Pop star. Judge on The Voice. Judge on The X Factor. No we aren’t talking about Britney Spears. Nope, not Demi Lovato. Not Kelly Rowland either. The pop star and reality tv judge we are talking about today is UK singing sensation Mika.
While relatively unknown stateside Mika is a huge star across the pond ever since bursting onto the scene in 2007. His debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, sold a whopping eight million copies, helping him be named the BBC Sound of 2007. The Grace Kelly singer sat down for an interview promoting his upcoming stint as a judge on The Piano.
Last week Instinct magazine reported on the homophobia Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy experienced early in his career, something that Mika also experienced. U.S. Radio wouldn’t play the X Factor [Italian version] judge’s songs because as he said, ‘we’d love to play this song, but it’s just a little too gay.’ The Love Today singer continued to explain how the times have changed,
“I think you wouldn’t be able to get away with some of those comments and articles today. I was accused of being brazen, but I think it was brazen homophobia. I’m 39 years old now, the world’s moved on, so I’m not afraid to say it. And it was such a waste of time”.
The Voice judge [French version] did bring up the infamous 2007 Guardian article that asked, “Why won’t Mika give us a straight answer” explaining, “There was confusion that I was drawing: ‘what is he?’ All this questioning about sexuality, and about emotional and musical and stylistic exuberance that in today’s pop culture is celebrated.”
On a lighter note, the Good Guys singer is visibly excited getting the chance to discuss filming The Piano, “It’s a beautiful show. It made me feel like the world is an OK place”. As previously reported by Inews the premise of The Piano centers around,
“amateur pianists head to public pianos at four train stations across the country, thinking they are contributing to a documentary about the rise of street piano playing. Little do they know, they are taking part in a reality TV contest: as they play for commuters, Mika and revered virtuoso Chinese pianist Lang Lang are secretly watching from back rooms (“during the heatwave with no air conditioning!”) to judge the performances and put their favourites through to a grand final held at London’s Royal Festival Hall.”
Mika ends the interview on a positive note exclaiming, “The industry was not one of the most kind or conducive places for making you at ease with your own identity or sexuality back then It always takes a while, but I’ve learned to be myself. Honestly, I don’t change very much anymore. I’ve been this weird eccentric within my own kind of crafted pop world. And I’m going to stick with it”.
Sources: Inews
I thought he was french?
I remember finding out he’s gay when I was a teenager & loving the song Popular after seeing Wicked on Broadway. Wonder if it’ll be in the new movie.