste an opportunity. I have an urge for uniqueness in telling things. What is happening with the war is a brutality and a violence that leaves you speechless. A story that we know, then, only in part, not having access to all the information. It's very destabilizing, but what scares me the most is the human part.

That is to say?

There is a war in Europe, but it is not a European conflict. The real problem, for our continent, is where to collect the largest migration of refugees and refugees since the Second World War. They are families with no preparation, children who are arriving alone without a plan. The system for organizing this situation is as delusional as the violence with which it exploded.

The artist also has the task of lightening certain moments.

It can be done, but respecting the human part. We must be at the service of emotion to provoke empathy. We must avoid falling into the cold trap of statistics, not preaching stories, but communicating them with humanity.

The Piano Magic Tour begins in September. What is the piano for you?

It is home. I am a musician and an author, I am working on a soundtrack with three different tribes in the north of Africa and composing 45 minutes of symphonic pieces for a film. But I can neither read nor write the notes. Despite this, I play and compose. The piano allows me to sculpt music. The piano saw, lived and suffered my first disappointment, my first melodies, the first time I kissed a girl - and it went awful - the first time I kissed a guy - and it went so much better - the first time I spent the night with someone, the first time I lost someone I cared about. At the piano I experienced my mother's illness, writing and asking her to sing what I composed. The plan was there when she died and when my first grandson was born. I take the piano, on stage, alone, to make people understand the form of support that this instrument offers me. And then in the arena it becomes magical. The spectacular and hidden duality of the plan makes us understand that we are all capable of dreaming and being stronger than the violence of life.

What is magic for you?

Creating the world from nothing. Even if what you compose isn't perfect, you feel less helpless. It feels like a superhero. Then, when that feeling fails, you look for that feeling again. And it starts again: it is a circle.

You've been a talent show coach and judge. What is talent for you?

Lots of things. It is an overused word, for me it is not linked to technical skill: the most difficult thing is to get to the hearts of so many people. Talent is a light and, when it is identified, it must be cultivated, not crushed. Now there is a self-exploitation of one's abilities. Already at 16 you are in an incredible rush to become popular, without preparation. In this way, talent becomes a burning flame. Maturity is essential. This is why I am sorry that music and art are disappearing from public schools. This has consequences. Art must be defended.

You are always on the go. What does it represent for you?

Freedom. The idea that I can be at home and in different places at the same time. It's nice to move fast, but haste becomes drugs. I have a romantic idea of travel: that of Americans who moved to Europe bringing half the house with them, when it took three weeks to get to a place. I must consciously refrain from traveling too much to enjoy it more.

That is to say?

Leave room for ideas and inspiration. It is also important to understand what we are seeing. I recently found myself stuck in Athens, with Covid-19. I didn't know the city, there was a lockdown and I didn't speak a word of Greek. When I healed I felt like a teenager, I slowly discovered all the parts of that place, but I also got to understand what was important to me. I did a reset, re-evaluating everything. We must also travel to areas we do not know, without an organization. In Italy I started from the north and slowly I'm going south: first Turin, then Milan, Florence. And now Rome too.

What do you think about it?

It is a very dangerous city because it leads you to do things you would never do. It has a powerful magnetism. The same happens in Naples.

If I say the word "train" what comes to your mind?

Agatha Christie, of course. But also the ideas that light up in me looking at the landscape in front of my eyes. The train is very meditative, I love it. It gives a sense of contact with the earth. Emotionally, when you arrive in a city, you prepare yourself for the place you are reaching, without the shock of getting on and off a plane.

Do you have any memories in particular related to the tracks?

I travel by train in China with my family. At 18, on the train from Shanghai to Beijing, I started humming a song following the rhythm of the tracks. And, at 2am, I wrote the song Lollipop.

You often talk about family ...

It is the most complex, rich, happy, difficult word in my vocabulary. Rightly so. However, when I think of this concept, the community comes to mind, the idea of not being closed or dominant but flexible. The family is like a strong wind: you think you can resist, but sometimes you have to change, it's a continuous evolution.

And if I say "Mika" what is flashing in your head?

The piece of a chain, the result of many people who are there now or have been and now no longer. A non-isolated individual, part of a larger puzzle made of heart, family, music and all the souls that fill life.

https://www.fsnews.it/it/eventi/spettacolo/mika-eurovision-2022-tour-italia.html

Mika in Italian press - 2022

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aprile 2022

Published on Apr 1, 2022

Mika tra l'Eurovision 2022 e il nuovo tour in Italia

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aprile 2022

Published on Apr 1, 2022

Mika tra l'Eurovision 2022 e il nuovo tour in Italia

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