dcdeb Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Wow! I use excite.com as my start page, and was I ever surprised to find this in the news section! This is an AP story, so it will be carried in quite a few outlets, I'm sure :-) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070330/D8O6JVSG0.html British Singer Mika Makes U.S. Debut Mar 30, 12:49 PM (ET) By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY NEW YORK (AP) - Being different is a key trait if you want to make yourself stand out in the musical arena. It is not a prized attribute, however, during those awkward adolescent years. Mika, the latest singing sensation from across the pond, found out both lessons at an early age. Beirut-born and Paris-raised until he was 9, he found himself an outcast after his family moved to London. His interest in piano and singing, along with his dyslexia, further distanced himself from classmates, and he became the prey of bullies. Away from school, he began to perform, and that became his respite. There, he found his flamboyance was celebrated, not taunted; he got respect for singing; and better yet, got paid for it. So no wonder the first single in the U.S., the piano-heavy, falsetto-crooned "Grace Kelly," celebrates his refusal to conform. Like the musicians he idolized as a child - Prince and David Bowie among them - the 23-year-old does best when he stands apart from the pack. --- The Associated Press: You gotten a lot of buzz in advance of your U.S. debut CD, "Life in Cartoon Motion." How has that affected you? Mika: I think I'm lucky. Hype can be good and hype can be bad. The good thing that's happening to me is that the hype is about the project, it's about the music ... I'm not the son of anyone famous, I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known ... it's really just about music, and that's something I think is very healthy. AP: You got your start in a somewhat unusual way. Mika: From a very early age I used to gatecrash parties and just get to the stage and perform, or I would just kind of walk around and push my face into everyone's face. But then when I started to try and get a serious deal, up until about a year and a half ago, I was just going around and playing the piano just about everywhere ... I climbed up the music executive ladder kind of quickly, because I was willing to perform for anyone and everywhere, so that's kind of how I got my deal. AP: Your first single, "Grace Kelly," kind of pokes fun at the idea of conformity. How do you resist the temptation to copy what is commercially viable? Mika: People were saying to me, if you just become a little bit more commercial, or you become a little bit more like what's selling at the moment, whatever that was at the time, whether it was Robbie Williams or David Gray, then you can make it. But to me, it was never an option. I think I figured out that I would rather be a total failure but be myself and at least give it a shot than be moderately successful, pretend to be someone else, only have it last a certain amount of time and be happy as a result. AP: Were you surprised that you turned out to be so successful? Mika: I'm surprised at the speed in which I've been embraced ... I think anyone deluded enough to go into the music industry as an artist has to have some kind of self-belief. But at the same time I was surprised that I got to No. 1, I never expected to get to No. 1 in the U.K. ... I never knew it would be a commercially bankable career. AP: There are songs on the CD that are sexually ambiguous. That's gotten a lot of people asking about your sexuality. Were you hesitant to put records like that out for that reason? Mika: I have no taboos about what I can use to tell a story or what stories I can actually tell, so I kind of gave myself that freedom. I certainly didn't think about it. It never even crossed my mind. I didn't think about the repercussions nor did I think about getting attention. Sexualizing music as part of getting sexy with music is amazing, but politically sexualizing music and making the artist's sexuality the defining point of someone's music is so boring. So as far as enabling myself to tell and use any kind of tool that I want to tell a story or use in my lyrics, I'm totally into that. As far as laying myself out on the table to almost a tabloid level and kind of sharing my entire personal life, I'm really not into that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babspanky Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 "I'm not the son of anyone famous, I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known ... " Only someone slightly well known then?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcdeb Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 "I'm not the son of anyone famous, I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known ... " Only someone slightly well known then?? LOL! It's all in how you read it, isn't it? dcdeb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sou Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 "I'm not the son of anyone famous, I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known ... " Only someone slightly well known then?? Haha, good observation Babspanky, lol. I have to ask though...why are they referring to him as 'The British Pop Sensation'? Mika isn't British, is he? Thanks for posting up the interview and yay, a new picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babspanky Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 LOL! It's all in how you read it, isn't it? dcdeb Yes, it's amazing how many different ways something can be interpreted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titania Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Thanks for this. Didn't you post on one your first postings that he would be on Sirius radio? I remember I tried to listen. Good picture:blush-anim-cl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcdeb Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 Thanks for this. Didn't you post on one your first postings that he would be on Sirius radio? I remember I tried to listen. Good picture:blush-anim-cl: Oooh! Good memory! Yes, I did post about the Sirius radio thing, and I did listen to it -- 2 1/2 times (we were in NYC during the one airing, so I missed part of it). In any event, I've checked the Sirius website and even emailed them about it, but they've never put the interview online. dcdeb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CazGirl Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 omg that picture is aMAAAAAAAAAAAAzing. gonna save that pic in my Mika file haha. thanks for posting the interview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titania Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 That's too bad, I never did manage to listen to it. It's funny because today I saw a youtube vid made by some girls dancing to Grace Kelly, and the description said it was them just before meeting Mika in N.Y. in February and I couldn't understand what event they were referring to... did the radio show have an audience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babspanky Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 I know some people met him at the airport, maybe it was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyMiranda Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 great interview! hehehe I think the sleeping part caught all of us girls eyes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
titania Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 OOhh, ok!!! Where have I heard before? Thanks Babspanky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sity Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Thanks for postin! Every interview I've read about him, gives him so much justice! Mika's being himself, no wonder. And of course he is getting famous with such a speed, it's the pure talent and genuinity he has! And yes, the pic was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaIndie Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Like the musicians he idolized as a child - Prince and David Bowie among them - the 23-year-old does best when he stands apart from the pack. David Bowie!!!! His music means so much to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcdeb Posted March 30, 2007 Author Share Posted March 30, 2007 This is the same interview with a different title, and a link to a few more photos: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17872884/ dcdeb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfung79 Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 I have to ask though...why are they referring to him as 'The British Pop Sensation'? Mika isn't British, is he?[/color] No idea if he has a British passport, but he did grow up there for most of his life after leaving Lebanon and then France, and he lives in the UK now too. So I think of him as British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electasy Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 "I'm not the son of anyone famous, I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known ... " Only someone slightly well known then?? I know. I thought that, too! Love the socks! Sooo Mika! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamika Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 No idea if he has a British passport, but he did grow up there for most of his life after leaving Lebanon and then France, and he lives in the UK now too. So I think of him as British. He has an American passport. May we should take him as the mutt he says he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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