MIKA @ THE CULTURE SHOW

Mika is a phenomena in waiting...

At least this is the hype.

So when I found out he was to appear on my weekly free lig, BBC2's The Culture Show, I was well pleased with my luck. You see, there's nothing more likely to enable the shrewd appraisal of a musical phenomena than catching them in person and on stage before the hype and the hooha gets too far out of hand.

Mika the Innocent

Innocence - This is how so many people enter the music business...The innocence and the naivety that their golden and creative soul is going to triumph over the world - that their creative genes are to be roundly lauded and loved into the history books...

Mika arrived on the Annex set with a record company retinue: There was a man who's job it was to fluff his afro, a woman to maintain his makeup. There were 3 tall and instituionally, yet cleverly pretty PR girls and a few others who milled about and watched and answered phones and made plans for world domination...

Mika himself was smiling in light blue jeans. He was confident, calm and assured. He knew his moment was now - that everybody was talking about him and pointing 'There he is!' He knew he was about to perfom Grace Kelly, the song he'd written about how he'd been shunned by the very people that were now queueing up to love him. Better still, he knew he was to perform it via the medium of TV to the kind of culture vultures who could make him credible as well as a popular success...In short: He knew he was on a great big fucking wave.

And with all this weighing his shoulders, Mika appeared to be a complete sweetheart. He had the joy of performing and the excitement of doing exactly what he'd always wanted to do flowing through his veins. He knew he'd proved the doubters wrong and that he was about to start rubbing their faces in it. He didn't need the vice, depression and drugs of the seasonned hit maker, he was clean and fresh and running off endorphins and bright blue reality..

Once at the piano, Mika was the consumate performer. He had time for banter with the sound guys, time for banter with the audience and time for banter with the presenter.

You see innocence doesn't mean inadequacy. Mike had a savvy and a definite knowing about dealing with the questions posed in the pre-playing interview. He had the anecdotes about when Simon Cowell rejected him ready. He also knew that allying or comparing himself with any former melodic and operatic forerunnner like Freddie Mercury would be used a s a noose for his own neck.

He either knew or had been schooled in these things.

When he got down to playing, the acoustic version of Grace Kelly worked well. It was the first time I'd heard the song and since hearing it more or less everywhere since it has my full support as a number one..

But is Mika good enough to be a phenomena??

Well, it's a few weeks since I saw him live and since then I've listened through the album Life in Cartoon Motion 5 or 6 times and I can't say I hear much that's phenomenal. It's too cabaret and just a little contrived for my liking. Indeed, with the exception of Grace Kelly there aren't really any stand out tracks at all. Furthermore sickly sweet sacharine tracks like Lollipop are the sort of musical crime that makes you want to become a regular viewer of Songs of Praise...

Life in Cartoon Motion will certainly sell by the crate load, because when the music biz decides it has a phenomena, it keeps on rattling on about it until the records have sold and the artist appears grinning in photos with Elton John and is said to be loved by the surviving members of Queen. But whether Mika is and will last as a musical and creative force remains to be seen.

As far as i can see, though he might be talented, clever, well promoted and make millions, nothing he's doing musically is exciting or raw or vital. Furthermore it's just too plain and fluffy.

There's that saying that a country gets the politicians it deserves. Well, I reckon a country most likely gets the pop music it deserves too and Mika is right on the nail of that. We live in a time completely owned and run by banks, plastic gayness and celebrity love. Mika is a cabaret singer son of a banker. Lollipop is plastic gayness at it's absolute peak and Mika is gonna be a star....

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Currently listening : Life in Cartoon Motion By Mika Release date: By 27 March, 2007

08:24 - 4 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	Lara	That's all very interesting. As it happens, I was at that Culture Show recording too (I was there as a 'Mika fan'). I thought it was hilarious that there was a man there whose sole job appeared to be to give Mika's curls a bit of a ruffling. You're right, he was lovely with everyone wasn't he, especially all the people who pestered him for autographs and a million photos (I'm pleased to say I wasn't one of them). There was a moment when he was sitting on his paino stool and the fans were taking photo after photo and when a make-up woman stood in front of him I saw him give her a subtle, distrssed look that said 'make it stop!'. A guy who was also there caught the whole thing on video. If you'd like to watch it, it's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe6to8g2z_8 Posted by Lara on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:25 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	The thing I found most imteresting was seeing it all go on at the start of his career when the photos and the autographs still have a little novelty at least. I look forward to seeing how he develops both musically and as a star.. What do you think of the album?? Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:37 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Lara	Just something else, unrelated really. I don't know how we ended up as friends on here (I think you added me, why? who knows) but it's a coincidence that we had sort of 'met' (or at least been in the same room) previously without knowing it. Posted by Lara on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:32 [Remove] [Reply to this]

: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :

Yes, this is very curious indeed. I added you, but i can't remember the route by which i found you. I go on these myspace adventures - in this case looking for likely readers - by jumping around all over the place..My instincts must have been working very well on that particular expedition.. All the best P Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:42 [Remove] [Reply to this]