Mika (singer)

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Mica "Mika" Penniman

Background information
Birth name Mica Penniman
Born August 18, 1983 (1983-08-18) (age 24)
Beirut, Lebanon
Origin London
Genre(s) Pop, Rock, Power Pop, Dance Pop, Glam Rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, Piano
Years active 2006–present
Label(s) Casablanka, Island
Website Mikasounds.com

Mica Penniman (born 18 August 1983), known as Mika (pronounced /ˈmiːkə/), is a Lebanese-born, London-based, Grammy-nominated singer who has a recording contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music, and rose to fame around the end of 2006 and the start of 2007. Some sources[1][2][3] note his birth name as Michael Holbrook Penniman.

Contents

Early life

Mika playing keyboard at V Festival 2007
Mika playing keyboard at V Festival 2007

Mika was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the third of five children born to an Lebanese mother of Syrian-Lebanese descent and an American father. When he was one year old his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris. After listening to Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" he wrote his first song, which he describes as an "awful" piano instrumental called "Angry". The family moved to London when he was nine years old. In London he then attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle where he experienced more severe bullying at school and had problems with dyslexia and had a break-down at the age 11 , so he was home-schooled by his mother for six to eight months.[3]. He then attended St Philips School in Kensington. He then attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he later left to record his first album at Casablanka records.[4]

Musical career

He was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva) a Russian opera professional and his public performances and jobs have varied from classical performances in the Royal Opera House, writing in-flight music for British Airways and creating an Orbit chewing gum jingle. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006, Later with Jools Holland and on The Friday Night Project on 19 January 2007.[citation needed] While he is rumoured to have a vocal range of five octaves,[4] he actually claims that it is closer to three and a half octaves.[5]

He slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k," because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.

In January 2007, he was at the top of BBC News's Sound of 2007 poll.[6]

Mika live in concert
Mika live in concert

His first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Relax, Take It Easy" (2006). It was play listed by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, and was also made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The Dodgy Holiday EP is also available for download. His song "Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Store.

Universal Music released his single "Grace Kelly" by digital download on 8 January 2007, and it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007. The CD, 12", and limited-edition 7" versions were released on 29 January 2007. The release features remixes by Tom Neville, Bimbo Jones, Linus Loves, and Pull Tiger Tail.

Produced and mixed by Greg Wells in Los Angeles, with two songs co-produced by Jodi Marr and John Merchant, Mika's début album Life in Cartoon Motion was released on 5 February 2007, and has brought comparison with artists such as Freddie Mercury,[7][8] Scissor Sisters,[9] Elton John,[10] Robbie Williams[11] and David Bowie.[11]

He was the musical act for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, on 26 March 2007[12] and for Jimmy Kimmel Live on 27 March 2007.[13]

It has been reported that he is involved in the new Madonna album to be released at the end of 2007.[14]

On November 17th Mika starts his UK tour with support from Palladium

Personal life

Mika at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival
Mika at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival

Mika comes from a family of three girls and two boys. He has one younger brother and one younger sister along with two older sisters. 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.[11]

Although his "camp" performances have led to speculation that he might be gay,[15] in response to media speculation he has been quoted as saying, "I never talk about anything to do with my sexuality. I just don't think I need to. People ask me all the time. But I just don't see the point." The quote continues, "In order to survive I've kind of shut up different parts of my life, and that's one of them, especially this early in my career."[16]

He has brushed aside suggestions that he is steering clear of sexual taboos in order to appeal to the American market, pointing to the song "Billy Brown", which is about a man who has a homosexual affair. He is quoted as saying, "If I was worried about sexual taboos I certainly wouldn't have made the record I made. It has nothing to do with that. It has more to do with self-respect."[17]

"I enjoy creating possibilities out of more mundane things. I don't see myself as being particularly flamboyant. I don't think I'm camp. I just do what makes me feel happy. One thing I suppose I do have is a fearlessness that stems from not knowing the rules. When you are constantly rejected, as I was at school you don't get a chance to play by the rules. If I had been accepted earlier on, maybe I would be more of a conformist now."[18]

Discography

Mika playing a keyboard
Mika playing a keyboard

Albums

Life in Cartoon Motion

Singles

Year Title Album Chart positions Points
UWC EU UK FR U.S. IR BE NO CH DE IT NL CA AU
2006 "Relax, Take It Easy" Life in Cartoon Motion 14 2 78 1 - - 1 2 2 4 2 1 15 - 2.0m
2007 "Grace Kelly" 4 2 1 82 57 1 2 1 2 4 1 4 3 2 4.6m
"Love Today" - 18 6 5 92 13 4 - 46 - 5 - 3 3 -
"Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" - 20 9 - - 9 - 18 39 19 - 4 - - -
"Happy Ending" - 54 7 - - 29 - - - - - - - 7 -
"Lollipop" / "Relax, Take It Easy" (re-release) - - 59 - - - - 19 58 - - - - - -

DVDs

Awards

  • 2007 World Music Awards
    • Best-Selling New Artist -- Won
    • Best-Selling Male Pop/Rock Artist -- Won
    • Best-Selling British Artist -- Won
  • 2007 Q Awards
    • Best Breakthrough Artist -- Nominated
  • 2007 Vodafone Live Awards
    • Best Male Artist -- Won
  • 2007 UK Festival Awards
    • Best Festival Pop Act -- Nominated
  • 2007 BT Digital Music Awards
    • Best Pop Act -- Nominated
  • 2007 Premios Principales
    • Best International Non-Spanish Language Artist -- Nominated
    • Best International Non-Spanish Language Song - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated

References

  1. ^ Pareles, Jon. "A rising British pop star revives a Mercurial style", The New York Times, 2007-03-31. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  2. ^ "Artist of the day: Mika", Spin, 2007-03-27. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  3. ^ a b Mccaffrey, Julie; and Adam Luck. "Mika, Teenage prodigy of the Royal Opera", The Daily Mirror, 2007-01-29. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  4. ^ a b Paphides, Pete. "Triumph of a tortured soul", The Times, 2007-01-05. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  5. ^ "Live interview with Mika". Rove. Channel Ten, Australia. 2007-03-06.
  6. ^ Youngs, Ian. "Singer Mika tops BBC talent", BBC News, 2007-01-04. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  7. ^ "Mika uses Freddie's piano?", Metro, 2007-01-24. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  8. ^ Jones, Emma. "Sound of 2007: Mika", BBC News, 2007-01-05. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  9. ^ Sullivan, Caroline. "Mika", The Guardian, 2006-12-07. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  10. ^ Bray, Elisa. "V is for victory - and for virtuoso", The Independent, 2007-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  11. ^ a b c "Introducing the sound of 2007: Mika", The Belfast Telegraph, 2007-01-23. Retrieved on 2007-03-20. 
  12. ^ "Episode 16.142". The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. NBC. 2007-03-26. No. 142, season 16.
  13. ^ "Episode 5.111". Jimmy Kimmel Live. ABC. 2007-03-27. No. 111, season 5.
  14. ^ "Madonna's 'hot' new album", METRO.co.uk, 2007-08-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-28. 
  15. ^ Stewart Who?. "Is Mika gay?", Gay.com UK & Ireland, 2007-02-08. Retrieved on 2007-04-06. 
  16. ^ Grew, Tony. "Brit pop star won't say which way he swings", Pink News, 2007-01-24. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  17. ^ Adams, Cameron. "Cartoon hero", Herald Sun, 2007-03-15. Retrieved on 2007-04-06. 
  18. ^ Mika on the Daily Mail
  19. ^ www.bpi.co.uk

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
v • d • e
Mika
Studio albums Life in Cartoon Motion
Singles "Relax, Take It Easy" • "Grace Kelly" • "Love Today" • "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" • "Happy Ending" "Lollipop/Relax, Take It Easy (re-release)" •
DVDs Live In Cartoon Motion
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mika_%28singer%29"
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