meimei88 Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Nekesa Mumbi Moody Canadian Press Monday, April 02, 2007 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 nine, 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've got 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 gate-crash 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. Singer Mika is photographed at Sirius Radio in New York, Feb. 16, 2007. (AP/Jim Cooper) Same story also published at the White Plains Journal News(NY Journal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babygirl2a Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Nice interview!!! thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***<3MiKa<3*** Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Thanks for posting- love the picture X!!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Girl Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Great interview, thanks for posting Reading between the lines here - "I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known" - so he has slept with someone a little well known! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curly Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Thanks for posting! I love that picture too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sity Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Hey, thanks postin that! Im not sure but I might have seen that already here. Or then it was only the picture that was exactly the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kriszti Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 I love the photo! Thanx for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotdlp Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Great interview, thanks for posting Reading between the lines here - "I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known" - so he has slept with someone a little well known! lol Lol ha ha, thats exactly what i was thinking when i read that! I had 2 read it a few times just to see whether it would make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyMiranda Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 yeah I think I've read this interview before but still love reading them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meimei88 Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share Posted April 2, 2007 Sorry! Just spotted same interview already posted under different title and publication!... I've been away for 10 days so I'm a LOT behind!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Nice interview, thanks for posting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 thanks for posting the interview, the picture is so very different , i love this one, his scarf and his socks! In this very important statement he makes it so poignant: ' 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.' I wish the press and others would listen to him more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackwildkitty Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Fantastic interview! Enjoyed it! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikadabomb Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Great interview, thanks for posting Reading between the lines here - "I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known" - so he has slept with someone a little well known! lol mhm...i was wondering about that...WHO?! haha. it was a good interview! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollipop15 Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Thanks meimei! Ihaven`t been here for a coupple days so I haven`t read this interview before, so again - thanks for sharing + I like this pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine931 Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 nice interview, thx for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatPinkSock Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Oh gosh he's fabulous and articulate. <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcenciel Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 great interview !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mireille Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Quote: Great interview, thanks for posting Reading between the lines here - "I haven't really slept with anyone particularly well known" - so he has slept with someone a little well known! lol -------------------------------- Lol ha ha, thats exactly what i was thinking when i read that! I had 2 read it a few times just to see whether it would make sense. __________________ Hihihihihi ! I had exactly the same reactions ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatPinkSock Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Do you think we'll ever get a straight answer about Mika's personal love life? Not that it will make a difference, I love him to DEATH, but I'm so curious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika-holic Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Do you think we'll ever get a straight answer about Mika's personal love life? Not that it will make a difference, I love him to DEATH, but I'm so curious! :roftl: (no comment) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mireille Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Just a word to say that I like the turquoise socks he wears on the pic ! I know this has absolutely no interest at al !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Excellent. Thanks for the story, I loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chance72399 Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Great interview...thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatPinkSock Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Omgosh Wikipedia! Personal life A number of articles claim that Mika is gay.[9] One interview reveals that he was taunted as a child with phrases like "faggot" and "child-bearing hips".[1] In response to media speculation Mika has said that he prefers not to discuss his sexuality with journalists.[10] However, Mika has stated â€ÂPeople say, 'You don't talk about sexuality because you're worried about success in the US.' I say, 'Have you heard the f***ing album?'There's a song about a married man who has a homosexual affair! There's no enigma." Mika comes from a family of five children.[12] His sister Yasmine, who works as an artist under the nom de plume Dawack, painted the cartoon art for his album Life in Cartoon Motion.[8] Oh darn. Now we can never run away and get married. We were so close before. <33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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