Mika (singer)

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This article is about the British singer. For the Japanese rock singer, see Sadistic Mika Band. For other uses, see Mika.
Mika

Background information
Birth name Michael Holbrook Penniman
Also known as Mica Penniman
Born August 18, 1983 (1983-08-18) (age 25)
Beirut, Lebanon
Origin London
Genre(s) Pop rock
Power pop
Pop
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, keyboards
Years active 2000–present
Label(s) Casablanca, Island
Website Mikasounds.com

Michael Holbrook Penniman[1][2][3](born 18 August 1983), known as Mika (pronounced /ˈmiːkə/), is a London-based, Grammy-nominated and BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter, who has a recording contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music. He rose to fame around the end of 2006 and the start of 2007.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Mika was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the third of five children born to a mother of Syrian-Lebanese descent[4] and an American father. When he was a 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".[3] The family moved to London when he was nine years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences, Mika was home-schooled by his mother at the age of 11, for six to eight months.[3] He then attended St Philips School in Kensington. Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records.[5] He has also slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k", because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.[6]

[edit] Musical career

Mika playing keyboard at V Festival 2007

Mika was trained by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional. 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,[5] he claims that it is actually closer to three and a half octaves. [7]

In January 2007, Mika was on the top of the BBC News website's Sound of 2007 poll.[8]

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".

Produced and mixed by Greg Wells in Los Angeles, with three songs co-produced by Jodi Marr and John Merchant, who produced the original songs which garnered him his deal with Universal. Mika's début album Life in Cartoon Motion was released on 5 February 2007, and has brought comparison with artists such as Freddie Mercury,[9][10] Scissor Sisters,[11] Elton John,[12] Prince,[13] Robbie Williams[14] and David Bowie.[14]

He was the musical act for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 26 March 2007[15] and 14 February 2008 and for Jimmy Kimmel Live on 27 March 2007.[16] He also performed live on So You Think You Can Dance on 26 July 2007.

Mika toured the United States and Canada in June 2007, with support from Sara Bareilles and Natalia Lesz.

In 2007, Mika won three awards, the most of any artist, at the World Music Awards, the annual ceremony, held since 1989, at which awards are given for the highest selling recording artists internationally. He is the first artist to have won three World Music Awards in just one year.

In September 2007, Mika began his Dodgy Holiday Tour, playing at venues across Europe. On November 17, 2007, Mika started the UK leg of his tour with support from Palladium. The North American leg of his tour began in January 2008 with support from The Midway State and continued through February with a stop in Los Angeles for the 50th Grammy Awards.

His debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, has a coming of age theme and deals with his transition from childhood to the present, though he has stated that not all of the songs are autobiographical. His songs often deal with difficult topics. For instance, in "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" the theme of larger women suffering from discrimination is explored. Mika has said that the fact that his mother was a big woman, and that he had seen the prejudices against her, helped him to write the song.[citation needed] In another example of dealing with more difficult subject matter, in the song "Billy Brown", Mika writes about a married man who has both a homosexual and heterosexual affair.

On 20 February 2008, Mika opened the 2008 BRIT Awards with a live performance of "Love Today," "Grace Kelly," and a duet, "Standing in the Way of Control," with Beth Ditto. He was later awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist.

[edit] Management

Mika signed with Fuerte Group under the managemnet team of Jerry Blair and Rich Isaacson, who at first, heard of the artist through their client, writer/producer Jodi Marr. When asked to forward any music she was working on, Mika's music was among the pile of cd's sent. As soon as his music was heard,they became instantly interested, and the team then was hired as his managers shortly thereafter.

[edit] Personal life

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, and she is currently a fashion designer.

Because of his campy, flamboyant stage persona, there have been rumours that Mika might be gay. In response to media speculation on this theme 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." He added that "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."[17]

He denied allegations that he is steering clear of sexual taboos in order to appeal to the US 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." [18] In an interview in the US gay magazine Out he stated that there "is a way of discussing sexuality without using labels."[19]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Mika discography

[edit] Video Releases

Main article: Mika discography

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2008

[edit] Awards

[edit] 2007

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

[edit] 2008

  • Swiss Music Awards
    • Best International Newcomer -- Nominated
  • ECHO Awards
    • Best International Male Artist -- Nominated
    • Best International Newcomer -- Won
  • Amadeus Awards (Austrian Music Awards)
    • Best International Single - "Grace Kelly" -- Nominated
  • TMF Awards
    • Best International Pop -- Won
    • Best International Male Artist -- Nominated

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pareles, Jon (2007-03-31). "A rising British pop star revives a Mercurial style". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/arts/music/31mika.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  2. ^ "Artist of the day: Mika". Spin. 2007-03-27. http://www.spin.com/features/band_of_the_day/2007/03/070327_mika/. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  3. ^ a b c Mccaffrey, Julie; and Adam Luck (2007-01-29). "Mika, Teenage prodigy of the Royal Opera". The Daily Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/archive/tm_method=full%26objectid=18545057%26siteid=89520-name_page.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  4. ^ http://www.contactmusic.com/new/artist.nsf/artistnames/mika/
  5. ^ a b "Triumph of a tortured soul". The Times. 2007-01-05. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1289311.ece. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  6. ^ http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/09/19/mika-aka-mica-penniman-facing-a-lawsuit-over-name/
  7. ^ "Live interview with Mika". Rove. Channel Ten, Australia. 2007-03-06.
  8. ^ Youngs, Ian (2007-01-04). "Singer Mika tops BBC talent". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6230415.stm. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  9. ^ "Mika uses Freddie's piano?". Metro. 2007-01-24. http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=34500&in_page_id=7&in_a_source=. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  10. ^ Jones, Emma (2007-01-05). "Sound of 2007: Mika". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6231243.stm. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  11. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (2006-12-07). "Mika". The Guardian. http://music.guardian.co.uk/live/story/0,,1965870,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  12. ^ Bray, Elisa (2007-03-01). "V is for victory - and for virtuoso". The Independent. http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article2316598.ece. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  13. ^ Phares, Heather (N/A). "Mika". AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0cfexqrsld6e. Retrieved on 2008-05-12. 
  14. ^ a b "Introducing the sound of 2007: Mika". The Belfast Telegraph. 2007-01-23. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music-gigs/features/article2178632.ece. Retrieved on 2007-03-20. 
  15. ^ "Episode 16.142". The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. NBC. 2007-03-26. No. 142, season 16.
  16. ^ "Episode 5.111". Jimmy Kimmel Live. ABC. 2007-03-27. No. 111, season 5.
  17. ^ Grew, Tony (2007-01-24). "Brit pop star won't say which way he swings". Pink News. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3553.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-22. 
  18. ^ Adams, CameronA (2007-03-15). "Cartoon hero". Herald Sun. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21387352-2902,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-04-06. 
  19. ^ Krochmal, Shana Naomi (2008-01-28). "Mika's Second Verse (Same As The First?)". Out. http://www.out.com/detail.asp?page=1&id=23440. Retrieved on 2008-02-15. 

[edit] External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mika
v • d • e
Mika
Albums
Singles
"Relax, Take It Easy" • "Grace Kelly" • "Lollipop" (airplay release) • "Love Today" • "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" • "Happy Ending" • "Relax, Take It Easy" (re-release) / "Lollipop"
DVDs
Other articles
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