Mika (singer) - Wikiwand

1983–2006: Childhood and early career

On 18 August 1983, Mika was born in Beirut, 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-Syrian mother (Mary Joan "Joannie", née Mouakad, daughter of John Mouakad and Odette Farah) and an American father (Michael Holbrook Penniman, son of William Frederick Penniman III and Dorothy Dyar). Mika's father was a banker^[16][17] born in Jerusalem. His paternal grandfather William Frederick Penniman III was a diplomat.^[17][18] Mika's maternal grandfather John Mouakad was Syrian (from Damascus).^[19][20]

When Mika was a year old, his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris, France.^[21][22]

The family lived for a time in Paris.^[23] "I was brought up as a Parisian boy, you know," Mika said in an interview. "With the pencil-striped trousers and the hat that I had to wear to school. It was very traditional..."^[24]

The first piano piece the young Mika learned to play was "Les Champs-Élysées", by Joe Dassin.^[21] At the age of 7, he wrote his first song, a piano instrumental called "Angry", which he describes as "awful".^[16]

In 1990 Mika's father went on a business trip to Kuwait and became trapped in the U.S. embassy for about eight months when the Gulf War broke out. When the elder Penniman returned home, he was forced to take a new job, which meant a move to London.^[25][18]

The family moved to London when Mika was 9 years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying and had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences Mika was home-schooled 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 at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden.^[23] 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.^[26]

Although still young, Mika also worked singing jingles for a variety of companies, most notably Orbit chewing gum and British Airways.^[27]

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 in London, where he starred in a number of school productions.^[26]

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.^[26][27]

Mika left the Royal College of Music to record his first album at Casablanca Records.^[28] His first single was a limited 7"/download release called "Relax, Take It Easy" (2006). It was playlisted by UK's BBC Radio 1 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. A song titled 'Overrated', which was recorded in 2004, was "unofficially" released online. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006.

2007–2008: Life in Cartoon Motion

In 2007, things took off for Mika. His single "Grace Kelly" was released by Universal Music for digital download on 8 January 2007. On 19 January 2007, he appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, and on The Friday Night Project.^[29] That same month, Mika was voted the top of the BBC News website's Sound of 2007 poll.^[30] "Grace Kelly" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 January 2007, and stayed at number one for five weeks.

The single featured on his debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, 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,^[31][32] Scissor Sisters,^[33] Elton John,^[34] Prince,^[35] Robbie Williams^[36] and David Bowie.^[36] The song "Grace Kelly", 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.

Life in Cartoon Motion 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)" 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.^[37] In another example of dealing with more difficult subject matter, in the song "Billy Brown", Mika writes about a man (who is married to a woman) who has an affair with a man.

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 on 26 March 2007^[38] and 14 February 2008 and for Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 27 March 2007.^[39] He also performed live on So You Think You Can Dance 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. 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, where he was nominated for "Best Dance Recording" for his song "Love Today".^[40]

On 20 February 2008, Mika opened the 2008 Brit Awards with a live performance of "Love Today", "Grace Kelly", and a duet, "Standing in the Way of Control", with Beth Ditto of Gossip. He was awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist later that night.^[41]

2009–2010: The Boy Who Knew Too Much

Prior to the release of his second studio album, Mika released a limited-edition extended play titled Songs for Sorrow on 8 June 2009.^[42] 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, Sophie Blackall, Alber Elbaz, and his own sister, DaWack.^[42] The song "Blue Eyes" was used to promote the EP, and was A-listed on the BBC Radio 2 playlist.^[43]

Mika's second studio album The Boy Who Knew Too Much was released on 21 September 2009.^[44] Mika recorded the majority of the album in Los Angeles with producer and musician Greg Wells, who also produced his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion.^[45] 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 on BBC Radio 1, Mika revealed he was considering renaming the album, because he wanted "something a little more ridiculous".^[46] On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would change to The Boy Who Knew Too Much.^[47]

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^[48] and was released for download on 6 September 2009, with the physical release following on 7 September 2009.^[44] The single debuted at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart on 13 September 2009. Mika's promotional tour of the single included live performances at the iTunes Festival 2009 at The Roundhouse in Camden, London and on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross 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.^[49]

"Blame It on the Girls" was released as the second single in the United States and Japan. This was alongside "Rain" being the second single in the United Kingdom, which was released on 23 November.^[50] "Blame It on the Girls" was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 15 February 2010.^[51] 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 on the Seven Network in Australia. On 30 November 2009, Mika performed "Let It Snow" in a duet with Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada.^[52]

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. 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.^[53]

On 21 March 2010 Mika performed a song he had written, "Gave It All Away", with Boyzone on ITV1 for Boyzone: A Tribute To Stephen Gately.^[54]

In May 2010 Mika released the single "Kick Ass (We Are Young)", the title track to the 2010 film Kick-Ass. The song played during the film's closing credits.^[55]

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.^[56] Mika announced the title of the album, The Origin of Love in a French interview on 17 June.^[57] 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.^[58] He described the album as less childlike and more serious.

The first single released from the album was Elle me dit, 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, 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 of Empire of the Sun, Paul Steel, frYars, Doriand ^[fr], Priscilla Renea, Billboard, Hillary Lindsey, Pharrell Williams, Benny Benassi and Klas Åhlund. Greg Wells 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' 2012 album Kids in the Street.

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.^[59] The song served as a buzz single for the album.^[60] On 14 June 2012, "Celebrate", which features Pharrell Williams, was announced as the album's lead single.^[61][62] The album was released internationally on 17 September 2012 and in the UK on 8 October 2012.^[63]

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, was later remixed and released as a duet in 2013 with Ariana Grande before she reached "superstar" status.^[64]

The 2012 Summer Olympics took place in London from 25 July to 12 August 2012, and before the gold medal beach volleyball game on 8 August, Mika performed "Grace Kelly" and "Celebrate" on the sand court.^[65] 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.^[66][67]

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.^[68] 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.^[69]

On 17 January 2014, Mika took part in the Italian television show Le Invasioni Barbariche on La7, and performed a duet with the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient Dario Fo of the song "Ho visto un Re", written by Fo and played by Enzo Jannacci.^[70] That same evening, Mika was presented with a platinum disc for the album Songbook Vol. 1.

Mika joined The Voice: la plus belle voix (the French version of the television show The Voice) as a judge/mentor in 2014. One of his contestants, Kendji Girac, 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.^[71]

2015–2018: No Place in Heaven

In February 2015, Mika performed a series of three concerts with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, 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"^[72] and "a beautiful collaboration between the artist and the orchestra."^[73] Mika and Leclerc followed up the Montreal concerts with a similar performance in October 2015 at the Teatro Sociale in Como, Italy. The concert, performed in conjunction with L'Orchestra Sinfonica and Coro Affinis Consort, was televised and a DVD featuring the recording was issued under the title "Sinfonia Pop".^[74]

Mika's next album was preceded by the single Talk About You, which previewed on 25 March 2015, with the official video on YouTube a few days later.

Mika began a tour to support the 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, was released on 15 June 2015.^[75] He described the album as "direct, low-down, open, candid, playful, yet a mature pop album which takes its inspiration from '60s pop music".^[76] 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.^[77]

The following year, Mika began filming for his own television show, called ''Stasera Casa Mika'' ^[it], in Italy.^[78] 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. In addition to music, the show had comedy sketches and serious looks at life around Italy. The show won the 2017 Rose d'Or as Best Entertainment Series.^[79]

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.

In early 2016, Hurts, a song from the No Place in Heaven album, was remixed and released as an uptempo single. The song was included on the soundtrack of the Italian film Un Bacio (A Kiss), directed by Ivan Cotroneo. A video for the single was directed by Cotroneo as well, and featured clips from the movie and Mika alongside the film's three principal actors. The theme of the film and video was fighting against homophobia and bullying. At the time, Mika was quoted as saying, "It was extraordinary to find out how the words of my song were perfect for the film. So the collaboration with Ivan was born naturally."^[80]

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.^[81]

In February 2017, Mika performed a medley of his own songs at the Sanremo Festival, as well as a tribute to the late George Michael.^[82]

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. The following month (November 2017), Mika featured on the album Dalida by Ibrahim Malouf, a tribute album to the late Egyptian-Italian-French singer. Mika performed a cover of the Egyptian song "Salma Ya Salama", which Dalida had sung in both Arabic and French in 1977.

In 2018, Mika featured on Adam to Eve no Ringo, a tribute album to Japanese musician Ringo Sheena, covering Sheena's song "Sid to Hakuchūmu" from her debut album Muzai Moratorium (1999).^[83]

Mika collaborated with the French singers Doriand and Philippe Katerine 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.^[84]

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, for release on 4 October 2019.^[85][86] 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".^[87]

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, with Mika's vocals recorded at his home studio in Florence.^[88] It received a worldwide exclusive play from Zoe Ball 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".^[89]

Mika was a guest at singer Andrea Bocelli's charity orchestral concert at Teatro del Silenzio 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.^[90]

Several singles and accompanying videos were released in the months leading up to the debut of the My Name Is Michael Holbrook album: "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.^[91]

In October 2019, Mika was honored with the Music Award at the 2019 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards^[92] 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^[93] then went on to several dates in New Zealand and Australia.^[94] 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.^[95] Subsequently, the North and South American leg of the tour were cancelled, including a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.^[96][97]

In between concert stops, Mika made several television appearances, including: a live episode of X Factor Italia (24 October 2019);^[98] the finale of France's The Voice Kids (October 2019);^[99] and the live finale of Danse Avec les Stars (23 November 2019).^[100] Mika also performed on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris as part of its 130th anniversary celebration in October 2019.^[101]

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.^[102]

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.^[103]

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, Louane, Salma Hayek and Rufus Wainwright.^[104] It was viewed in 106 countries around the globe and raised more than €1 million.^[105]

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.^[106] Also in August, Mika duetted with Italian singer Michele Bravi on an updated version of Bella d'estate, originally recorded in 1987 by the singer Mango.^[107] Rounding out the summer of international collaborations, on 11 September 2020, Mika appeared along with Mexican singer and actress Danna Paola on her single titled Me, Myself.^[108]

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.^[109]

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.^[110] Mika closed out 2020 by performing several times at the Palace of Versailles near 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.^[111] Mika also performed at the New Year's Eve celebration, La Grande Soirée, filmed at Versailles, which aired on France 2, where he performed an 8-minute opening medley of some of his biggest hits. He also ended the program with a medley of his songs, with an array of fireworks and pyrotechnics as backdrop to ring in the new year.^[112]

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

Touring and most live performances continued to be on hold in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Mika turned to a number of other projects.

In March 2021, Mika launched a project that was billed as an open-air exhibition to give colours back to Paris. 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.^[113]

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 Académie.^[114] He served as artistic director for two episodes, during which he coached the young contestants and performed with them, as well. In addition to singing a number of his most popular songs, Mika joined in on covers of David Bowie's Heroes and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.

For Pride Month in June, Mika partnered with job-search platform Indeed 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.^[115]

Mika performed at two private concerts hosted by jeweler Chopard during the Cannes Film Festival in July.^[116] While attending these events, he was followed by Italian filmmaker Pif, who filmed a special episode on a day in Mika's life, which was broadcast in the fall on Italian television show Il Testimone (The Witness).^[117]

Mika continued his work as a judge on X Factor Italia in 2021, alongside co-judges singer Emma Marrone, Italian rapper and producer Hell Raton, and Manuel Agnelli, of the Italian band Afterhours. He also rejoined The Voice in France, for a special "All-Stars" 10th anniversary edition.^[118]

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 in Paris for about 2000 attendees.^[119][120]

Reuniting once again with composer and conductor Simon Leclerc, Mika performed orchestral versions of many of his hits during two sold-out concerts in October at the Philharmonie de Paris. The concerts were performed with the National Orchestra de France and the Choeur Stella Maris on 23 and 24 October.^[121] The 23 October concert was filmed and subsequently broadcast on TV in both France and Italy.^[122] It was later also broadcast on several PBS stations in the United States.^[123]

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 City (Brooklyn), Boston, Montreal and Toronto, the "For the Rite of Spring Tour" was scheduled to span three weeks in April.^[124] Additional dates were added to the For the Rite of Spring Tour, including two dates at the Coachella festival 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 Turin (Torino), Italy, to serve as co-host for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 alongside Italian singer Laura Pausini and TV presenter Alessandro Cattelan.^[125] The show was broadcast live globally, with audience figures reaching 161 million viewers.^[126]

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 the interval act at the grand final of the Eurovision contest on 14 May 2022.^[127] The video for Yo Yo was directed by Mika and was released on 14 June.^[128]

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.^[129]

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.^[130]

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.^[131] 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.^[132] 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.^[133]

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.^[134]

In addition, Mika retained one Italian concert date—at the famed Arena di Verona on 19 September.^[135] 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.^[136]

In October, Mika performed in Monte Carlo, at a charity event organised by the Venetian Arts Foundation to benefit the Prince Albert II Foundation, and its coastal resilience and marine protection projects.^[137]

2023 and related projects

On 18 January 2023, Mika released a new single, "Keep It Simple", with French singer-songwriter Vianney.

Later in January, he hosted "Le Gala des Pieces Jaunes", a charity show in support of Paris' Hospital Foundation, which works to better the daily lives of hospitalized children and their families. In addition to acting as presenter, Mika performed a medley of his songs, as well as "Keep It Simple" with Vianney. Also performing at the gala were South Korean girl group Blackpink, Pharrell Williams, Pascal Obispo, Kid Cudi, Gautier Capuçon, Khatia Buniatishvili and Daniel Lozakovich. During the evening, appeals for donations were launched by the artists. The show was broadcast on French television on 28 January.^[138]

The soundtrack for Mika's first film score, for the French-language film Princes of the Desert (Zodi et Tehu, Freres du desert) directed by Éric Barbier and starring Alexandra Lamy, Youssef Hajdi, and Nadia Benzakour, was released on 3 February 2023. (The film hit French theaters on 8 February 2023.)^[139] To create the score, Mika worked with 160 musicians from around the world, including celebrated South African artist Nomfundo Moh and classical Berber musicians from Morocco.^[140][141]

A new UK television program called The Piano, featuring Mika as a judge, was broadcast on UK's Channel 4 starting 15 February 2023. The series, produced by Love Productions (also responsible for The Great British Bake Off), followed 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, the show also featured Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang as judge alongside Mika.^[142][143]

Mika was the featured performer at the 2023 Rose Ball (Bal de la Rose), an annual charity gala that benefits the Princess Grace Foundation. Held in Monaco on 25 March, the 67th edition of the Rose Ball had the theme of "Bollywood" and was designed by French designer Christian Louboutin. Members of Monaco's royal family hosted the event, held at the Salle des Étoiles at Sporting Monte-Carlo, which was attended by celebrities and socialites from around the world. Mika's youngest sister Zuleika accompanied him to this event.^[144]

Mika played two dates in Japan in May—Osaka on 23 May and Tokyo on 24 May.^[145] Continuing on from Japan, MIKA performed in South Korea for the Seoul Jazz Festival on 26 May.^[146][147] Mika returned to the UK festival scene in 2023, and performed on 26 April at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival,^[148] the Isle of Wight Festival on 18 June,^[149] and on 21 June for the Bristol Sounds Music Festival.^[150][151] He performed at more than a dozen other European cities over the summer, as well as Casablanca (Morocco) in June, Athens (Greece) in July, and Monte Carlo (Monaco) in August.^[152] Mika ended his summer touring schedule with an appearance at Brava Madrid in Spain in September.^[153]

Mika worked on two new albums throughout 2023, one completely in the French language, the other in English. A single from the French-language album, titled C'est la vie, was performed for the first time at the Francofolies de Spa in Belgium, in July.^[154] The performance was filmed and subsequently used as the music video when the single was officially released on 1 September 2023. In mid-October, Mika finally announced the title of the album as Que ta tete fleurisse toujours (May Your Head Always Bloom).^[155] Que ta tete fleurisse toujours was released on 1 December 2023.^[156][157] No release date has been announced for the English album as yet.^[158]

Apocalypse Calypso, another single from the French-language album, was released on 20 October 2023. The lyric video for the song was posted a few days later and an official music video was posted on 3 November 2023.^[159]

On 8 September, Mika announced a new tour to support his new album, the Apocalypse Calypso Tour, starting in March 2024. The tour visited 16 cities in France, with additional stops in Luxembourg, Geneva, Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin.^[160] Mika then took the tour to the UK and Ireland, with stops in Brighton, Manchester, Wolverhampton, London and Dublin.^[161]

Mika also worked with the Mêlée des Chœurs on an initiative that combined music and rugby. Students were selected to sing the national anthems of countries participating in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, which started in September, and received guidance from Mika, deemed the "godfather" of the operation. Mika performed alongside a group of children at the final of the Rugby World Cup at the Stade de France on 28 October.^[162][163]

In early October, Mika announced that he would be rejoining The Voice in France for its 2024 season, season 13, as a judge alongside Vianney, Zazie, and BigFlo and Oli.^[164]

The year closed out with Mika's appearance on a Christmas special of The Piano, which reunited him with co-judge Lang Lang and host Claudia Winkleman, as well as a number of the performers showcased in the original series. In addition, English comedians Tom Allen and Jo Brand appeared on the program, which also featured a performance by Grammy-winning singer Gregory Porter.^[165]

2024: Que ta tête fleurisse toujours

Mika began 2024 doing promo for the new album, with interviews at various radio shows and publications,^[166][167] as well as filming for two TV series: The Voice in France^[168] and The Piano in the UK.^[169] The Voice France began airing on 10 February 2024.

Mika also ushered in 2024 by picking up several awards: his French-language album Que ta tête fleurisse toujours was named "French-language album of the Year" by Pure Charts Awards (voted on by the public);^[170] and the TV program The Piano was named "Best Original Programme" at the 2024 Broadcast Awards.^[171] In addition, Mika was nominated as "Breakthrough Composer of the Year" by the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) for making "the difficult jump from pop music to film music with his excellent score for the action/adventure (Zodi and Tehu) Princes of the Desert."^[172]

The Apocalypse Calypso Tour, in support of Mika's French album Que ta tête fleurisse toujours, began in Clermont-Ferrand in France on 26 February, and continued into April. The French leg of the tour culminated on 25 March with Mika's performance at L'Accor Arena (aka Bercy). The show was filmed and subsequently broadcast on French TV.^[173]

Mika spent Summer 2024 appearing at a number of festivals around Europe, with stops in France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Greece, the UK and Italy. He dubbed the summer festival run as "Club Apocalypso Summer Nights."^[174]

Mika is set to host Telethon 2024 in France the weekend of 29–30 November, to raise funds for research to cure rare childhood diseases.^[175]