Mika (singer)

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Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr. (born 18 August 1983), known professionally as Mika ( , stylised as MIKA), is a singer-songwriter born in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised in Paris and London. After recording his first extended play, '' Dodgy Holiday'', Mika was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2007 in an annual

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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poll of music critics, Sound of 2007. Mika released his first full-length studio album, ''

Life in Cartoon Motion ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' is the debut album released by British recording artist Mika. The album was produced by Greg Wells, mixed by Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant. The album was released via Casablanc ...

'', on Island Records in 2007, which has sold more than 8.3 million copies worldwide and helped Mika win a

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

—Best British Breakthrough act—and receive a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

nomination. He topped the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 2007 with "

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

" and has since gone on to record four more platinum-selling studio albums (most recently ''

My Name is Michael Holbrook ''My Name Is Michael Holbrook'' is the fifth studio album by British singer Mika (singer), Mika. It was released on 4 October 2019 through Republic Records. The album was promoted in North America with the Tiny Love Tiny Tour at small venues in Ne ...

'' released in October 2019), as well as serve as judge/mentor on both the French version of ''The Voice'' and the Italian version of ''X Factor''. Mika also starred for two seasons in his own television variety show in Italy, ', which won the 2017 Rose d'Or Award for Entertainment, and has hosted his own BBC Radio 2 show ''The Art of Song''. In 2022, he co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest alongside Italian singer Laura Pausini and Italian television presenter

Alessandro Cattelan Alessandro Cattelan (born 11 May 1980) is an Italian television and radio presenter best known for presenting the Italian edition of ''Total Request Live (Italy), Total Request Live'', broadcast by MTV Italia, and ''Le Iene'', broadcast by Medias ...

. In addition to his musical career, Mika has also worked as a visual artist and designer on various projects, among them sunglasses for the Italian eyewear company Lozza, a clothing line for Belgian retailer JBC, pens for the 100th anniversary of

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, and (along with his sister Yasmine) three watches for Swiss company Swatch.

Life and career

1983–2006: Childhood and early career

Mika was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, the third of five children—he has two older sisters, Yasmine and Paloma, a younger sister Zuleika, and a younger brother, Fortuné. His parents are an American-born Lebanese mother (Mary Joan "Joannie", , daughter of John Mouakad and Odette Farah) and an Israeli-born American father (Michael Holbrook Penniman, son of William Frederick Penniman III and Dorothy Dyar). Mika's father was a banker born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. His father's father – Mika's paternal grandfather William Frederick Penniman III – was a diplomat. Mika's maternal grandfather John Mouakad was Syrian (from Damascus). When Mika was a year old, his family was forced to leave war-torn

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and moved to Paris, France. The family lived happily for a time in Paris. The first piano piece the young Mika learned to play was " Les Champs-Élysées", by

Joe Dassin Joseph Ira Dassin (; 5 November 1938 – 20 August 1980) was an American–French singer-songwriter and actor. He was the son of film director Jules Dassin. Early life Dassin was born in New York City to American film director Jules Dassin (19 ...

. At the age of 7, he wrote his first song, a piano instrumental called "Angry", which he describes as "awful". In 1990 Mika's father went on a business trip to Kuwait and became trapped in the U.S. embassy for seven months when the Gulf War broke out. When the elder Penniman returned home, he had to take a new job, which meant a move to London. The family moved to London when Mika was 9 years old. There, he attended the

Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent school, independent day school, situated in South Kensington in the Royal Borough ...

, where he experienced severe bullying and had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was

home-schooled Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

by his mother and trained in music by Alla Ardakov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional. He also studied with the Royal Opera in London and made his stage debut as a chorus member in Strauss's

Die Frau Ohne Schatten ' (''The Woman without a Shadow''), Op. 65, is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917. When it premiered at the V ...

at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

in London's Covent Garden. He continued as a boy soprano with the Royal Opera and, at 15, he showcased his vocal range in a 1998 production of "The Pilgrim's Progress" by

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

. Although still young, Mika also worked singing jingles for a variety of companies, most notably Orbit chewing gum and British Airways. Once he returned to school, Mika attended St. Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St. Philip's Choir). Later he attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

in London, where he starred in a number of school productions to great acclaim. After a very brief stint (one day) at the London School of Economics, Mika then managed to gain entrance to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

. By day, Mika studied and practiced his scales, but by night, he visited the rock and electro clubs of Soho and Camden, and wrote pop songs. Mika left the Royal College of Music to record his first album at

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label current ...

. His first single was a limited 7"/download release called "

Relax, Take It Easy "Relax, Take It Easy" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter Mika, from his debut album ''Life in Cartoon Motion''. In the UK, it failed to chart upon its original release, but after "Grace Kelly" topped the charts in January 2007, ...

" (2006). It was playlisted by UK's

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and was made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. His '' Dodgy Holiday'' EP also became available for download. The song " Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. A song titled 'Overrated', which was recorded in 2004, was "unofficially" released online. His debut radio appearance was on

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ' ...

's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006.

2007–2008: ''Life in Cartoon Motion''

In 2007, things took off for Mika. His single "

" was released by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

for digital download on 8 January 2007. On 19 January 2007, he appeared on '' Later... with Jools Holland'', and on ''

The Friday Night Project ''The Sunday Night Project'' is a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title ''The Friday Night Project''. Originally broadcast on Friday nights, the show moved to Sunday n ...

''. That same month, Mika was voted the top of the

BBC News website BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

's Sound of 2007 poll. "Grace Kelly" reached number one on the

on 21 January 2007, and stayed at number one for five weeks. The single featured on his debut album, ''

Life In Cartoon Motion ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' is the debut album released by British recording artist Mika. The album was produced by Greg Wells, mixed by Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant. The album was released via Casablanc ...

'', which was released on 5 February 2007. The album went straight to number one in the UK and 11 other countries, and brought comparisons with artists such as Freddie Mercury,

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters were an American pop rock band formed in 2001. Its members include Jake Shears and Ana Matronic as vocalists, Babydaddy as multi-instrumentalist, Del Marquis as lead guitar/bassist, and Randy Real (who replaced Paddy Boom) ...

, Elton John,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

. The song "

", in fact, references Mercury in the lyrics: "I try to be like Grace Kelly/But all her looks were too sad/So I tried a little Freddie/I've gone identity mad." The album went on to sell more than 8.3 million copies worldwide and rack up 2.8 billion streams. ''

'' has a coming of age theme and deals with Mika's 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) "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" is the fourth single from the debut album '' Life in Cartoon Motion'' of singer Mika. It reached number 9 in the UK charts after it was released on 23 July 2007. It was inspired by, and written for the Butterfly L ...

"'' 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. In another example of dealing with more difficult subject matter, in the song ''"Billy Brown"'', Mika writes about a married man who has a homosexual affair. Mika at V Festival 2007

Mika toured the United States in June 2007, with support from Sara Bareilles and Natalia Lesz. He also made several significant U.S. television appearances to support his new album. He was the musical act for ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' on 26 March 2007 and 14 February 2008 and for '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' on 27 March 2007. He also performed live on ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

'' on 26 July 2007. On 10 October 2007, Mika began his Dodgy Holiday Tour, playing at venues across Europe. On 17 November 2007, Mika started the UK leg of his tour in Glasgow, Scotland, with support from

Palladium Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...

. The North American leg of his tour began in January 2008 with support from The Midway State and Creature and continued through February with a stop in Los Angeles for the

50th Annual Grammy Awards The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonies ...

, where he was nominated for "Best Dance Recording" for his song "Love Today." On 20 February 2008, Mika opened the

2008 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2008 was the 28th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 20 February 2008 at the Earls Court in London. The ceremony ...

with a live performance of " Love Today," "

," and a duet, " Standing in the Way of Control", with

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and T ...

Gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

. He was awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist later that night.

2009–2010: ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much''

Prior to the release of his second studio album, Mika released a limited-edition

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

titled ''

Songs for Sorrow ''Songs for Sorrow'' is the second EP by British-Labanese singer-songwriter Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (bor ...

'' on 8 June 2009. The EP includes 4 tracks and a 68-page book featuring lyrics and exclusive illustrated interpretations of each song by some of Mika's favourite artists and designers, among them

Jim Woodring James William Woodring (born October 11, 1952) is an American cartoonist, fine artist, writer and toy designer. He is best known for the dream-based comics he published in his magazine '' Jim'', and as the creator of the anthropomorphic cartoo ...

Sophie Blackall Sophie Jocasta Blackall is an Australian artist, author, and illustrator of children's books based in Brooklyn, New York. Early life and education Blackall was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1970. In 1992, Blackall earned a Bachelor of Des ...

, Alber Elbaz, and his own sister, DaWack. The song ''"

Blue Eyes Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris. In humans, the p ...

"'' was used to promote the EP, and was A-listed on the BBC Radio 2 playlist. Mika's second studio album '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much'' was released on 21 September 2009. Mika recorded the majority of the album in Los Angeles with producer and musician

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

, who also produced his debut album ''Life in Cartoon Motion''. The album has been described as Mika dealing with his adolescent teenage years and "in a sense is kind of part two" of his first album. The album was originally titled ''We Are Golden'' after the first single from the album, " We Are Golden". On 20 July 2009 in an on-air interview with DJ

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...

, Mika revealed he was considering renaming the album, because he wanted "something a little more ridiculous." On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would change to ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The first single from the album, "We Are Golden", made its radio debut in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2009, on BBC Radio 2 and was released for download on 6 September 2009, with the physical release following on 7 September 2009. The single debuted at number 4 on the

on 13 September 2009. Mika's promotional tour of the single included live performances at the iTunes Festival 2009 at

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhous ...

in Camden, London and on

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...

in September 2009. It was reported that Mika spent £25,000 on drinks after inviting fans to join him at his local pub via Twitter on 7 September 2009 to celebrate the release of his single. "

Blame It on the Girls "Blame It on the Girls" is the third and final single released from singer-songwriter Mika's second studio album, '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The single was released on 15 February 2010. The song was produced and mixed by Greg Wells. It is a ...

" was released as the second single in the United States and Japan. This was alongside "

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

" being the second single in the United Kingdom, which was released on 23 November. "Blame It on the Girls" was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 15 February 2010. His American promotional tour consisted of live performances on Good Morning America in New York City on 25 September 2009 and the Late Show with David Letterman on 14 October 2009. In November 2009 Mika performed 'Rain' and 'We Are Golden' live at the Sydney Opera House for the Australian Idol Grand Final. He also performed on

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

in Australia. On 30 November 2009, Mika performed "

Let It Snow "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as simply "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945 in Hollywood, California, during a heat wave as Cahn and Styne imagined cooler conditions ...

" in a duet with Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada. At Blackpool's Opera House in December 2009 Mika had the opportunity to perform in the Royal Variety Performance in front of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

. The Royal Variety Performance is an annual gala evening, which, ever since it was established in 1912, is traditionally attended by members of the British Royal Family. Mika sang his single, "Rain," during the evening, which included performances by Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé, Miley Cyrus, Bette Midler, and Whoopi Goldberg, and later had the chance to meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. On 21 March 2010 Mika performed a song he had written, " Gave It All Away", with

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

for ''Boyzone: A Tribute To

Stephen Gately Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 197610 October 2009) was an Irish singer, who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone; all of Boyzone's studio albums during Gately's lifetime hit number one in the United Kingdo ...

''. In May 2010 Mika released the single "

Kick Ass (We Are Young) "Kick Ass (We Are Young)" is a song by English singer Mika and Moroccan-Swedish record producer RedOne released as a single from the soundtrack to the film '' Kick-Ass''. It was released on 2 May 2010. Background At the European premiere of ' ...

", the title track to the 2010 film " Kick-Ass". The song played during the film's closing credits.

2010–2014: ''The Origin of Love'', ''X Factor Italy'' and ''Songbook Vol.1''

Before the release of his third album, Mika stated in numerous interviews that it would be more simplistic and less layered than the previous one. Mika announced the title of the album, ''

The Origin of Love ''The Origin of Love'' is the third studio album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was released in France on 17 September 2012, and in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2012, via Casablanca Records and Barclay Records respec ...

'' in a French interview on 17 June. Mika said he would include a number of French tracks on the album, and that the musical style would include elements of Daft Punk and Fleetwood Mac. He described the album as less childlike and more serious. The first single released from the album was '','' Mika's first French track. It was released online on 1 July 2011. The video for the song was released 16 August and featured the French actress

Fanny Ardant Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant (born 22 March 1949) is a French actress and film director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two César Awards and a Lumières Award. Early life Ardant was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, ...

, along with a number of other well-known French actors and personalities. Mika collaborated with a number of artists on various tracks of this album, including

Nick Littlemore Nicholas George Littlemore (born 6 May 1978) is an Australian musician, record producer, singer and songwriter. As a musician, he is the frontman of the electronic duo Pnau, an ex-member of the art-rock band Teenager and one part of the electr ...

Empire of the Sun ''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology ...

, Paul Steel, frYars, Doriand, Priscilla Renea, Billboard,

Hillary Lindsey Hillary Lee Lindsey is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bo ...

, Pharrell Williams,

Benny Benassi Marco "Benny" Benassi (; born 13 July 1967) is an Italian DJ, record producer and remixer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit " Satisfaction". He started his career ...

and

Klas Åhlund Klas Frans Åhlund (born 11 April 1972) is a Swedish songwriter, record producer, and guitarist. He is the founding member of the Swedish rock band Teddybears. As a songwriter and producer, he has worked with artists such as Robyn, Sugababes, J ...

was again involved in the production of the album. At the time he was working on his own album, MIKA also contributed his vocals to the production of

The All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.Kids in the Street ''Kids in the Street'' is the fourth and most recent studio album by American rock band the All-American Rejects, released March 26, 2012, by Interscope Records. It is their last to be released on Interscope. Composition and recording The All-A ...

. Around this time Mika also collaborated with the singer Madonna, and the resulting song, '' Gang Bang,'' can be found on her album '' MDNA.'' On 8 June 2012, the video for "Make You Happy" was released on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

. The song served as a

buzz single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

for the album. On 14 June 2012, " Celebrate", which features Pharrell Williams, was announced as the album's lead single. The album was released internationally on 17 September 2012 and in the UK on 8 October 2012. Included on this album was "Popular Song," which Mika co-wrote and performed on the album with songwriter Priscilla Renea (who now goes by the professional name Muni Long). The song, which borrowed a well-known melody from the musical "Wicked" by

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...

, was later remixed and released as a duet in 2013 with Ariana Grande before she reached "superstar" status. The 2012 Summer Olympics took place in London from 25 July to 12 August 2012, and before the gold medal beach volleyball game on 8th August, Mika performed "Grace Kelly" and "Celebrate" on the sand court. The same day he also did a Q&A with fans and performed a short set for Rock The Games, which live-streamed on the YouTube channel of the London 2012 games. On 23 April 2013, Mika was revealed to be the new judge on the seventh season of '' The X Factor Italy''. He was the first international mentor on the Italian edition of the show. Mika returned to the panel for the eighth and ninth series of the show before leaving to focus on other projects. Mika released a compilation album, on 18 November 2013, in Italy titled '' Songbook Vol. 1,'' including 20 songs from his three previous albums, plus a few re-worked tracks. On 17 January 2014, Mika took part in the Italian television show on

La7 La7 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned by Cairo Communication. Until 2013 it was a pay-per-view channel owned by Telecom Italia Media and operated by Telecom Italia. Signal overspill means that parts of Albania, Croatia, Swi ...

, and performed a duet with the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

of the song "", written by Fo and played by

Enzo Jannacci Vincenzo Jannacci (3 June 1935 – 29 March 2013), more commonly known as Enzo Jannacci (), was an Italian singer-songwriter, pianist, actor and comedian. He is regarded as one of the most important artists in the post-war Italian music scene. ...

. That same evening, Mika was presented with a platinum disc for the album ''Songbook Vol. 1.'' Mika joined (the French version of the television show The Voice) as a judge/mentor in 2014. One of his contestants,

Kendji Girac Kendji "Girac" Jason Maillié (; born July 3, 1996), also known mononymously as Kendji, is a French singer-songwriter. He is the winner of season 3 of the music competition '' The Voice: la plus belle voix'' as part of Team Mika. He has released ...

, won the competition that year. Mika released another French single on 11 June 2014, ''Boum Boum Boum''. The video (which came out 7 July) was filmed entirely in Spain on the set of the famous western ''The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,'' and features Mika in a variety of guises—from cowboy to James Bond-like spy.

2015–2018: ''No Place in Heaven''

In February 2015, Mika performed a series of three concerts with the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orch ...

, under the direction of conductor Simon Leclerc. The concerts featured a selection of Mika's songs scored for a full orchestra by Mika and Leclerc. The concerts met with glowing reviews, with some calling the presentations "memorable" and "a beautiful collaboration between the artist and the orchestra." Mika's next album was preceded by the single '' Talk About You'', previewed on 25 March 2015, with the official video on YouTube a few days later. Mika began a tour to support his upcoming album on 3 May 2015 in Brooklyn, New York, and subsequently toured in major cities around the world. On 25 May 2015 the official video for the next single, ''Good Guys'', was released. Mika's fourth album, ''

No Place in Heaven ''No Place in Heaven'' is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Mika, released on 15 June 2015 via Republic Records (Casablanca). Background and recording After his first two records were described as campy affairs, Mika's third r ...

'', was released on 15 June 2015. He described the album as "direct, low-down, open, candid, playful, yet a mature pop album which takes its inspiration from '60s pop music". On 13 November 2015 the album was re-released in the form of a double-disc deluxe edition, containing a number of bonus tracks on Disc 1 as well as a full-length orchestral bonus disc, which includes a performance by Mika with L'Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal. The following year, Mika began filming for his own television show, called ''Stasera Casa Mika'', in Italy. The variety show featured a number of Italian actors, musicians and other cultural icons, as well as performers from around the world, including Kylie Minogue, Sting, LP and

Dita von Teese Heather Renée Sweet (born September 28, 1972), known professionally as Dita Von Teese, is an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman. She is credited with re-popularizing burlesque performance, earning the moniker "Que ...

. In addition to music, the show had comedy sketches and serious looks at life around Italy. The show won the 2017

Rose d'Or The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...

as Best Entertainment Series. Starting 1 January 2016 and periodically through January 2019, Mika hosted a series of episodes (11 in total) of ''Mika: The Art Of Song'' on BBC Radio 2. In the programs, he discussed musical influences and focused on a variety of artists, including Joni Mitchell and Carole King. Mika reunited with conductor Simon Leclerc at the end of 2016 to perform two concerts at the Teatro dell'Opera di Firenze in collaboration with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The concerts were performed 30 and 31 December with the orchestra and choir of Maggio Musicale, under the direction of Leclerc, who had previously conducted Mika's symphonic performances in Montreal and Como. In February 2017, Mika performed a medley of his own songs at the

Sanremo Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian culture, Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longes ...

, as well as a tribute to the late George Michael. Mika released a single, "It's My House," which also served as the theme song for the second series of his show Stasera Casa Mika in October 2017. In 2018, Mika featured on ''Adam to Eve no Ringo'', a tribute album to Japanese musician

Ringo Sheena , known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer, songwriter and musician. She is also the founder and lead vocalist of the band Tokyo Jihen. She describes herself as "". She was ranked number 36 in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians compiled ...

, covering Sheena's song "Sid to Hakuchūmu" from her debut album ''

Muzai Moratorium , also known as ''Innocence Moratorium'', is the debut studio album by Japanese singer and songwriter Ringo Sheena, released on February 24, 1999 by Toshiba EMI. The album debuted at #2 and has sold over 1,433,000 copies. The album was certified t ...

'' (1999). Mika collaborated with the French singers Doriand and

Philippe Katerine Philippe Blanchard (; born 8 December 1968), known professionally as Philippe Katerine, is a French singer-songwriter, actor, director and writer who began his career in 1991. Some of his popular singles include "Mon cœur balance", "Je vous em ...

on a single called ''"Danser Entre Hommes"'' in late 2018. It was released by Doriand on 30 August 2019. All three men appear in the song's music video.

2019–2020: ''My Name Is Michael Holbrook''

In May 2019, Mika released the single "Ice Cream" and announced his fifth studio album, ''

My Name Is Michael Holbrook ''My Name Is Michael Holbrook'' is the fifth studio album by British singer Mika (singer), Mika. It was released on 4 October 2019 through Republic Records. The album was promoted in North America with the Tiny Love Tiny Tour at small venues in Ne ...

'', for release on 4 October 2019. The album, described as "intensely personal" by a number of reviewers, also contains elements of "disco-tinged exuberance" and "joyous pop" with "anthemic choruses and vocal harmonies". Mika collaborated with singer Jack Savoretti on single ''"Youth And Love''", which was released on 28 June 2019. The original version of the song appeared on Savoretti's March 2019 album ''Singing To Strangers''. The new duet was produced by

Cam Blackwood Cameron "Cam" Blackwood is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. He has previously been employed in various London recording studios including Roundhouse Studios in Farringdon, Miloco Studios, and Townhouse Studios in Chiswick, a ...

, with Mika’s vocals recorded at his home studio in Florenc

It received a worldwide exclusive play from

Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both '' Radio 1 Breakfast'' and '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show ''Live & ...

on her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show, first airing on 19 June 2019 and was subsequently added to BBC Radio 2’s New Music Playlist (A list). (A special edition of Savoretti's album was released on 6 December 2019 including "Youth And Love" with Mika as the 20th track.) Savoretti subsequently appeared on a track on Mika's new album, "Ready to Call This Love." Mika was a guest at singer

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...

’s charity orchestral concert at

Teatro Del Silenzio The Teatro del Silenzio (English: Theater of Silence) is an open air amphitheater located in the city of Lajatico – the hometown of Andrea Bocelli – in the Tuscany region of Italy. In 2006, Bocelli convinced the municipality of Lajatico to ...

in Lajatico, Italy on 25 July 2019, and duetted with him on the song "Ali Di Libertà". Mika also sang his own "Happy Ending" and "Tiny Love", accompanied by the orchestra, a troupe of dancers, Ida Falk-Winland, and Max Taylor, and was interviewed onstage by the host. The concert was broadcast on Italian television network RAI1 on 14 September 2019. Several singles and accompanying videos were released in the months leading up to the debut of the ''

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

: "Tiny Love," "Dear Jealousy," "Tomorrow," and "Sanremo." The album was promoted in September 2019 with the seven-date Tiny Love Tiny Tour at small venues in New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Mexico City. In addition, Mika appeared on the American TV show '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'' on 11 September 2019, performing new song "Tiny Love," along with "Big Girl" from his first album. In October 2019, Mika was honored with the Music Award at the 2019 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards hosted in London by the UK's Attitude Magazine. The award acknowledged that "after staring down homophobia at the start of his pop career, Mika is now making unapologetically queer music that also processes his past pain." In a related article in Attitude, Mika noted, "If I didn't have music, I would not have been able to understand or deal with my sexuality in the same way. It's always been at the centre of my writing." Mika launched a worldwide tour, known as the Revelation Tour, in London on 10 November 2019. The 2019 leg of the tour included dates in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium. It continued in 2020 with stops in Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and Italy then went on to several dates in New Zealand and Australia. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mika announced in February 2020 the cancellation of the Asian leg of the tour in Japan, China and South Korea. Subsequently, the North and South American leg of the tour were cancelled, including a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In between concert stops, Mika made several television appearances, including: a live episode of X Factor Italia (24 October 2019); the finale of France's The Voice Kids (October 2019); and the live finale of Danse Avec les Stars (23 November 2019). Mika also performed on top of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "' ...

in Paris as part of its 130th anniversary celebration in October 2019. In January 2020, Mika released the album "MIKA Live at Brooklyn Steel," for digital download/streaming only. It is a recording of his 13 September 2019 concert at the venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. With touring on hold due to the pandemic, Mika returned to Italian television and X Factor Italia as a judge in the summer/fall of 2020. After the devastating explosion that hit Beirut in August 2020, Mika was moved to honor his Lebanese heritage and organized a streaming concert in aid of the citizens of that city. The resulting concert film, titled "I Love Beirut", featured a number of international performers, including Kylie Minogue,

Danna Paola Danna Paola Rivera Munguía (born 23 June 1995) is a Mexican singer, model and actress. She gained popularity as a child actress and singer, starring in dozens of television projects throughout her early childhood and adolescence. Early life D ...

, Louane,

Salma Hayek Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as the ...

and

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

. It was viewed in 106 countries around the globe and raised more than €1 million. The summer of 2020 also saw Mika release a number of collaborations. In August, he released ''Le Coeur Holiday'' with the French rapper Soprano, with whom he had worked on ''The Voice France''. The video for this song was an animated short that featured cartoon versions of the singers in a touching tale of friendship. Also in August, Mika duetted with Italian singer

Michele Bravi Michele Bravi (born 19 December 1994) is an Italian pop singer, songwriter and actor. He rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the Italian ''X Factor''. His coronation song, "La vita e la felicità", was penned by Tiziano Ferro and r ...

on an updated version of ''Bella d'estate,'' originally recorded in 1987 by the singer Mango. Rounding out the summer of international collaborations, on 11 September 2020, Mika appeared along with Mexican singer and actress

on her single titled ''Me, Myself''. Mika sang vocals on one more single around this time, this for the Canadian singer-songwriter Pierre Lapointe. The song, "Six Heures d'Avion Nous Séparent", appears on Lapointe's 2020 album ''Chansons Hivernales.'' Just before Christmas 2020, Mika hosted "Do Re MIKA Sol," a concert to benefit the charity Imagine for Margo, held in the pediatric department of the French ''Institut Curie''. The concert was broadcast live on Facebook. Mika performed a set of Christmas carols for patients and their families, and hospital staff, accompanied by members of the 100 Voices of Gospel. Mika closed out 2020 by performing several times at the palace of Versailles in Paris. In mid-December he performed an intimate live concert with the Royal Opera of Versailles with a variety of classical and other musicians. An album of the concert, ''Mika a l'Opéra Royal de Versailles'', was later released in early 2021. Mika also performed at the New Year's Eve celebration, La Grande Soiree, filmed at Versailles, which aired on France 2, where he performed an 8-minute opening medley of some of his biggest hits.

2021–2022: Other ventures during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mika at the Philharmonie de Paris October 2021

With touring and most live performances still on hold due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Mika turned to a number of other projects in 2021. In March 2021, Mika launched a project that was billed as an open-air exhibition to give colours back to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Collaborating with a number of artists and his sister Yasmine, Mika created a series of posters that were displayed on the Morris columns and other advertising boards around the city. Mika quarantined in Canada for two weeks in Spring 2021 so that he could then work on the Canadian version of the talent show '' Star Academie.'' Mika served as artistic director for two episodes, during which he coached the young contestants as well as performing with them. In addition to performing a number of his most popular songs, Mika performed a cover of David Bowie's ''Heroes'' and Leonard Cohen's ''Hallelujah.'' For Pride Month in June, Mika partnered with job-search platform

Indeed Indeed is an American worldwide employment website for job listings launched in November 2004. It is an independent subsidiary of multinational holding Recruit Co. Ltd. It is co-headquartered in Austin, Texas, and Stamford, Connecticut, with ...

, for an initiative called "Soundtrack of Empathy." The initiative encouraged workers to share their music playlists with colleagues, in an effort to create a more empathetic workplace. Along with the "Soundtrack of Empathy," Mika performed a live-streamed benefit concert, which raised $40,000 for Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation. There was also an influencer roundtable featuring artists selected by Mika, who spoke about the shared language of music and how it naturally encourages empathy and sparks vulnerability. Mika performed at two private concerts hosted by jeweler

Chopard Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., commonly known as Chopard, is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories. Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned by ...

during the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in July. While attending these events, he was followed by Italian filmmaker Pif, who aired a special episode in the fall on a day in Mika's life on the Italian television show Il Testimone (The Witness). Mika continued his work as a judge on ''X Factor Italia'' in 2021, alongside co-judges singer

Emma Marrone Emmanuela "Emma" Marrone (; born 25 May 1984), known professionally as Emma, is an Italian pop singer, songwriter, and actress. After working with several bands, she won the Italian talent show ''Amici di Maria De Filippi'' in March 2010, and s ...

, Italian rapper and producer

Hell Raton Manuel Zappadu (born 14 May 1990 in Olbia), known as Hell Raton, is an Italian rapper and record producer. He is best known for his project Machete Empire Records and his crew Machete Crew, founded in 2010 with Salmo, Slait and En?gma (the latter ...

, and Manuel Agnelli, of the Italian band Afterhours. He also rejoined

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

France, for a special "All-Stars" 10th anniversary edition. September 2021 marked Mika's return to larger performances, as he headlined a private event hosted by American Express for its premium cardholders. The concert was held at

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

in Paris for about 2000 attendees. Reuniting once again with composer and conducto
Simon Leclerc
Mika performed orchestral versions of many of his hits during two sold-out concerts in October at the

Philharmonie de Paris The Philharmonie de Paris () ( en, Paris Philharmonic) is a complex of concert halls in Paris, France. The buildings also house exhibition spaces and rehearsal rooms. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de la Villette at the northeaste ...

. The concerts were performed with the National Orchestra de France and the Choeur Stella Maris on 23 and 24 October. The 23 October concert was filmed and subsequently broadcast on TV in both France and Italy. It was later also broadcast on several PBS stations in the United States. In early December 2021, Mika announced that he would be continuing his partnership with Indeed, which would sponsor a short North American tour in Spring 2022. With stops in New York (Brooklyn),

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, the "For the Rite of Spring Tour" was scheduled to span three weeks in April. Additional dates were added to the For the Rite of Spring Tour, including two dates at the

Coachella festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert ...

in California. Unfortunately, Mika became ill and needed to cancel the Boston date, and reschedule the others, but eventually the tour took place. After concluding the "For the Rite of Spring Tour," Mika jetted to Italy to serve as co-host for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ...

alongside Italian singer Laura Pausini and TV presenter

. On 13 May, Mika released the single "Yo Yo". The lyric video for the single was released at the same time. Mika performed "Yo Yo" for the first time as part of a show-stopping interval medley at the grand final of the Eurovision contest on 14 May 2022. The video for Yo Yo was directed by Mika and was released on 14 June. The summer following Mika's Eurovision stint was one of his busiest ever. He kicked off the season with a performance at Disneyland Paris Pride, an appearance that was postponed from two years earlier due to the pandemic. Immediately afterward, Mika flew to New York to participate in ''Take Pride Live!'', an hour-long YouTube Pride Month special sponsored by Indeed, and hosted by Terrell Grice. During the program, Mika debuted a new song, ''Who's Gonna Love Me Now?'' The ballad is featured in the directorial debut of Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Award winner Billy Porter called "Anything's Possible." Mika then returned to London after a more than two-year absence for a sold-out concert at the famous Roundhouse in Camden on 3 July 2022. He followed that with an array of festival shows throughout July, August, and into early September, with stops in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Sardinia. Due to insurmountable technical and logistical problems, however, a planned "Magic Piano Tour" covering 10 dates in Italy in September and October was indefinitely postponed. In between the festival shows, Mika found time to record and release a single, "Bolero," with Italian singer BabyK. The single came out 17 June, with the video featuring both singers releasing on 14 July. Mika promoted the single by performing it with BabyK at the TIM Summer Hits show in Italy. In addition, Mika retained one Italian concert date—at the famed

Arena di Verona The Verona Arena ( it, Arena di Verona ) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in 30 AD. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the be ...

on 19 September. There, nearly 20,000 fans were entertained for almost two hours, with confetti, balloons, bubbles, fan actions and more in an explosive end-of-summer celebration. In October, Mika performed in Monte Carlo, at a charity event organised by the Venetian Arts Foundation to benefit the

Prince Albert II Albert II – Website of the Palace of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, since 2005. Albert was born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and he is the second child and only son of Prince Rai ...

Foundation, and its coastal resilience and marine protection projects.

Upcoming ventures

Looking to the future, Mika has already announced a number of new projects. He is currently working on two albums, to be released in 2023—one in the French language, the other in English. In addition, he has been working on his first film score, which will be part of the upcoming French-language film titled ''Princes of the Desert (''formerly called ''Tehu)'' directed by Eric Barbier and starring Alexandra Lamy, Youssef Hajdi, and Nadia Benzakour. It is due to be released in February 202

Mika has also been tapped to serve as judge on a new television program in the UK called "The Piano." The series, produced by

Love Productions Love Productions is a UK-based television production company. Its cooking competition series ''The Great British Bake Off'' is among the most watched shows in the UK of its era. History Richard McKerrow and Anna Beattie formed Love Productions i ...

(also responsible for ''The Great British Bake-Off''), follows a number of musicians on a journey from playing in public train stations around the UK to the Royal Festival Hall stage. Hosted by

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English television presenter, radio personality, film critic and journalist. Between 2004 and 2010, she presented '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' on weeknights on BBC Two. Since ...

, the show will also feature Chinese concert pianist

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

as judge alongside Mika. The series is set to be broadcast on the UK's Channel 4 in early 2023. A few tour dates for 2023 have also been announced: Mika will play two dates in Japan in May -- Osaka on 23 May and Tokyo on 24 May. Mika will also return to the UK festival scene in 2023, and is set to perform on 18 June at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Personal life

Mika's legal name is Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr., but he was given the nickname Mica by his mother. As he grew older, he changed the 'c' to a 'k'. Mika has one younger brother and one younger sister along with two older sisters. His oldest sister Yasmine, who works as an artist under the ''

nom de plume A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

'' DaWack, painted the cartoon art for his two albums ''

'' and '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. Mika was raised as a

Melkite Catholic el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

, and in a 2013 interview he described himself as "still a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

". He also acknowledged how the church and its ceremonial influenced his musical training and later work. In addition to English, Mika speaks French, Spanish and Italian fluently; in an interview on 28 September 2009 with ''

The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as Radio 1 Breakfast from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012 before transferring three years later on 21 ...

'' on

he commented that he had taken

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

lessons for nine years but does not speak it very well; he also mentioned that his three sisters speak it fluently. He also speaks a little Arabic, in a Lebanese dialect. Mika holds dual UK and US citizenship. In August 2010, Mika acquired a golden retriever puppy, which he named Melachi (the Witch). Her nickname is Mel or Moo. Several years later, in the spring of 2015, he got a second golden retriever pup, which he named Amira. Amira is actually Melachi's niece and her nickname is Sharky. Early in his career, many questions about Mika's sexual orientation arose, but he declined to label himself. In a September 2009 interview in ''Gay & Night'' Mika commented on his sexuality: "I've never ever labelled myself. But having said that, I've never limited my life, I've never limited who I sleep with ... Call me whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me ..." In a March 2010 interview with the ''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', he stated: "I consider myself label-less because I could fall in love with anybody – literally – any type, any body. I'm not picky." In an August 2012 interview with the magazine '' Instinct'', the singer described himself as gay. In recent years, Mika has been more open about his family life and his personal relationship with film-maker Andreas Dermanis, with whom he has been involved for more than 10 years. Mika has stated that he practices

transcendental meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes ...

and finds it useful. Since 2013, he has spent a lot of time in Italy, where he has a house and a studio in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

in the

province of Florence The province of Florence ( it, provincia di Firenze) was a province in the northeast of Tuscany region of Italy. The city or ''comune'' of Florence was both the capital of the Province of Florence, and of the Region of Tuscany. It had an area of ...

. Mika also owns a home in Miami, Florida, a 1920s Spanish-style home that he has restored and in which he has built a recording studio.

Side Projects and Endorsements

Mika has often written songs for other musicians, saying, "I write songs for other people under different names most of the time. I have a little family of three names. One of them has been discovered – it's Alice." One such song, "Ci Parliamo da Grandi", was recorded and made famous by Italian singer Eros Ramazotti. Mika served as a model for fashion designer Paul Smith's spring/summer 2007 global ad campaign. In 2012 and 2013, Mika served as the face of Lozza sunglasses in advertising campaigns. He also designed a line of sunglasses for the Italian eyewear company. Also in 2013, Mika designed a line of clothing for Belgian retailer JBC. The collection included items for men, women and children. At the time of the line's release, Mika told journalists, "For the menswear collection I took inspiration from my own wardrobe. I like easy to wear, stylish clothing that you can put on quickly in the morning and still look stylish." For the children's and women's collections, Mika took inspiration from his youth. “I grew up in a house with three sisters and was always made to tag along on all kinds of shopping trips." Mika and his sister Yasmine designed two watches for Swiss watchmaker

Swatch Swatch is a Swiss watchmaker founded in 1983 by Ernst Thomke, Elmar Mock, and Jacques Müller. It is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group. The Swatch product line was developed as a response to the "quartz crisis" of the 1970s and 1980s, in which ...

in 2013, in honor of the company's 30th anniversary. The watches were unveiled in November 2013 at the Venice Biennale. The regular edition "Kukulakuku" has a large watch face dominated by blue and comes in a plastic box, while the strictly limited edition "Kukulakuki" has a smaller face dominated by white and comes in a special tin and box. Mika lent his song "Live Your Life" to the advertising campaign for Spanish beer San Miguel in 2013, appearing in a commercial that doubled as the song's music video. He also appeared in print ads for the brand. Belgian telecommunications company Mobistar featured Mika in an online film in 2014, with him singing "Grace Kelly" in front of a crowd at the Antwerp train station to promote the company's "Have a Nice Day" campaign. The film was accompanied by an in-store poster campaign. Mika did a signing session at the Mobistar concept store in Liege, then performed a concert in Brussels for invitation-only/Mobistar competition winners on 18 September 2014. Mika is the narrator and voice of the main character, Mustafa, in the 84-minute French-language version of the animated film '' The Prophet.'' The film was produced by

and is based on a book of poetry by world-renowned Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist

Kahlil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran ( ar, جُبْرَان خَلِيل جُبْرَان, , , or , ; January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran (pronounced ), was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist ...

br>
At the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes film festival in 2014, Mika joined Hayek, her husband and her daughter (who also voices a character in the French version), and actress

Julie Gayet Julie Gayet (; born 3 June 1972) is a French actress and film producer.< ...

on the red carpet to celebrate the film’s launc

The French version was released in theaters in France on 2 December 2015 and on DVD/Blu-ray in August 2016. To promote its theatrical release Hayek and Mika appeared together on the French TV shows C à Vous on 1 December 2015 and Le Grand 8 on 2 December 2015. In Trieste, Italy, on 11–12 July 2014, Mika and his sister Yasmine were two of the judges for the International Talent Support Contest (ITS). They judged 10 pieces in the Swatch-sponsored "ITS ARTWORK" category. Mika covered the song "Je Chante" by

Charles Trenet Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (; 18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics to nearly a thousand songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These include ...

for

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

's advertising campaign in 2015, and appeared in a related video/commercial. The song is on Mika’s November 2015 reissue of ''No Place In Heaven'' as the 15th track on the French edition of the album. In May 2016, Mika and Yasmine unveiled another Swatch watch that they had designed. This Swatch was named Mumu-Cucurrucucu. It has an engraved golden dial with a bright colored geometric design dominated by white and green, and comes in a box also designed by Mika and his sister. Mika was part of an advertising campaign for the

Peugeot 108 The Peugeot 108 is a city car launched by French manufacturer Peugeot in March 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show. The 108 is related to the Citroën C1 and Toyota Aygo, and shares their floorpan, engines, transmission and electrics. Sales commenced in ...

automobile in March 2017. At the time, he said, "The new campaign is a fun collision of my world and that of the 108." Also, at the end of 2017, Mika began a collaboration with Pilot pens. He and his sister Yasmine designed a collection of 24 different pens to help celebrate Pilot's 100th anniversary. As part of the promotion for this collaboration, a newly remixed (by Ryan Riback) version of Mika's song "Celebrate" was released and used in advertisements. Mika became an Opel brand ambassador in Italy in autumn 2020 and starred in a commercial for the Corsa-e in September 2020, one for the 100% electric Mokka-e in October 2020, and one for Opel Grandland X Plug-in-Hybrid in February 2021. All three commercials prominently featured his song "Domani". At the International Talent Support (ITS) Contest in October 2020, Mika and his sister Yasmine were on the international jury, helping to decide the winners of the ITS Responsible Fashion Award and the ITS Responsible Accessories Award. Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the jury met virtually and no in-person event was held. The results were live-streamed on 23 October 2020, but Mika and Yasmine only appeared as photos while the host introduced the juror

In October 2021, Mika announced that he had invested in a French company called Divie, which produces products made with CBD oil. Mika noted that he had used CBD for some time, especially on tour, and believed in its benefits.

Philanthropy

Mika participated in "Children in Need Rocks," a charity event organized by singer

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

and held at London's Royal Albert Hall ahead of the annual "Children in Need" appeal. Among those also performing that evening were

Sir Paul McCartney ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Dame Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

, members of

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley. Nutini's debut album, '' These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, '' Sunny Side Up'' (2009), de ...

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

, and Muse. The concert was held 12 November 2009 and was broadcast on BBC1 and Radio 2. Also in November 2009, Mika performed an acoustic concert at London's Union Chapel as part of the "Little Noise Sessions" organised by the charity Mencap. Singing alongside Mika during this concert were the a cappella group

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 19 ...

. Mika teamed up with some of the biggest names in pop to record a cover version of REM's 'Everybody Hurts' in support of charities helping relief efforts after an earthquake hit the island of Haiti in early 2010. Mika played piano and shared vocals with the likes of Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Jon Bon Jovi, Rod Stewart, Michael Buble and Susan Boyle. The track was organised by Simon Cowell and The Sun newspaper. Mika also donated various pieces of memorabilia for auction to raise additional funds for Haiti, including a milk carton prop used in his video for the single "Rain", as well as the t-shirt he wore in the Haiti video, plus an autographed CD single of "Everybody Hurts." At the time, Mika said on his website, "I was hugely honoured to be asked by The Sun to be part of this single. I am really pleased with how it turned out, it sounds fantastic, and I hope the public will support it to raise money for this worthy cause." He also donated a signed poster to the charity Oxfam UK to help raise funds for its work in Haiti. In 2012, Mika offered tickets and flights to one of his shows anywhere in the world to raise money for the UK charity

London's Air Ambulance London's Air Ambulance Charity is a registered charity that operates a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) dedicated to responding to serious trauma emergencies in and around London. Using a helicopter from 08:00 to sunset and rapid re ...

, in conjunction with members of the Mika Fan Club (MFC). The resulting raffle raised more than £6,600. In both 2012 and 2013, Mika contributed some of his doodles to the UK charity Epilepsy Action's National Doodle Day auction. His doodles raised more than £1000 for the organization. Mika participated in the televised January 2013

Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, 'The Tossers' or 'The Bastards') is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur The Restaurants du Cœur (literally ''Restaurants of the Heart'' but meaning ''Restau ...

, a yearly charity show, at Bercy Arena in France. In that show he was featured on Psy’s "Gangnam Style" (with Lorie, Zazie and Amel Bent), Niagra’s "J'ai Vu" (with Michael Jones, Lorie and Zaz), and Les Enfoirés’ "La Chanson des Restos" (with 38 of the other Enfoirés). The songs on which Mika accompanied (in the choir or on stage dancing) were Laurent Voulzy’s "Jeanne", Johnny Hallyday’s "Fils de Personne", Michel Telo’s "Ai Se Eu Te Pego", Shy'm’s "Et Alors", children’s song "A la Pêche aux Moules", Patrick Bruel’s "Place des Grands Hommes", Téléphone’s "New-York Avec Toi", Joe Dassin’s "L'Amérique", and Les Enfoirés’s "Attention au Départ". Several of these songs appear on the Les Enfoirés 2-disc CD La Boîte À Musique Des Enfoirés released September 2013 and the single disc DVD released in March 2013. During a non-televised scene change Mika and Shy'm sang "Elle Me Dit" together; and at the end he picked her up and carried her off. Over the years, Mika has supported the French charitable organisation Imagine for Margo/Children without Cancer. In 2014 and 2015, Mika and the late photographer

Peter Lindbergh Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director. He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to photo ...

worked together on an advertising campaign for the charity. Mika's image continues to be used in ads for the organisation, and in December 2020 Mika performed a concert to benefit the charity at the pediatric department of the French ''Institut Curie'' that was broadcast live on Facebook. In December 2015, Mika visited Lebanon with

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

, the UN Refugee Agency, and spent time with refugees who had been forced to flee their homes during the ongoing conflict in Syria. Since then, he has made several video messages in support of this organisation and in November 2017 was a special guest at a UNHCR charity event held in Milan.

Discography

* ''

'' (2007) * '' The Boy Who Knew Too Much'' (2009) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015) * ''

'' (2019)

Filmography

* '' Live in Cartoon Motion'' (2007) * '' Live Parc des Princes Paris'' (2008) * '' Cadences obstinées'' (2014), as Lucio * '' The Prophet'' (2015), voice of Mustafa for the French version *''Mika Love Paris - Live a Bercy'' (2016)

Tours

*Dodgy Holiday Tour (2007–2008) *Songs for Sorrow Acoustic Tour (2009) * 1955 Tour (2009) *Imaginarium Tour (2010) *The Origin of Love Tour (2012) *An Intimate Evening (2013) *No Place Like Heaven Tour (2015–2016) *Tiny Love Tiny Tour (2019) *Revelation Tour (2019–2020) *For the Rite of Spring (2022)

Awards and nominations

In March 2010, Mika became the youngest person ever to be honored with the French Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier

night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends ...

for services to music. In recognition of his efforts for aiding Lebanon via the "I Love Beirut" concert, Mika received the

Order of Merit (Lebanon) The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Ki ...

in January 2021. Mika has also been nominated for and won many other awards and honors in the music industry: {, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable", , - ! scope="row",

Amadeus Austrian Music Awards The Amadeus Austrian Music Awards is the annual awards ceremony for excellence in the Austrian music industry. It has been awarded to the most successful Austrian musicians since 2000, and has been held in the Volkstheater in Vienna each March sin ...

, 2008 , Best International Single , "

" , , , - ! scope="row", Attitude Awards , 2019 , The Music Award , Mika , , , - ! scope="row", BBC Sound of... , 2007 , Sound of 2007 , Mika , , , - ! scope="row",

BT Digital Music Awards The BT Digital Music Awards (DMA) was a British music award ceremony held annually for 10 years from 2002 to 2011 (with no ceremony in 2009). Music industry professionals nominated artists, venues and hardware into the Judge's Choice award categor ...

, 2007 , Best Pop Artist , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=5,

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, rowspan=4,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, British Single of the Year , "

" , , rowspan=4, , - , British Album of the Year , ''

'' , , - , British Breakthrough Act , rowspan=3, Mika , , - , rowspan=2, British Male Solo Artist , , - , 2010 , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, Capital FM's Awards , rowspan=2, 2008 , Favorite UK Male Artist , Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Favorite UK Album , ''

'' , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2, Coca-Cola Onstage Awards , 2017 , Best International Pop Show , rowspan=2, Mika , , , - , 2020 , Best International Artist , , , - ! scope="row",

Danish Music Awards The Danish Music Awards (DMA) is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called ''IFPI-prisen'' ("IFPI-Award") until 1991, when it changed its name to ''Dansk Grammy'' ("Danish Grammy"). It was chang ...

, 2008 , Foreign Newcomer of the Year , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2,

ECHO Awards Echo Music Prize (stylised as ECHO, ) was an accolade by the , an association of recording companies of Germany to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The first ECHO Awards ceremony was held in 1992, and it was set up to hono ...

, rowspan=2, 2008 , Best International Newcomer , rowspan=2, Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Best International Male , , - ! scope="row",

Flaiano Prizes The Flaiano Prizes ( it, Premi Flaiano) are a set of Italian international awards recognizing achievements in the fields of creative writing, cinema, theater and radio-television. Established to honour the Italian author and screenwriter Ennio Flai ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, Best Television Programm , '' Stasera casa Mika'' , , , - !scope="row" rowspan=2, Denmark Gaffa Awards , rowspan=2, 2020 , Best Foreign Solo Act , Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Foreign Album , rowspan=2, ''

'' , , - ! scope="row,

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their liv ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, Outstanding Music Artist , , , - ! scope="row", Gay Music Chart Awards , 2015 , Best British Music Video , " Good Guys" , , , - ! scope="row", Grammy Awards ,

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

, " Love Today" , , , - ! scope="row", IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Awards , 2007 , Top 10 Best Selling Foreign Albums , ''

'' , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2,

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

, rowspan=2, 2008 , Songwriter of the Year , Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Selling British Song , "

" , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2,

Los Premios 40 Principales LOS40 Music Awards, formerly known as ''Premios 40 Principales'', is an award show by the musical radio station LOS40. It was created in 2006 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the worldwide station. History LOS40 is the ...

, rowspan=2, 2007 , Best International Song , "

" , , rowspan=2, , - , Best International Artist , rowspan=1, Mika , , - ! scope="row",

MTV Asia Awards The MTV Asia Awards was the Asian equivalent of the European MTV EMA. Held from 2002 to 2008, the show gave recognition and awards to Asian and international artists in achievement, cinema, fashion, humanitarian, and music. Just like the EMAs, mos ...

, Favorite Breakthrough Artist , Mika , , , - ! scope="row",

MTV Australia Awards The MTV Australia Awards (previously known as the MTV Australia Video Music Awards or AVMA's) started in 2005 and were Australia's first awards show to celebrate both local and international acts. The last edition happened in 2009. History The M ...

, Video of the Year , "

Happy Ending A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the main protagonists and their sidekicks, while the main villains/antagonists are dead/defeated. In storylines where the protago ...

" , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3,

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

, rowspan=2, 2007 , Most Addictive Track , "

" , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Solo Act , rowspan=2, Mika , , - , 2009 , Best Male , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=4 ,

MTV Italian Music Awards The ''MTV Awards'' (known as ''TRL Awards'' from 2006 to 2012) were established in 2006 by MTV Italy, awarded to the most popular artists and music videos in Italy. Originally an annual event for the most requested videos and artists on ''Total R ...

, 2008 , rowspan=2, Man of the Year , rowspan=4, Mika , , , - , 2010 , , , - , 2011 , Too Much Award , , , - , 2015 , #MTVAwardsStar , , , - ! scope="row" ,

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online votin ...

, Best New Artist in a Video , "

" , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2,

NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...

, rowspan=2, 2008 , Worst Dressed , Mika , , rowspan=2, , - , Worst Album , ''

'' , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=8,

NRJ Music Awards An NRJ Music Award (commonly abbreviated as an NMA) is an award presented by the French radio station NRJ to honor the best in the French and worldwide music industry. The awards ceremony, created in 2000 by NRJ in partnership with the televisio ...

, rowspan=4, 2008 , International Song of the Year , rowspan=2, "

" , , rowspan=4, , - , Music Video of the Year , , - , International Album of the Year , ''

'' , , - , International Revelation of the Year , rowspan=3, Mika , , - , 2010 , rowspan=2, International Male Artist of the Year , , , - , rowspan=3, 2012 , , rowspan=3, , - , International Song of the Year , rowspan=2, "

Elle me dit "" ( en, She Tells Me) is a song by Lebanese-born British singer and songwriter Mika, released as a single in France ahead of the release of his third studio album, ''The Origin of Love''. Mika re-recorded the song in English under the title ...

" , , - , Music Video of the Year , , - ! scope="row", Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards , 2007 , Fave International Singer , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3,

Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards UK, also known as the KCAs, was an annual awards show, similar to the US and Australian versions. It originally started as a full ceremony hosted locally, but has recently been reduced to several UK-specific ...

, rowspan=2, 2007 , Best Music Video , "

" , , rowspan=2, , - , Best Male Singer , rowspan=2, Mika , , - ,

, Best Singer , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=2,

Q Awards The Q Awards were the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine '' Q''. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards became one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. Locations for the awards ceremony included Abbey Road Studios ...

, 2007 , Best Breakthrough Act , Mika , , , - , 2009 , Best Video , " We Are Golden" , , , - ! scope="row" ,

Radio Disney Music Awards The Radio Disney Music Awards (RDMA) were an annual awards show operated and governed by Radio Disney, an American radio network. Beginning in 2001, the show was originally broadcast only on Radio Disney, but later began being televised on Disne ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Best Musical Collaboration , " Popular Song" , , , - ! scope="row" ,

, 2017 , Best Entertainment Series , '' Stasera casa Mika'' , , , - ! scope="row" , Silver Palm - Order of Merit , 2021 , Lebanese National Award , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" , Swiss Music Awards , 2008 , Best International Newcomer , ''

Mika Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...

'' , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3,

TMF Awards The TMF Awards were an annual television awards show broadcast live on TMF (The Music Factory). The first Dutch TMF Awards were held in 1995, as a brand extension to the recently launched local Dutch music channel TMF. The show was very small an ...

, rowspan=3, 2008 , Best International Pop , rowspan=3, Mika , , - , Best International Male , , - , Best International New , , - ! scope="row" ,

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...

, 2007 , Choice Male Breakout Artist , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" ,

The Record of the Year The Record of the Year was an award voted by the United Kingdom public. For many years it was given in conjunction with television programmes of the same name. The first show ran in the early evening on a December Saturday just before Christmas ...

, 2007 , Record of the Year , "

" , , , - ! scope="row" ,

UK Festival Awards The UK Festival Awards are awarded annually, with various categories for all aspects of festivals that have taken place in the UK, and one category for European festivals. The Awards were first established in 2004 by Steve Jenner and his team a ...

, 2007 , Best Festival Pop Act , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" ,

UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music. The awards began in 2008. There is a wide range of opportunities for UK individuals and companies to ...

, 2009 , Best Art Direction in a Video , " We Are Golden" , , , - ! scope="row",

Victoires de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

, 2012 , Original Song of the Year , "

" , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=3, Virgin Media Music Awards , rowspan=3, 2007 , Best UK Act , rowspan=2, Mika , , rowspan=3, , - , Most Fanciable Male , , - , Best Track , "

" , , - ! scope="row", Vodafone Live Music Awards , 2007 , Best Live Male , Mika , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan=12,

World Music Awards The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world' ...

, rowspan=3, 2007 , World's Best Selling New Artist , rowspan=6, Mika , , rowspan=3, , - , World's Best Selling Pop/Rock Male Artist , , - , World's Best Selling British Artist , , - , rowspan="9",

, World's Best Live Act , , rowspan=9, , - , World's Best Male Act , , - , World's Best Entertainer , , - , World's Best Song , rowspan="2", " Popular Song" , , - , rowspan=2, World's Best Video , , - , rowspan="2", " Underwater" , , - , World's Best Song , , - , rowspan=2, World's Best Album , ''

'' , , - , '' Songbook Vol. 1'' , , - !scope="row" rowspan=5, Žebřík Music Awards , rowspan=2, 2007 , rowspan=3, Himself , Best International Discovery , , rowspan=4, , - , rowspan=2, Best International Male , , - , rowspan=2, 2009 , , - , "

" , Best International Song , , - , 2014 , " Boum Boum Boum" , Best International Video , ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mika 1983 births 21st-century English singers Alumni of the Royal College of Music Brit Award winners Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres English people of American descent English people of Lebanese descent English people of Syrian descent English songwriters English gay musicians Ivor Novello Award winners Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Lebanese emigrants to the United Kingdom Lebanese people of American descent Lebanese people of Syrian descent English Roman Catholics Lebanese Roman Catholics LGBT Roman Catholics LGBT singers from the United Kingdom LGBT songwriters Living people People educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle People educated at Westminster School, London People with dyslexia Singers from London Wonky pop musicians World Music Awards winners LGBT people from Lebanon Universal Records artists 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people