The Last Night Of The iTunes Festival Reviewed!
03/08/2009 @ 2:37 pm
After 31 nights of live music at the Roundhouse, Mika bounced on stage comically dressed in white dungarees (with no shirt underneath) as the final act to grace the stage. Known for his flamboyant and overtly camp performances, Mika lived up to the hype with a sparkling silver set filled with giant balloons, glittery confetti and an abundance of glitzy lights.
Mika may resemble a slightly ridiculous human-being but I think this is part of his appeal. You may not be able to take him seriously yet I really don’t think you’re supposed to! At one point in the night he whipped off the top half of his dungarees, whipped on a black top hat and started banging a drum … need I say more?!
As he pranced about on stage delivering his hit songs Love Today, Big Girl (you are beautiful) and material from his new album We are Golden, I had to appreciate that aside from the outlandish persona, Mika is actually an extremely talented individual. Once you strip away the garish lights, eccentric costumes and overbearing personality you are able to focus on the fact that he has an impressive vocal range and definitely knows how to entertain his audience. Mika has honed onto the British’s love for happy, ‘poptastic’, feel-good music and has personified the genre making himself the perfect export for a cheesy tunes-loving nation.
I always remember my mum once confiding in me that when she is feeling a bit down she plays Mika’s Grace Kelly as it always cheers her up. Although at the time I pityingly judged my mother with the shaking of my head as being ‘uncool’ I realised just what she meant as Mika blasted out his hit in all its glory.
Although the song itself is slightly preposterous you just can’t help but to smile and dance along. As I took a quick look around the audience we certainly resembled one extremely happy bunch! Love him or hate him Mika is a true entertainer who has so much fun with what he does. Maybe we all need to stop taking life so seriously at times, dress up in a sequined top and dance along to Mika!
Really enjoyed reading your reviews!