I never heard of him until this morning.  But I have a feeling he is a polarizing subject.

Diane Sawyer had him on her morning show.  I thought he had nice hair, nice smile, slim hips, good moves and high energy.  He's 23 years old.  Oh, you all probably know that.  But he's being compared to Elton John, Freddy Mercury and David Bowie -- all good influences.  An eclectic childhood -- international background.  

So I'm wondering -- how much do we love/hate Mika?

Just watched a variety of YouTube Mika videos, live perfs and interviews.  This one from Paris was fun.  I might change my mind since it's early in the game, but I like the kid. 

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

He seems mostly harmless, but he ain't going to be changing the face of pop music, I think.  There's a whiff of flash in the pan about him I reckon.

I love him. LOVE him.   I made it a point to run over to Borders as soon as it opened Tuesday morning to pick up his album; it JUST released even though we've been teased and tortured with "Grace Kelly" for at least three months now! And I've been loving it ever since. The first time I ever heard him sing my first thought was "This is so Queen..." That's what drew me to him to begin with...his musical style just kind of appealed to me. Plus he's just adorable. I want to tuck him into my cleavage and tote him around with me.  He has fabulous hair.

EDIT: I do agree with Herofix though...I'm thinking he's not going to have this massively enduring career; if he makes it past this album I shall be pleasantly surprised. But I shall enjoy him while present and accounted for. Woo!

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

It's not a bad album; Big Girl is one of my favourite tracks on it, possibly because it reminded me in sentiment of Fat Bottomed Girls the first time I heard it.  Apart from loving Queen, I am an advocate of any song that celebrates big buns, carrying an ample pair of mudflaps myself.

I do think he's not going to last very long over here; it's usually not a good sign these days when the media declares someone as the "next big thing", or even the person needed to change the face of music.  In the British press that tends to be the first nail in the coffin for the poor sods...

My theory by A. Elk, brackets, Miss, brackets. This theory goes as follows and begins now. All brontosauruses are thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end. That is my theory, it is mine, and it belongs to me, and I own it, and what it is, too.

Ange's Odyssey

No no no no noooooo this is all wrong...something bad is happening!

Believe me, when you are driving to work in the morning and 'Grace Kelly' is on every damn radio station, you feel an urge to rip out your car radio and throw it out the window!

That song is irritating in the extreme and impossible to get out of your head! If this guy polarises opinion I am firmly at the other end of the spectrum to Amanda

Yeah, he hasn't actually hit the radio up in my neck of the woods yet. Not to mention that I don't listen to the radio stations on which his music would reside anyhow. I only know of him via LOGO channel's NewNowNext, a weekly music video program where they present music mostly from artists that have yet to even get airplay on the radio, much less MTV. So that's where he's been for me (with the notable exception of being my MySpace profile song last week), and he's only been on like two episodes a month since December. So that's how I haven't grown tired of it yet. :)

But I firmly believe that mainstream radio will do to "Grace Kelly" what it did to Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"...that song was the same for me. Saw it on LOGO and loved it...hit the radio a few months later when the album dropped, and a month after that I wanted to gouge my eardrums out every time I heard it. I still haven't recovered from that.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

By the by, Susan, I've left you a PM.  I actually hadn't seen that you'd left me one until it had been there for weeks.  My bad, as I believe the kids say these days.

 Apologies all around for Off-Topicness.

~ Amanda

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave..."

Mika eats horses arse! He's that naff I'd rather live the rest of my life on the thin thread of hope that Madonna may actually make a half decent LP again (FYI: last one was Like a Prayer). Then again, if I had to live the rest of my life hoping Madge could pull of a work of genius again instead of climbing up someone elses creative tree and nicking them for herself, I think I'd rather just kill myself.

Yours Sincerely,

Not A Fan Of Mika.

x

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me
With a rock in his fist

They call me the wild rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

Geez, I can see the polarizing factor worked for Si! Funny, I was thinking a Kylie Minoque fan might LIKE Mika. Don't have a fizzy hit over that. I wouldn't know Kylie if she walked into my room. I have never heard a peep from her voice. I've only heard Mika that one time yesterday. Or was it the day before?

Anyway, Mika is young. I think he will be an interesting act to follow. If he stays vital, I think we could expect to see a film career in the not too distant future. Or, he may just become a drugged out has been. I hope to see him move past his derivative stage. He's got a good look, he's bold and brash, and is an engaging performer.

When Mick Jagger first appeared on the US scene, his dance steps seemed to be an effort to approximate James Brown or Chuck Berry. They were awkward and came off as something unique to Jagger. Later, there would be hoards who mimicked Jagger's moves.

I'm going to keep my eye on Mika and hope for the best. How about a Mika-Akon duet? Mika-Akon-Antony trio?

Susan

PS Just noticed the Madge commentary.  I remember the first time I heard her and thinking "flash in the pan."  I still think Madonna is a big nothing.  But I too did LIKE "Like a Prayer."  Thought she was real good in "Desperately Seeking Susan" too.  Inspired a few fashion trends.  But she never was a Cyndi Lauper. Madonna - the first of the Imaginary Stars of the video era.  She'd have no career whatsoever had she had the misfortune to have been born a generation earlier.  Oh, that's unfair.  She may have been a caged go-go dancer on Hullabaloo or Shinding. 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

FYI: Perez Hilton is so poking the hot one to Mika it's like not even funny!

FYI #2: Get thee on You Tube you wench and search for Kylie. Some pointers on her good tunes to look out for: "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", "Better The Devil You Know", "Spinning Around", "Slow". Also, put in "Kylie: Showgirl Homecoming" for live clips. Fab live! So good!

FYI #3: Mika is a poor person's Rufus Wainwright with a bigger budget and the as of yet uncured drug addiction (allegedly).

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me
With a rock in his fist

They call me the wild rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me
With a rock in his fist

They call me the wild rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me
With a rock in his fist

They call me the wild rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

O tempes o mores.

Madonna -- had she been around during Woodstock (Woodstock I - the original) -- would have been laughed off the stage quicker than Pete Townsend took to squelch the blatherings of Abby "FREE John Sinclair" Hoffman. Or she could have sang back-up for Melanie on that roller skates song as the sun was rising and I don't suppose anyone would have griped too much.

But, really, "Like a Prayer" was a pleasant little pouf of a ditty, even with its ohsoshocking video with the chocolate Jesus. It ranks at least a 5.5 out of 10 on the memorability scale.

I think I may already be tired of Mika.  I will be going to Costco later today.  If they have piles and stacks of his psychedelic CDs, it will be telling.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me
With a rock in his fist

They call me the wild rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

Ah yes, Susan, but had Janis Joplin been 'round during the era of people doing the Charleston, she wouldn't exactly have been loudly cheered.  Madonna may be lightweight a lot of the time, but she's of her own era, if you see what I mean.  There are plenty less talented people selling shedloads of records.  And anyway, didn't Sha Na Na play Woodstock?  Or is that just my imagination?  

Ray of Light's an album album, good to listen to as a whole.  IMO. 

Yeah, Sha Na Na did play early in the first day.  Right after Ravi (yawn) Shankar and probably just before Santana.  The warm up acts.

And yes, different eras produce different acts.  But some are classics.  Others are imminently forgetable.  Janis is a classic.  Funny when you think that Madonna is about 20 years older now than was Janis at her prime. 

Okay, I never got Sinatra either.  But Mose Allison worked for me.  Billy Holiday too.  Classics all. Like Mika.

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

 Madge is little more than a giant Metropolis-esque machine of marketing and spin, wearing the guise of creativity and talent. Emperor's New Clothes, anyone? However, your point that she is an era of her own making is just IMO. Lacking in creative talent for the longhaul, Madge foresaw her only way to achieve longevity was to carve out her very own niche and era. This doesn't make her talented in the arena of music, songwriting or lyrics. It does, however make her talented in the realms of marketing and idea and peddling it for all it's worth. I do agree, though that there are many, MANY "artists" currently operating that won't stand the test of time not because they are (or are not) talented in their field, but because they aren't talented at self preservation like her Madge-jesty is.

Re: Ray Of Light, yes as a conceptual peice it hangs together very well. However, it's successes are largely producer based, not Madonna based. While she is co-producer she could, for all we know, get that credit for twiddling the same knob on desk every song. Lyrically it had all the signs of things to come; the pre-GCSE poetry raps, the ill conceived lyricism of Music, American Life and Confessions....

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me
With a rock in his fist

They call me the wild rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

I take your point, Si.  It isn't exactly all Madonna's credit if she ends up with a good album or single.  Like I say, that's part of what makes her of the era of the 80's and beyond.  She markets herself well.  It's not fair to overlook the fact that her natural charisma and a hell of a lot of ambition (it seems she sometimes propels herself back into the top 10 by sheer force of will) have taken to where she is.

I'm off to do some knob-twiddling.

 *gasp!*

How wude!

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me
With a rock in his fist

They call me the wild rose
But my name was Eliza Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Eliza Day

Back on topic.....

Mika is utter keek-a! (sorry, getting all Mark E Smith there... no? ask your weird friends!)

God, I hope he's a one-hit wonder.........

I hope they cannot see / The limitless potential / Building inside of me / To murder everything / I hope they cannot see / I am the great destroyer