Mika and Amy Winehouse article on Nouvelobs.com

[sunshine931]

Translation coming up...

 

Amy Winehouse et Mika

La Nouvelle Angleterre

 

Ils ont 23 ans et un succès fou. Si Amy Winehouse, la voix soul souvent saoule, fait une épatante teigne, Mika, beau gosse à la voix d'or, brigue la succession de Freddie Mercury. Portraits croisés

 

 

Ses yeux étaient comme les tiens / Ses cheveux avaient exactement la même nuance de brun / Il n'était pas aussi grand que toi / Mais difficile à dire, car il faisait noir et j'étais allongée / Pourquoi es-tu fâché, mon chéri ? / Ce n'est pas de l'infidélité / Je pensais à toi quand j'ai joui. » Bienvenue dans le monde cruel d'Amy Winehouse, la flamboyante pétasse de la soul anglaise. Imaginez une dream girl de cauchemar, avec la chevelure d'Esmeralda, un coeur en mille morceaux sous deux seins millionnaires, des tatouages de pirate des Caraïbes, une propension au piercing et à la boulimie, une dépendance à l'eye-liner et au mélange vodka-liqueur de banane. Cette Diana rosse chante de la musique saoule à se rouler par terre : un soir, complètement beurrée, elle massacre « Beat It » de Michael Jackson à la télévision ; une autre fois, beurk, elle vomit devant un parterre de fans homosexuels au G-A-Y Club de Londres, puis quitte la scène au bout d'une chanson. Salut, les filles !

Amy Winehouse admire Lady Macbeth et la hardeuse Jewel De'Nyle. Elle appelle Madonna une « vieille dame » et ponctue les remerciements de Bono à la cérémonie des trophées du magazine « Q » par un « Shut up ! I don't give a **** ! ». Née d'un chauffeur de taxi, repérée par l'équipe de Simon Fuller (le créateur des Spice Girls et de l'émission « Pop Idol »), cette fleur maniaco-dépressive de Londres est devenue la cible favorite des tabloïds, devant Pete Doherty, le chanteur rimbaldien aux semelles d'héroïne. Les paparazzi de l'« Evening Standard » la photographient jusqu'au rayon vins des supérettes, cette Amy qui ne vous veut pas du bien. Dans son tube « Rehab », la soiffarde envoie promener toutes les bonnes âmes qui voudraient la voir entrer en cure de désintox : « No ! No ! No ! » Elle préfère rester à la maison avec Ray [Charles] et [Donny] Hathaway, chante-t-elle.

 

 

 

Mika a 23 ans, comme Amy. C'est la nouvelle idole masculine au pays de Robbie Williams. Son tube « Grace Kelly » est devenu numéro un, avant même sa sortie, par la grâce du téléchargement. Auparavant, seul le duo Gnarls Barkley, avec le morceau « Crazy », avait accompli pareille prouesse commerciale. Si Winehouse revisite l'emploi de la bad girl, Mika reprend le rôle gentiment excentrique du bon garçon dégingandé à la sexualité ambiguë, qui ravit les collégiennes, les grands-mères et les gays « CSP-moins ». Le styliste Paul Smith en a déjà fait son égérie.

Né à Beyrouth d'un homme d'affaires américain et d'une Libanaise, Mica Penniman, dit Mika, chante avec une voix riche de cinq octaves, qui sonne comme celle de Freddie Mercury, feu le chanteur de Queen. Atout pas négligeable : selon un récent sondage BBC, Queen est maintenant considéré comme « le meilleur groupe britannique de tous les temps », devant les Beatles. Brian May, le guitariste de Queen, lui a même envoyé un mail de félicitation.

Chacun à sa façon, Amy et Mika puisent au musée postmoderne de la musique populaire. Amy Winehouse détourne les orchestrations de Motown, ses pizzicatos et ses scansions de saxophone baryton. Elle en cochonne superbement le romantisme rose, avec sa voix de Billie Holiday qui aurait abusé des spliffs, du rap et de la pilule du lendemain. Son titre « Tears Dry on Their Own » pastiche expressément « Ain't Mountain High Enough », de Marvin Gaye et Tammi Terrell, sans doute la plus belle chanson d'amour qui soit au monde. Mais, ici, symboliquement, le duo devient solo : l'androgyne originel a perdu son unité. Tout est déliaison, « réveil solitaire », douloureuse autonomie. Chaque femme dans sa nuit. « Back to Black »,le deuxième album d'Amy Winehouse, se lit comme une carte du Tendre au temps du speed dating.

Le premier CD de Mika s'intitule « Life in Cartoon Motion ». L'artiste fait ses emplettes du côté de la variété oecuménique des années 1970 (Elton John, Bee Gees, Abba) et de ses avatars contemporains (Scissor Sisters). Dans « Billy Brown », il chante l'histoire d'un père de famille, « deux enfants, un chien », qui tombe amoureux d'un homme. Ailleurs, il célèbre la beauté des grosses filles (« Big Girl »). On se souvient que Freddie Mercury, quoi qu'il eût d'autres goûts, célébrait les « Fat Bottomed Girls ». Mais là où sa chanson suintait la paillardise pansexuelle, celle de Mika sent la politesse humanitaire. L'absence de moustache, peut-être ?

La famille de Mika a quitté le Liban pour la France en 1984, après que son père eut été pris en otage au Koweït, puis elle a émigré à Londres. Là, sa mère le confie à un professeur de chant russe stakhanoviste. Mika fait ses débuts à 11 ans, à la Royal Opera House, dans « la Femme sans ombre » de Richard Strauss. Il enregistre un jingle publicitaire pour les chewing-gums Orbit. Cachet : 45 livres. Depuis l'âge de 12 ans, il n'a cessé d'envoyer ses maquettes aux maisons de disques. A 19 ans, il rejoint le Royal College of Music. Aujourd'hui, il rêve de chanter un duo avec Annie Lennox. Quelque chose me dit que le brillant Mika n'est pas un homme pour Amy. Il faut dire qu'elle est difficile, Winehouse, avec sa petite tendance à jeter des bouteilles de Jack Daniel's à la face de ses fiancés, entre deux parties de billard. Cette juive très languissamment pratiquante se dit incapable de sortir avec un juif : « Les hommes étouffés par leur mère, c'est pas mon genre. » Aux dernières nouvelles, cette divertissante chieuse avait trouvé « l'homme de sa vie ». Mazal tov. Seulement, il y a un hic. Monsieur est blond, or madame est brune. Ce qui signifie que leur bébé pourrait être... rouquin, confiait avec horreur la diva eugéniste au « Telegraph Magazine ».

FABRICE PLISKIN

 

Mica Penniman, dit Mika, est né en 1983 à Beyrouth et vit à Londres. « Life in Cartoon Motion » est son premier album.

 

Amy Winehouse est née en 1983 à Enfield, dans le nord du Grand Londres. A 9 ans, elle découvre avec émerveillement le groupe Salt'n'Pepper. Elle a publié deux CD, « Frank » et « Back to Black ».

 

 

 

CD :« Back to Back », par Amy Winehouse (Universal)

« Life in Cartoon Motion », par Mika (Universal).

 

Fabrice Pliskin

 

Le Nouvel Observateur - 2213 - 05/04/2007

[babspanky]

Look forward to the translation as even with my fantastic French language skills, that is a bit beyond me, eh Arcenciel?

[Sou]

Argh! After reading what they've written on Amy Winehouse, i don't think I'll ever hold her in the same regard again, she's crazy! Good music, but she's crazy! haha.

 

As for the part regarding Mika...it's the same old thing. Born in Lebanon, moved to Paris then to London...Tutored by a Russian singing teacher. Opera at 11, etc...

 

They mention that he wants to sing a duet with Annie Lennox, which is cool - I really that happens, it would be an amazing duet!

 

His sexuality is mentioned again (don't they get tired?! The man doesn't want to talk about it! Enough already!) Then they say say "maybe it's the lack of a moustache." (Excuse me?!! Urgh...icky media!)

 

So yeah, what they've written on Mika is the same thing we've read, but it would be great if someone could translate it fully, please.

[guapo!]

Argh! After reading what they've written on Amy Winehouse, i don't think I'll ever hold her in the same regard again, she's crazy! Good music, but she's crazy! haha.

 

As for the part regarding Mika...it's the same old thing. Born in Lebanon, moved to Paris then to London...Tutored by a Russian singing teacher. Opera at 11, etc...

 

They mention that he wants to sing a duet with Annie Lennox, which is cool - I really that happens, it would be an amazing duet!

 

His sexuality is mentioned again (don't they get tired?! The man doesn't want to talk about it! Enough already!) Then they say say "maybe it's the lack of a moustache." (Excuse me?!! Urgh...icky media!)

 

So yeah, what they've written on Mika is the same thing we've read, but it would be great if someone could translate it fully, please.

 

Thanks. And yeah, Amy is crazy, she should go to REHAB, lol. SHE IS NO GOOD. But, her music is amazing!

But why are they in the same article?

[Sou]

They're both signed by Universal. I guess that's why they're in the same article...

[titania]

I didn't realize they were both represented by Universal. Silly idea but could Universal have any part in Perez H.'s heavy promotion of Mika and Amy on his site then? I've noticed Perez promotes Amy Winehouse A LOT (as well as Mika) and considering how much there is to go after her for, and he doesn't ...

[Sity]

They're both signed by Universal. I guess that's why they're in the same article...

 

Ok, well that's a reason...

[Stephane]

Excellent article. I love the way it's written!

It's about Mika & Amy because they are the 2 new sensations from the UK that are conquering the world!

 

I love Amy and her personnality is just so funny LOL very English

[sunshine931]

Ok so there it is... now bear with me, this was very hard to translate because of the way it's written and some words or expression I couldn't translate because they were either too hard to translate or I didn't quite know what they meant. This article was published in France and I'm from Québec, Canada and although we both speak french, we have sometimes different words or expressions... If someone from France wants to give it a shot at translating the missing parts, please do, I'll edit my post....

 

Amy Winehouse and Mika

The New England

 

They are 23 years old and both have huge success. If Amy Winehouse does a terrific (teigne... don't quite know how to translate this), Mika, handsome boy with a golden voice, takes the succession of Freddie Mercury. Intricate portraits.

 

 

"His eyes were like yours

His hair was exactly the shade of brown

He's just not as tall, but I couldn't tell

It was dark and I was lying down

Why're you so upset?

Baby, you weren't there and I was thinking of you when I came@

Welcome to the cruel world of Amy Winehouse, the flamboyant bitch of english soul. Picture a nightmare dream girl, with Esmeralda's hair, a shattered heart underneath millionaire breasts, Pirates of the Carribean tattoos, a penchant for piercings and bulimia, an addiction to eye-liner and vodka-banana liquor. This Diana Ross sings soul music to make you roll on the floor : one night, completely wasted, she destroys Michael Jackson's "Beat It" on TV, another time, yuck, she throws up on a crowd of homosexual fans in London's G-A-Y Club, then leaves the stage after one song. Hello girls !

 

Amy Winehouse admires Lady Macbeth and Jewel De'Nyle. She calls Madonna and "old lady" and interrupts Bono's thank yous at Q Magazine's award ceremony with a "Shut up ! I don't give a ***!". Born from a taxi driver, discovered by Simon Fuller's team (creator of the Spice Girls and the "Pop Idol" show), this maniaco-depressive (don't know the exact translation) flower from London has become tabloids' favorite target, in front of Pete Doherty, the rimbaldien (don't know ho to translate this word...) singer with heroin soles. "Evening Standard"'s paparazzies take pictures of her even at the wine's department, this Amy that doesn't want any good for you. .In her hit "Rehab", the drinker tells all the good souls who'd like to see her go into rehab to eff themselves: « No ! No ! No ! ». She sings that she prefers staying home with Ray [Charles] and [Donny] Hathaway.

 

 

 

Mika is 23, like Amy. He is the new male idol in Robbie Williams' country. His hit "Grace Kelly" became no 1 before it's release, thanks to the downloads. Only the duo Gnarls Barkley with the song "Crazy" managed to pull such a marketing stunt. If Winehouse revisits the bad girl job, Mika takes over the nicely excentric role of the dégingandé (don't know the translation) good boy with the ambiguous sexuality, which pleases schoolgirls, grandmothers and "CSP-minus" (don't know what it means) gays. Stylist Paul Smithalready made him the face of his collection.

 

Born in Beirut from an american business man and a lebanese woman, Mica Penniman, a.k.a. Mika, sings with a rich five octaves voice that sounds like Freddie Mercury, Queen's late lead singer. Something worth knowing: according to a recent BBC poll, Queen is now considered as "the best british group of all times", in front of the Beatles. Brian May, Queen's guitar player, even sent him an email to congratulate him.

 

Each in their own way, Amy and Mika draw at the post-modern museum of pop music. Amy Winehouse "détourne les orchestrations de Motown, ses pizzicatos et ses scansions de saxophone baryton" (this sentence is just too hard to translate). She superbly exudes pink romantism, with her Billie Holiday voice that would have abused of joints, rap and pilule du lendemain (not sure how to translate). Hersong "Tears Dry On Their Own" pastiche (huh? translation?) Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", without a doubt the most beautiful love song in the world. But, here, symbolicly, the duo becomes a solo: the original androginy has lost it's unicy. Everything is déliaison (translation ?), "solitary awakening", painful autonomy. Like every woman in her night. "Back To Black", Amy Winehouse's second album, is read like tender card from the speed dating times

 

Mika's first CD is entitled "Life In Cartoon Motion". The artist does his shopping in the oecunémique (translation?) variety of the seventies (Elton John, Bee Gees, Abba) and his contemporary avatars (Scissor Sisters). In his song "Billy Brown", he sings the story of a father and family man, "two kids, a dog", who falls for a man. In another song, he celebrates the beauty of the fat ladies ("Big Girl"). One may recall that Freddie Mercury, despite he had other tastes, celebrated the "Fat Bottomed Girls". But where his song exuded the paillardise pansexuelle (translation ?), Mika's song exudes humanitarian politeness. Maybe it's the absence of a mustach ?

 

Mika's family left Lebanon for France in 1984, after his father was taken hostage in Kuwait (we all know that's not exact...), then they moved to London. His mother then hires him a stakhanoviste (translation?) russian singing teacher. Mika makes his first step as a singer at 11 years old, at the Royal Opera House, in a Richard Strauss opera. He then records a jingle for Orbit chewing gum. Salary: 45 pounds. Since the age of 12, he never stoped sending his demos to the music companies. At 19 years old, he enrolls in the Royal College Of Music. Today, his dream is to sing a duet with Annue Lennox. Something tells me the brilliant Mika is not a man for Amy. One has to admit that Winehouse is not an easy woman, with her tendancy to throw Jack Daniel's bottles in the face of her boyfriends, between two pool games. This languissament pratiquante (translation?) jewish girl says she is unable to go out with a jewish man: "men who have been chocked by their mother is not my style". In the latest news, this entertaining bitch had found the "man of her dreams". Mazal tov. Only, there's a problem. The guy is blonde, but the woman is a brunette. That means that their baby could be... a red-head, said the horrified eungéniste (translation?) diva to the "Telegraph Magazine"

FABRICE PLISKIN

 

Mica Penniman, a.k.a Mika, was born in Beirut in 1983 and lives in London. « Life in Cartoon Motion » is his first album.

 

Amy Winehouse was born in Enfield in 1983, in Great London's north side. At 9 years old, she discovers with amazement Salt'n'Pepper. She has two albums out, « Frank » and « Back to Black ».

[blackwildkitty]

Thank you for translation, great job!!! To top it all, there is a picture of both of them for those who haven't seen it yet.

[Sity]

Thank you for the translation!!

[AshleyMiranda]

thanks for the translation!

[kath]

thanks for the translation! A lot of work for you!

[Ms.Mewissa<33]

thnxx for the translation

 

Mica Penniman, a.k.a. Mika, sings with a rich five octaves voice that sounds like Freddie Mercury

 

i thought he had four octaves??? :S

[sunshine931]

thnxx for the translation

 

 

 

i thought he had four octaves??? :S

 

My pleasure ! I actually enjoy doing translations ! And yes he has 4 octaves' date=' not 5... he said so himself in an interview. but you know sometimes the information in the papers are not always true... that's why we must be careful and verify the facts when we read something in the papers or in the internet...[/color']