Word: mika
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...have heard of Mika (pronounced mee-ka) yet, but soon enough you may not be able to escape him. The 23-year-old Lebanese-born British singer topped a bbc poll of 130 industry tastemakers as the Next Big Thing for 2007, his music can already be heard on Motorola's RED ads in the U.S., his first video runs on mtv's top rotation, and his face will soon front fashion designer Paul Smith's spring/summer global ad campaign. Not too slouchy given he hasn't actually released a CD yet. Mika's debut single comes...
...dandy." He describes his sound on his MySpace page as "Beck via Queen and Elton John and a touch of Rufus W.[ainwright]." He appears to be having fun. Did I mention the full head of hair? I'd been given an advance copy of Life in Cartoon Motion, Mika's debut album due Feb. 5, but I'd been reluctant to play it. It's pop, therefore manufactured and disposable, right? What if I like...
...When finally I succumb, I discover that Mika's opening line of the first song and single, Grace Kelly, echoes my dilemma. "Do I attract you?/ Do I repulse you with my queasy smile?" he intones. That remained to be seen, but what follows is an album brimming with grandiose, infectious, hook-laden pop. A sweep through the spectrum from '70s melodies and disco brought up to date with full orchestration, kids' choirs and gymnastic vocals. On Grace Kelly he nods to his Freddie Mercury singing style: "So I try a little Freddie/ I've gone identity mad." He also...
...wasn't hard to spot him in the London TV studio canteen. The place is like the science fiction movie Logan's Run: beautiful twentysomethings wandering around with clipboards who will no doubt be sacked when they turn 30. Even in these environs, Mika stands out. He's wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers, but the jeans and sneakers are bright white and the jeans an even brighter turquoise. He is, of course, charming. "Mixed reactions? Sure, I get them all the time. I'm a Marmite artist," Mika says, referring to the pungent yeast-based spread that Brits...
...Though Mika wears bright trousers and makes fun music, he's suffered for the right to do so. Born in Beirut in 1983 to a Lebanese mother and American father, he was evacuated with his family a year later, "because the war got really bad." They joined the Lebanese community in Paris before Mika's father, on a business trip to Kuwait in 1990, became trapped in the U.S. embassy for seven months when the Gulf War broke out. A new job after the war meant a move to London, where Mika was bullied at school. "I was called everything...