Mika in French Press and Other Media - 2023

[CharlotteL]

1 hour ago, SusanT said:

Have I understood correctly?

That's how I understood it as well, maybe a native speaker has more to add.

But thank you for making me watch this interview that I somehow missed.

The part where they made him sing Lollipop in French had me in stitches!! Why did he feel so embarrassed, the song sounds just as bad in English!! I guess the change of perspective made him look at it in a new light again 

[krysady]

2 hours ago, SusanT said:

Have I understood correctly?

Just watched and you are right, this time he's talking about the album 

 

1 hour ago, CharlotteL said:

The part where they made him sing Lollipop in French had me in stitches!! Why did he feel so embarrassed, the song sounds just as bad in English!! I guess the change of perspective made him look at it in a new light again 

Never thought of that, but now hearing the French version it really sounds more explicit 

[Hero]

1 hour ago, krysady said:

Never thought of that, but now hearing the French version it really sounds more explicit 

To quote the man himself in concert: "Yeah, it ain't f###ing candy" 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

Le Grand Studio RTL.

Mika sings C'est la vie.

 

https://fb.watch/oZxLl59kLY/

 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

I am not sure if this video with 15 minutes interview for Europe 1 has been posted.

 

https://fb.watch/oZy4fb07vk/

[Kumazzz]

1 hour ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

I am not sure if this video with 15 minutes interview for Europe 1 has been posted.

 

https://fb.watch/oZy4fb07vk/

 

Thanks a lot for posting @Anna Ko Kolkowska !!

 

Europe 1

Julia Vignali

09h15, le 02 décembre 2023

 

Les incontournables de Julia :

Mika pour son nouvel album «Que ta tête fleurisse toujours»

• PODCAST - https://www.europe1.fr/emissions/linterview-de-julia-vignali/les-incontournables-de-julia-mika-pour-son-nouvel-album-que-ta-tete-fleurisse-toujours-4217699

 

• FACEBOOK VIDEO https://fb.watch/oZy4fb07vk/

 

Official YouTube short

Cette chanson de Mika inspirée d'une grosse dispute avec son compagnon #shorts #radio #musique

 

[Kumazzz]

On 12/11/2023 at 7:46 PM, Kumazzz said:

Le Journal du Dimanche - 10 Décembre 2023

 

 

• PDF file ( 1 page / 217 kb ) Le_Journal_du_Dimanche_10_Decembre_2023_p.42.pdf

 

Mika « JE N’AI PAS DE LANGUE MATERNELLE »

 

POLYGLOTTE

Le chanteur anglophone, né au Liban mais élevé à Paris, chante pour la première fois en français

 

« Le français me permet de faire un lien avec mon enfance »

 

Il ne connaît plus personne de son enfance à Paris, raison pour laquelle il a voulu renouer avec son ancrage hexagonal à travers son nouveau disque. Seize ans après ses débuts tonitruants grâce au transgénérationnel Life In Cartoon Motion (2007), Mika, chanteur polyglotte accueillant tout à la fois Freddie Mercury et Elton John dans son spectre vocal, s’essaie pour la première fois à la langue de Françoise Hardy sur la longueur d’un album. Si le précédent, My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019), remontait aux racines américaines de son père, celui-ci pourrait pencher du côté maternel puisque son titre s’inspire d’un dessin que sa mère, atteinte d’une tumeur au cerveau, lui a laissé avant de s’éteindre au début de l’année 2021 : Que ta tête fleurisse toujours.

 

D’une tonalité pastel pop sautillante, ce sixième album coécrit avec Carla de Coignac et Doriand est à l’image de sa pochette : un ciel bleu avec quelques légers cumulus cependant. Ainsi donc, tout autant l’ivresse dépitée de C’est la vie que les éclats amers de Moi, Andy et Paris, jetés sur le papier après une engueulade avec son mec. Mais le tube de l’album ne se fait pas prier : la chanson Birkin se trouve à la deuxième plage de ce recueil de douze titres.

 

JANE BIRKIN

« Avec l’âge, je me rends compte à quel point cette femme a imprégné ma vie. J’ai grandi en ne cessant de m’y référer. Jane Birkin est unique dans le paysage culturel français : elle est parvenue à se distinguer en s’émancipant perpétuellement des codes en vigueur. L’idée voudrait qu’on perde son identité en érodant les frontières, elle a démontré le contraire. Grâce à elle, on découvre qu’on peut être à la fois sensuel et poétique, charnel et pudique, entièrement dévêtu et élégant, intello et pop. Tous ces ingrédients mis dans son shaker, cela donne une jolie définition de l’antisnobisme. »

 

LES ACCENTS DE L’INTIME

« Je ne pourrais dire dans quelle langue je rêve : je ne me connais pas de langue maternelle, l’anglais et le français m’ont nourri conjointement. Je m’adapte à mon interlocuteur. L’anglais, je le parle avec un accent franco-américain et le français avec des mots en anglais. En revanche, quand je chante “On brûle, la braise, une bulle, on baise” dans Apocalypse Calypso, je sais que la langue sera plus poétique dans votre langue : en anglais, de tels mots sonneraient terriblement vulgaires. Sur un plan strictement vocal, le français invite à chanter plus bas là où l’anglais inciterait à hurler. Alors, pour cet album, j’ai doublé ma voix pleine de falsettos. Le français, c’est ce qui me permet de faire un lien avec mon enfance : c’est géographique. »

 

FRANCE GALL

« Mes parents, qui avaient grandi partout, parlaient à la fois anglais, italien, espagnol ou arabe. La musique, c’était pareil. Ils mélangeaient tous les genres. À Paris, on écoutait tout autant Colette Magny que Nina Simone, Brassens que Dylan, Moustaki que Nirvana… France Gall m’a beaucoup aidé pour répondre à mes sœurs quand elles se montraient chipies. À 5 ans, je leur répondais en chantant : Laisse tomber les filles. Elles étaient prévenues ! »

 

UN VAURIEN CHEZ BARCLAYS

« Suite à un revers de fortune, nous avons dû quitter Paris quand je devais avoir 9 ans. Nous avons abandonné le confort du 16e arrondissement pour une vie plus instable à Londres. Avec le recul, je constate à quel point cette situation a conditionné mon mode de vie futur. Cela m’a permis de relativiser le sentiment de perte : il y a toujours une autre porte à ouvrir quand on en referme une. Dans la capitale anglaise, devenu complètement cancre, je me suis fait virer du lycée français. C’est là que la musique a remplacé la lecture et l’écriture. La musique m’a offert mon premier vrai travail : tout d’un coup, moi le vaurien, je me suis retrouvé à chanter à l’Opéra Royal. Et en plus, on me payait pour ça ! Je me suis alors rendu à la banque Barclays et j’ai ouvert un compte à mon nom. Il n’y avait rien dessus : je donnais tout à mes parents. »

 

QUI VA PIANO…

«  À Paris, les huissiers nous avaient tout pris. Mais il nous restait un piano droit. Un instrument qu’on ne pouvait nous saisir puisqu’il était en location. Nous l’avons embarqué dans notre déménagement à Londres. La boîte de location ayant fini par déposer le bilan, nous l’avons gardé. C’est dessus que j’ai appris à jouer. Mais, en arrivant de l’autre côté de la Manche, ma mère nous avait donné un pot de peinture et un pinceau : “Maintenant, vous le repeignez tout en blanc. C’est un nouveau départ.” Tenez, je vais vous le montrer en photo. Je n’ai jamais refait la peinture. Interdiction de toucher à ce piano sans âge ! Quatre-vingt-dix pour cent de mes chansons ont été écrites grâce à lui. »

 

 

Google translator

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Mika “I DON’T HAVE A MOTHER TONGUE”

POLYGLOTT

The English-speaking singer, born in Lebanon but raised in Paris, sings for the first time in French

“French allows me to make a link with my childhood”

He no longer knows anyone from his childhood in Paris, which is why he wanted to reconnect with his French roots through his new record. Sixteen years after his thunderous debut thanks to the transgene rational Life In Cartoon Motion (2007), Mika, a polyglot singer welcoming both Fred die Mercury and Elton John into his vocal spectrum, tries his hand at language for the first time by Françoise Hardy over the length of an album. If the previous one, My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019), went back to his father's American roots, this one could lean towards the maternal side since its title is inspired by a drawing that his mother, suffering from a tumor to the brain, left him before passing away at the beginning of 2021: May your head always bloom.

With a bouncy pastel pop tone, this sixth album co-written with Carla de Coignac and Doriand is like its cover: a blue sky with a few light cumulus clouds, however. So, just as much the disappointed intoxication of C’est la vie as the bitter outbursts of Me, Andy and Paris, thrown on paper after an argument with her boyfriend. But the hit of the album does not need to be asked: the song Birkin is on the second track of this collection of twelve tracks.

JANE BIRKIN

“As I get older, I realize how much this woman has influenced my life. I grew up constantly referring to it. Jane Birkin is unique in the French cultural landscape: she has managed to distinguish herself by perpetually emancipating herself from the codes in force. The idea would be that we lose our identity by eroding borders, it has demonstrated the opposite. Thanks to her, we discover that we can be both sensual and poetic, carnal and modest, completely undressed and elegant, intellectual and pop. All these ingredients put in his shaker give a nice definition of anti-snobbery. »

THE ACCENTS OF THE INTIMATE

“I couldn't say in what language I dream: I don't know a mother tongue, English and French nourished me jointly. I adapt to my interlocutor. I speak English with a Franco-American accent and French with English words. On the other hand, when I sing “We burn, the embers, a bubble, we ####” in Apocalypse Calypso, I know that the language will be more poetic in your language: in English, such words would sound terribly vulgar. On a strictly vocal level, French invites you to sing lower down where English would encourage you to scream. So, for this album, I dubbed my voice full of falsettos. French is what allows me to make a link with my childhood: it’s geographical. »

FRANCE GALL

“My parents, who grew up everywhere, spoke English, Italian, Spanish and Arabic. The music was the same. They mixed all genres. In Paris, we listened to Colette Magny as much as Nina Simone, Brassens as Dylan, Mous taki as Nirvana… France Gall helped me a lot to respond to my sisters when they were naughty. At 5 years old, I responded to them by singing: Leave the girls alone. They were warned! »

A VAURIAN AT BARCLAYS

“Following a reversal of fortune, we had to leave Paris when I was 9 years old. We left the comfort of the 16th arrondissement for a more unstable life in London. Looking back, I see to what extent this situation conditioned my future lifestyle. This allowed me to put the feeling of loss into perspective: there is always another door to open when one closes. In the English capital, having become a complete dunce, I got kicked out of the French high school. This is where music replaced reading and writing. Music offered me my first real job: suddenly, me being a worthless person, I found myself singing at the Royal Opera. And what's more, I was paid for it! I then went to Barclays bank and opened an account in my name. There was nothing on it: I gave everything to my parents. »

WHO GOES PIANO…

“In Paris, the bailiffs took everything from us. But we still had an upright piano. An instrument that could not be seized from us since it was rented. We took it with us in our move to London. The rental company ended up filing for bankruptcy, so we kept it. That’s what I learned to play on. But, when we arrived on the other side of the Channel, my mother gave us a pot of paint and a brush: “Now you paint it all white. It's a new start." Here, I'll show you a photo. I never redid the painting. You are forbidden to touch this ageless piano! Ninety percent of my songs were written thanks to him. »

 

 

 

 

UPDATE !

le JDD ( Le Journal du Dimanche )

WEB https://www.lejdd.fr/culture/mika-au-jdd-je-nai-pas-de-langue-maternelle-140356

12/12/2023 à 16:46

 

INSTAGRAM

https://www.instagram.com/p/C06iD7rMBXk/

[yasmine951]

Hello thank you so much for all the videos of Mika's interview, but has anyone get the hole interview of Mika at Hitwest Backstage please ? 

I m still surching the replay. 

[Kumazzz]

3 hours ago, yasmine951 said:

Hello thank you so much for all the videos of Mika's interview, but has anyone get the hole interview of Mika at Hitwest Backstage please ? 

I m still surching the replay. 

 

Sorry, I forgot post it !! @yasmine951

 

HitWest

 

Lucas

L'invité Backstage !

https://hitwest.ouest-france.fr/mika-presente-son-nouveau-single-c-est-la-vie-sur-hit-west-01-09-23

2 septembre 2023 - 10 min 23 sec

INTERVIEW : Mika présente son nouveau hit "C'est la vie"

Mika est en interview avec Lucas dans "Backstage" sur Hit West.

L'artiste franco-libanais revient ce vendredi 1er septembre avec un nouveau single intitulé "C’est la vie", "une chanson libératrice, une chanson de résistance. Un hymne à l’amour, aux révolutions intimes qui font toujours de nous malgré le temps qui passe des êtres en devenir." Le single est issu du prochain album de Mika, qui sera un album 100% en français ou "francophone", et que vous trouverez dans les bacs à l'automne. Un opus "à travers lequel il explore une part inédite de son intimité et honore ses identités multiples." Le titre "C’est la vie" est un écho à son titre "Elle me dit", "le manifeste d’un homme qui se réveille un matin et dit enfin JE, enfin MOI, plus riche de son passé, prêt à embrasser le futur."

Mika, s'est notamment fait connaître avec l'album "Life in Cartoon Motion", certifié disque de diamant en France avec plus de 1 400 000 exemplaires écoulés.

 

INTERVIEW: Mika presents her new hit “C’est la vie”

 

Mika is in an interview with Lucas in “Backstage” on Hit West.

The Franco-Lebanese artist returns this Friday, September 1 with a new single entitled “C’est la vie”, “a liberating song, a song of resistance. A hymn to love, to the intimate revolutions which always make us despite the passing of time of beings in the making." The single is from Mika's next album, which will be a 100% French or "francophone" album, and which you will find in stores in the fall. An opus “through which he explores a new part of his intimacy and honors his multiple identities.” The title "C'est la vie" is an echo of his title "Elle Me Dit", "the manifesto of a man who wakes up one morning and finally says I, finally ME, richer in his past, ready to embrace the future."

Mika, became known in particular with the album "Life in Cartoon Motion", certified diamond disc in France with more than 1,400,000 copies sold.

 

 (diffusion le vendredi 1er septembre à 19h30 dans "Backstage" sur Hit West)

 

 

 

and

 

This is TOO SHORT !! I can't find the FULL version !

 

on 14 December

• FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1071208277347678
• INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/p/C01rQvhqsZt/

Ce soir dans Backstage, retrouvez @MIKA en interview live

Mika se livre sur son dernier album, ce qui l'a inspiré et sa joie d'en être arrivé ici !

RDV à 19h30 avec Lucas Hit West dans BACKSTAGE pour un moment exclusif et privilégié avec MIKA

 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Kumazzz

[SusanT]

On 12/16/2023 at 5:28 PM, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

I am not sure if this video with 15 minutes interview for Europe 1 has been posted.

 

https://fb.watch/oZy4fb07vk/

I had been looking for this video because I came across it a few days ago and wanted to watch it again.

I liked Mika's description of what "maison"

(home) means to him. He said it's inside his head and includes, among other things, the stage, his dogs, preparing a big concert, a supermarket, a discussion with his sister, choosing fabric (I guess for his outfits), preparing meatballs and . . . tomato sauce (my favorite). 😊

Mika also said that it truly warmed his heart that venues for a show promoted with a French title sold out so fast in the UK (and Ireland, I would add).

Edited December 17, 2023 by SusanT

[mellody]

What a touching interview on TF1!   It's about his Mum, his relationship with her, the day of her death and his fears and hopes after that. Be prepared to cry.

https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/sept-a-huit/videos/sept-a-huit-du-dimanche-17-decembre-2023-74939064.html (only works with a proxy for me)

 

 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

For the first time Mika was asked directly about his mum's death, about the moment when she is gone and what he has done with his brother and sisters.

And for the first time he did not hide his tears.

Because why should he? He is so proud of her.

 

I recorded my laptop screen just in case you couldn't watch it without the VPN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nessaja]

13 minutes ago, mellody said:

What a touching interview on TF1!   It's about his Mum, his relationship with her, the day of her death and his fears and hopes after that. Be prepared to cry.

https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/sept-a-huit/videos/sept-a-huit-du-dimanche-17-decembre-2023-74939064.html (only works with a proxy for me)

 

 

Absolutely true -  it's very very touching. I love that Interview. At some points you just want to give him a big hug. 

[mellody]

On 12/14/2023 at 10:11 PM, mellody said:

Sunday 19:30 on TF1, "Le Portrait de la Semaine" (portrait of the week)

 

just wondering, was it this one, an hour earlier than his manager had said? Mika is wearing the same pullover and I doubt they'd do 2 interviews on the same channel in one evening, so I assume that's it?

[Kumazzz]

1 hour ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

For the first time Mika was asked directly about his mum's death, about the moment when she is gone and what he has done with his brother and sisters.

And for the first time he did not hide his tears.

Because why should he? He is so proud of her.

 

I recorded my laptop screen just in case you couldn't watch it without the VPN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TF1 Sept à Huit

Sept à huit du dimanche 17 décembre 2023

https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/sept-a-huit/videos/sept-a-huit-du-dimanche-17-decembre-2023-74939064.html

 

You can watch the REPLAY without VPN.

TF1 Pro

• https://www.tf1info.fr/culture/video-t1-mika-interview-sept-a-huit-elle-ne-m-a-jamais-fait-sentir-que-mes-reves-etaient-trop-grands-l-hommage-du-chanteur-a-sa-mere-2279716.html

VIDÉO

"Elle ne m'a jamais fait sentir que mes rêves étaient trop grands" 

l'hommage de Mika à sa mère dans "Sept à Huit"

 

Début décembre, le chanteur Mika sortait son sixième album, joliment intitulé : "Que ta tête fleurisse toujours".

 

Un hommage à sa mère qui lui avait lancé ce défi juste avant sa mort.

 

L'occasion pour le chanteur pop de raconter ce dimanche dans Sept à Huit cette femme qui a tant compté dans sa vie.

 

 

Pull jaune poussin, sourire en bandoulière : à quarante ans, Mika en paraît à peine trente. Cette énergie contagieuse, le chanteur pop la puise dans les valeurs transmises par sa mère, libanaise, qui était le pilier de sa vie. Plus qu'une éducation, elle lui a surtout insufflé une "philosophie de la couleur". Jusqu'au bout. Ainsi, quelques jours avant sa mort, cette équipière exigeante lui a envoyé un dessin très symbolique pour son anniversaire. "Elle avait un cancer du cerveau. Je suis à distance, je suis en train de faire des concerts. Et donc elle me fait ce dessin sur un iPad et me l'envoie. C'est un portrait de moi, tout naïf, il y a des fleurs qui sortent de ma tête et à côté un message : 'Joyeux anniversaire. Je te souhaite que ta tête puisse fleurir toujours'", raconte-t-il à Audrey Crespo-Mara, dans la vidéo en tête de cet article.

 

C'était la première fois qu'elle me donnait des instructions pour après sa mort.

Mika

"C'était la première fois qu'elle me donnait des instructions pour après sa mort. Concrètement, cela veut dire : 'si tu peux continuer à avoir des idées qui sortent de ta tête et en plus avoir ce privilège immense de pouvoir les transformer en réalité, ne gaspille pas un millimètre de cette chose jusqu'à la fin'", explique-t-il. Et Mika a bien appris la leçon, au point de faire de ce défi lancé par cette mère chérie, le titre de son sixième album. Sorti le 1ᵉʳ décembre, sa particularité est d'être entièrement chanté en français, une première pour l'artiste. Comme si cette langue natale, apprise au Liban, lui permettait de se livrer sans filtre, sur des sujets universels et personnels, entre la vieillesse, la mort et l’amour. 

Mais cette originalité, cultivée par sa regrettée maman, est aussi à double tranchant lorsque, à l'école, Mika devient le souffre-douleur d’une institutrice sadique. "Le harcèlement commence quand j'ai huit ou neuf ans. Ce sont des petits commentaires devant tout le monde qui font rire toute la classe : que je suis bête, que je suis paresseux, que je suis habillé bizarrement. J'avais tellement honte que je me faisais pipi dessus", détaille-t-il. Seule façon d'y échapper, devenir invisible et mutique. Ce qui lui vaudra d'être renvoyé de l'école. Un mal pour un bien puisque pour sauver ce fils bien trop silencieux à son goût, sa mère lui fait prendre des cours de piano et de chant. "J'avais une prof de chant russe, une prof de piano écossaise et j'avais ma mère ! ", soupire-t-il. 

 

"Beaucoup de pression, mais énormément de tolérance"

 

Malgré ce rythme militaire avec "quatre heures de répétition par jour", la musique va permettre à Mika de se projeter dans une réalité fantasmée et plus libre. "La musique me donne une manière de construire un autre monde. Tout ce qui était considéré un peu bizarre dans la vie de tous les jours devenait super dans la vie de la chanson", affirme-t-il. Et encore une fois, sur ce chemin fragile où tout est à construire, sa mère sera sa plus fidèle alliée. "Ma mère n'a pas reconnu ça comme si c'était juste un hobby ou un divertissement, elle a reconnu que c'est vraiment quelque chose qui pouvait devenir ma vie", souligne-t-il. 

 

Tout naturellement, elle va même devenir son associée. "Elle était très dure avec moi. On avait vraiment deux relations : face aux autres gens, on travaillait ensemble. En privé, c'était ma mère", admet-il, tout en reconnaissant qu'il a eu "beaucoup de chance". "Elle ne m'a jamais fait sentir que mes rêves étaient trop grands ou que j'étais bizarre. Elle m'a mis beaucoup de pression, mais énormément de tolérance. Et j'espère vraiment que je pourrai faire ça pour quelqu'un d'autre", lâche-t-il, des larmes dans les yeux. 

 

Rester créatif : ce mantra, Mika et ses frères et sœurs, l'ont appliqué jusqu'au bout avec leur mère. À tel point que le jour de sa mort, la meilleure façon de rendre hommage à "la patronne de ce clan" a été de repeindre entièrement son cercueil. "On a sorti les pinceaux, on a sorti les crayons et toute la nuit, on a peint. Et ce cercueil, qui était tout simple et tout neutre, était devenu une explosion de couleur. Ce symbole de la tristesse et de la fin était devenu magnifique", se souvient-il avec nostalgie. Finalement, ne serait-ce pas le plus bel hommage qu'ils pouvaient lui rendre ?

 

Google translator

Spoiler

 

At the beginning of December, singer Mika released his sixth album, nicely titled: “Let your head always bloom”.

A tribute to his mother who had challenged him just before her death.

The opportunity for the pop singer to tell this Sunday in Sept à Huit about this woman who meant so much in his life.

Chick yellow sweater, smile across the shoulder: at forty, Mika barely looks thirty. The pop singer draws this contagious energy from the values transmitted by his Lebanese mother, who was the pillar of his life. More than an education, it above all instilled in him a “philosophy of color”. Until the end. So, a few days before her death, this demanding teammate sent her a very symbolic drawing for her birthday. "She had brain cancer. I'm working remotely, I'm doing concerts. And so she draws me this drawing on an iPad and sends it to me. It's a portrait of me, quite naive, it there are flowers coming out of my head and next to it a message: 'Happy birthday. I wish you that your head can always bloom,'" he tells Audrey Crespo-Mara, in the video at the top of this article .

     It was the first time she gave me instructions for after her death.

 

Mika

"It was the first time that she gave me instructions for after her death. Concretely, that means: 'if you can continue to have ideas coming out of your head and also have this immense privilege of being able to transform them in fact, don't waste a millimeter of this thing until the end,'" he explains. And Mika learned the lesson well, to the point of making this challenge launched by this dear mother, the title of his sixth album. Released on December 1, its particularity is to be sung entirely in French, a first for the artist. As if this native language, learned in Lebanon, allowed him to speak without filter, on universal and personal subjects, between old age, death and love.

But this originality, cultivated by his late mother, is also double-edged when, at school, Mika becomes the victim of a sadistic teacher. "The bullying started when I was eight or nine years old. It was little comments in front of everyone that made the whole class laugh: that I'm stupid, that I'm lazy, that I'm dressed strangely. I was so ashamed that I was peeing on myself,” he explains. The only way to escape it is to become invisible and mute. Which led to him being expelled from school. A blessing in disguise since to save this son who is far too silent for her liking, his mother makes him take piano and singing lessons. “I had a Russian singing teacher, a Scottish piano teacher and I had my mother!”, he sighs.

 

“A lot of pressure, but a lot of tolerance”

 

Despite this military rhythm with "four hours of rehearsal per day", the music will allow Mika to project herself into a fantasized and freer reality. “Music gives me a way of building another world. Everything that was considered a little weird in everyday life became great in the life of song,” he says. And once again, on this fragile path where everything needs to be built, his mother will be his most faithful ally. “My mother didn't recognize it as if it was just a hobby or entertainment, she recognized that it was really something that could become my life,” he emphasizes.

Quite naturally, she will even become his partner. “She was very hard on me. We really had two relationships: in front of other people, we worked together. In private, she was my mother,” he admits, while recognizing that he was “very lucky” . "She never made me feel like my dreams were too big or that I was weird. She put a lot of pressure on me, but a lot of tolerance. And I really hope I can do that for someone else,” he blurted, tears in his eyes.

Stay creative: this mantra, Mika and his brothers and sisters, applied it to the end with their mother. So much so that on the day of her death, the best way to pay tribute to “the patroness of this clan” was to completely repaint her coffin. "We took out the brushes, we took out the pencils and all night, we painted. And this coffin, which was very simple and neutral, had become an explosion of color. This symbol of sadness and the end was became magnificent,” he remembers with nostalgia. Ultimately, wouldn't that be the best tribute they could pay him?

 

 

and a short video on X

 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Kumazzz

[Hero]

What an honest and touching interview.  I love, love love that at the moment of loss, the 5 of them came together to decorate the coffin. Such an act of love, unity and an affirmation of her values. ❤️ 

 

[Presci1108]

There's so much touching interviews those last months, I wasn't ready for this one.  At the same time it breaks my heart, and at the same time, I find this tribute beautiful...

 

I think the fact he and his brother/sisters painted the coffin is the most beautiful hommage they could make for their mother, that's so beautiful in the middle of all the sadness and loss they should have all feel...  

[mellody]

1 hour ago, Kumazzz said:

 

TF1 Sept à Huit

Sept à huit du dimanche 17 décembre 2023

https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/sept-a-huit/videos/sept-a-huit-du-dimanche-17-decembre-2023-74939064.html

 

You can watch the REPLAY without VPN.

TF1 Pro

• https://www.tf1info.fr/culture/video-t1-mika-interview-sept-a-huit-elle-ne-m-a-jamais-fait-sentir-que-mes-reves-etaient-trop-grands-l-hommage-du-chanteur-a-sa-mere-2279716.html

VIDÉO

"Elle ne m'a jamais fait sentir que mes rêves étaient trop grands" 

l'hommage de Mika à sa mère dans "Sept à Huit"

 

Début décembre, le chanteur Mika sortait son sixième album, joliment intitulé : "Que ta tête fleurisse toujours".

 

Un hommage à sa mère qui lui avait lancé ce défi juste avant sa mort.

 

L'occasion pour le chanteur pop de raconter ce dimanche dans Sept à Huit cette femme qui a tant compté dans sa vie.

 

 

Pull jaune poussin, sourire en bandoulière : à quarante ans, Mika en paraît à peine trente. Cette énergie contagieuse, le chanteur pop la puise dans les valeurs transmises par sa mère, libanaise, qui était le pilier de sa vie. Plus qu'une éducation, elle lui a surtout insufflé une "philosophie de la couleur". Jusqu'au bout. Ainsi, quelques jours avant sa mort, cette équipière exigeante lui a envoyé un dessin très symbolique pour son anniversaire. "Elle avait un cancer du cerveau. Je suis à distance, je suis en train de faire des concerts. Et donc elle me fait ce dessin sur un iPad et me l'envoie. C'est un portrait de moi, tout naïf, il y a des fleurs qui sortent de ma tête et à côté un message : 'Joyeux anniversaire. Je te souhaite que ta tête puisse fleurir toujours'", raconte-t-il à Audrey Crespo-Mara, dans la vidéo en tête de cet article.

 

C'était la première fois qu'elle me donnait des instructions pour après sa mort.

Mika

"C'était la première fois qu'elle me donnait des instructions pour après sa mort. Concrètement, cela veut dire : 'si tu peux continuer à avoir des idées qui sortent de ta tête et en plus avoir ce privilège immense de pouvoir les transformer en réalité, ne gaspille pas un millimètre de cette chose jusqu'à la fin'", explique-t-il. Et Mika a bien appris la leçon, au point de faire de ce défi lancé par cette mère chérie, le titre de son sixième album. Sorti le 1ᵉʳ décembre, sa particularité est d'être entièrement chanté en français, une première pour l'artiste. Comme si cette langue natale, apprise au Liban, lui permettait de se livrer sans filtre, sur des sujets universels et personnels, entre la vieillesse, la mort et l’amour. 

Mais cette originalité, cultivée par sa regrettée maman, est aussi à double tranchant lorsque, à l'école, Mika devient le souffre-douleur d’une institutrice sadique. "Le harcèlement commence quand j'ai huit ou neuf ans. Ce sont des petits commentaires devant tout le monde qui font rire toute la classe : que je suis bête, que je suis paresseux, que je suis habillé bizarrement. J'avais tellement honte que je me faisais pipi dessus", détaille-t-il. Seule façon d'y échapper, devenir invisible et mutique. Ce qui lui vaudra d'être renvoyé de l'école. Un mal pour un bien puisque pour sauver ce fils bien trop silencieux à son goût, sa mère lui fait prendre des cours de piano et de chant. "J'avais une prof de chant russe, une prof de piano écossaise et j'avais ma mère ! ", soupire-t-il. 

 

"Beaucoup de pression, mais énormément de tolérance"

 

Malgré ce rythme militaire avec "quatre heures de répétition par jour", la musique va permettre à Mika de se projeter dans une réalité fantasmée et plus libre. "La musique me donne une manière de construire un autre monde. Tout ce qui était considéré un peu bizarre dans la vie de tous les jours devenait super dans la vie de la chanson", affirme-t-il. Et encore une fois, sur ce chemin fragile où tout est à construire, sa mère sera sa plus fidèle alliée. "Ma mère n'a pas reconnu ça comme si c'était juste un hobby ou un divertissement, elle a reconnu que c'est vraiment quelque chose qui pouvait devenir ma vie", souligne-t-il. 

 

Tout naturellement, elle va même devenir son associée. "Elle était très dure avec moi. On avait vraiment deux relations : face aux autres gens, on travaillait ensemble. En privé, c'était ma mère", admet-il, tout en reconnaissant qu'il a eu "beaucoup de chance". "Elle ne m'a jamais fait sentir que mes rêves étaient trop grands ou que j'étais bizarre. Elle m'a mis beaucoup de pression, mais énormément de tolérance. Et j'espère vraiment que je pourrai faire ça pour quelqu'un d'autre", lâche-t-il, des larmes dans les yeux. 

 

Rester créatif : ce mantra, Mika et ses frères et sœurs, l'ont appliqué jusqu'au bout avec leur mère. À tel point que le jour de sa mort, la meilleure façon de rendre hommage à "la patronne de ce clan" a été de repeindre entièrement son cercueil. "On a sorti les pinceaux, on a sorti les crayons et toute la nuit, on a peint. Et ce cercueil, qui était tout simple et tout neutre, était devenu une explosion de couleur. Ce symbole de la tristesse et de la fin était devenu magnifique", se souvient-il avec nostalgie. Finalement, ne serait-ce pas le plus bel hommage qu'ils pouvaient lui rendre ?

 

Google translator

  Hide contents

 

At the beginning of December, singer Mika released his sixth album, nicely titled: “Let your head always bloom”.

A tribute to his mother who had challenged him just before her death.

The opportunity for the pop singer to tell this Sunday in Sept à Huit about this woman who meant so much in his life.

Chick yellow sweater, smile across the shoulder: at forty, Mika barely looks thirty. The pop singer draws this contagious energy from the values transmitted by his Lebanese mother, who was the pillar of his life. More than an education, it above all instilled in him a “philosophy of color”. Until the end. So, a few days before her death, this demanding teammate sent her a very symbolic drawing for her birthday. "She had brain cancer. I'm working remotely, I'm doing concerts. And so she draws me this drawing on an iPad and sends it to me. It's a portrait of me, quite naive, it there are flowers coming out of my head and next to it a message: 'Happy birthday. I wish you that your head can always bloom,'" he tells Audrey Crespo-Mara, in the video at the top of this article .

     It was the first time she gave me instructions for after her death.

 

Mika

"It was the first time that she gave me instructions for after her death. Concretely, that means: 'if you can continue to have ideas coming out of your head and also have this immense privilege of being able to transform them in fact, don't waste a millimeter of this thing until the end,'" he explains. And Mika learned the lesson well, to the point of making this challenge launched by this dear mother, the title of his sixth album. Released on December 1, its particularity is to be sung entirely in French, a first for the artist. As if this native language, learned in Lebanon, allowed him to speak without filter, on universal and personal subjects, between old age, death and love.

But this originality, cultivated by his late mother, is also double-edged when, at school, Mika becomes the victim of a sadistic teacher. "The bullying started when I was eight or nine years old. It was little comments in front of everyone that made the whole class laugh: that I'm stupid, that I'm lazy, that I'm dressed strangely. I was so ashamed that I was peeing on myself,” he explains. The only way to escape it is to become invisible and mute. Which led to him being expelled from school. A blessing in disguise since to save this son who is far too silent for her liking, his mother makes him take piano and singing lessons. “I had a Russian singing teacher, a Scottish piano teacher and I had my mother!”, he sighs.

 

“A lot of pressure, but a lot of tolerance”

 

Despite this military rhythm with "four hours of rehearsal per day", the music will allow Mika to project herself into a fantasized and freer reality. “Music gives me a way of building another world. Everything that was considered a little weird in everyday life became great in the life of song,” he says. And once again, on this fragile path where everything needs to be built, his mother will be his most faithful ally. “My mother didn't recognize it as if it was just a hobby or entertainment, she recognized that it was really something that could become my life,” he emphasizes.

Quite naturally, she will even become his partner. “She was very hard on me. We really had two relationships: in front of other people, we worked together. In private, she was my mother,” he admits, while recognizing that he was “very lucky” . "She never made me feel like my dreams were too big or that I was weird. She put a lot of pressure on me, but a lot of tolerance. And I really hope I can do that for someone else,” he blurted, tears in his eyes.

Stay creative: this mantra, Mika and his brothers and sisters, applied it to the end with their mother. So much so that on the day of her death, the best way to pay tribute to “the patroness of this clan” was to completely repaint her coffin. "We took out the brushes, we took out the pencils and all night, we painted. And this coffin, which was very simple and neutral, had become an explosion of color. This symbol of sadness and the end was became magnificent,” he remembers with nostalgia. Ultimately, wouldn't that be the best tribute they could pay him?

 

 

and a short video on X

 

 

 

Thank you! That's a good written summary they have there, I just wanted to write one but this one's much more accurate and detailed than what I understood. They only left out the last question. It was whether with losing his Mum he feared to lose the spirit of his childhood that allows him to create? He replies that he never liked the industry, the showbusiness, that for him it was always a sort of creative and poetic game within his family. And that it was this that allowed him to resist the business, the pressure, the things that didn't go so well. So this was what he feared, that he might lose the connection to this poetic system. That he might lose his desire to create and to take risks.

[dcdeb]

3 hours ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

For the first time Mika was asked directly about his mum's death, about the moment when she is gone and what he has done with his brother and sisters.

And for the first time he did not hide his tears.

Because why should he? He is so proud of her.

 

I recorded my laptop screen just in case you couldn't watch it without the VPN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, Anna. In a way, I'm sort of glad I can't understand the French fully in this interview. Just seeing Mika wipe away the tears and watching his face is enough to break my heart. I don't know if I could bear hearing the whole thing.

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

5 minutes ago, dcdeb said:

 

Thanks, Anna. In a way, I'm sort of glad I can't understand the French fully in this interview. Just seeing Mika wipe away the tears and watching his face is enough to break my heart. I don't know if I could bear hearing the whole thing.

Actually looks like he was ready for this question. But it's true that I was watching him through tears. It was so unexpected. He used to say he hadn't cry for a long time. But this time he took off all his defenses. And he described all the details - which even in this hard moment he and his siblings changed into something beautiful. 

[SusanT]

Mika changes expression when Crespo-Mara announces they are going to watch a clip; it makes me wonder if he was expecting it. A sensitive interviewer should ask for permission to show a video of a deceased loved one. Whatever the case, in the end it apparently was ok with Mika to show it.

Edited December 17, 2023 by SusanT

[Amy hudsone]

1 hour ago, SusanT said:

Mika changes expression when Crespo-Mara announces they are going to watch a clip; it makes me wonder if he was expecting it. A sensitive interviewer should ask for permission to show a video of a deceased loved one. Whatever the case, in the end it apparently was ok with Mika to show it.

Oooh how his face expression changed when she announced the clip 🥲😥😥 it's heartbreaking 

[SusanT]

11 hours ago, Presci1108 said:

There's so much touching interviews those last months, I wasn't ready for this one.  At the same time it breaks my heart, and at the same time, I find this tribute beautiful...

 

I think the fact he and his brother/sisters painted the coffin is the most beautiful hommage they could make for their mother, that's so beautiful in the middle of all the sadness and loss they should have all feel...  

I imagine painting the coffin was also therapeutic for them, it helped lessen their pain. 

[dcdeb]

17 hours ago, Anna Ko Kolkowska said:

Actually looks like he was ready for this question. But it's true that I was watching him through tears. It was so unexpected. He used to say he hadn't cry for a long time. But this time he took off all his defenses. And he described all the details - which even in this hard moment he and his siblings changed into something beautiful. 

 

16 hours ago, SusanT said:

Mika changes expression when Crespo-Mara announces they are going to watch a clip; it makes me wonder if he was expecting it. A sensitive interviewer should ask for permission to show a video of a deceased loved one. Whatever the case, in the end it apparently was ok with Mika to show it.

 

Even if he knew they were going to talk about his mother, and maybe he even knew about the video, I think it hit him harder than he expected. I mean, it's his mother, after all. No matter how much time has passed, it's still going to hurt.

[Paoletta]

18 hours ago, dcdeb said:

 

Thanks, Anna. In a way, I'm sort of glad I can't understand the French fully in this interview. Just seeing Mika wipe away the tears and watching his face is enough to break my heart. I don't know if I could bear hearing the whole thing.

thank you so much!!!