Line #68 Music/Mika


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mika_5326.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:He can be anything you like.]]
3
4	Michael Holbrook Penniman, Jr. (born August 18, 1983), better known as Mika, is a very sparkly British singer-songwriter of American and Lebanese parentage who burst out in the music scene in 2007 with the song "Grace Kelly".
5	----
6	!! Discography:
7
8	* ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' (2007)
9	* ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much'' (2009)
10	* ''The Origin of Love'' (2012)
11	* ''No Place In Heaven'' (2015)
12	* ''My Name Is Michael Holbrook'' (2019)
13	----
14	!!Recurring tropes in Mika's works:
15
16	* AlwaysCamp: Since reviewers [[IncrediblyLamePun always describe him as camp]]! However, his vibrant songs, flamboyant trappings, and eccentric tendencies more than justify it.
17	* BadToTheBone: In America, his songs have been used in countless movies and advertisements, but while his albums and songs have occasionally charted on Billboard charts this hasn't translated into further success.
18	* MessyHair: His signature look.
19	* SelfBackingVocalist: From time to time. With a voice that can (allegedly) reach about four or more octaves, who wouldn't?
20	* ShirtlessScene:
21	** The video for "We are Golden" has him prancing about in only his boxers.
22	** Also, sometimes [[http://www.imusicdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Mika-Shirtless.jpg in concert]]. Admittedly, it ''must'' get hot in that clunky spacesuit.
23	* VocalDissonance: Considering how, erm, ''squeaky'' his voice gets in some of his songs, you'd be expecting a whole lot more [[{{Moe}} moe]] when it comes to his appearance. He's actually somewhat sterner looking in reality (see page photo).
24
25	!!Mika's songs displays examples of:
26	* AntiLoveSong: "Lollipop" and "Erase".
27	** And "Overrated", and "Love You When I'm Drunk". He likes these.
28	** Though "Lollipop" is less strictly an antilove song perse and more about not rushing into romance or sex too quickly.
29	* AndADietCoke: "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" has a refrain of
30	-->"Diet Coke and a pizza, please!"
31	* [[ArmoredClosetGay Armored Closet Bi]]: "Billy Brown"
32	* BigBeautifulWoman: "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)".
33	* {{Camp}}: Yes.
34	* CanNotSpitItOut: "I See You".
35	* ColorfulSong: "Grace Kelly", at least in the chorus.
36	* CrisisOfFaith: The narrator of "No Place In Heaven" is either having a crisis of faith (addressing a God that he believes has turned his back on people like him) or a crisis of atheism (addressing a God that he rejected or doesn't believe in, just in case). It's hard to tell.
37	* [[DesignStudentsOrgasm Design Student's Orgasm]]: Both versions of "Relax (Take It Easy)" feature this style, as does the cover art for his [=CDs=].
38	* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRY0dDtKb5c&feature=related Behold, Grace Kelly in French]].
39	** Also "Elle Me Dit", one of his more recent songs.
40	* TheFourChordsOfPop: "Happy Ending".
41	* GenderFlip: In the song "Loverboy", he flips between directing his statements to either a girl and a boy.
42	* HiddenTrack: His first album (''Life in Cartoon Motion'') features "Over My Shoulder," a hidden track after "Happy Ending." So if you weren't depressed enough after the LyricalDissonance and misleading title of "Happy Ending", there was the haunting bonus track to back it up.
43	** The track was also a bit of an EnsembleDarkhorse for reviewers, with many preferring it to the "main" songs.
44	* {{Hikikomori}}: The son in "Elle Me Dit" and the title character in "Emily" are accused of this. Although, with all the other things that they're scolded for doing, it doesn't seem particularly accurate -- particularly in "Emily", where the narrator's constant whining about Emily's habits is either genuine concern, ManipulativeBastard tactics, or completely failing to get the hint that she's not interested in him.
45	-->Emily, live your life in a balloon
46	-->Lock yourself up in your room
47	-->Where the world can never reach you.
48	* IntercourseWithYou: In "Big Girl, You are Beautiful":
49	--> Big boy come on around and there we're gonna ''do baby''.
50	* LyricalDissonance: He seems to love pairing cheerful, bouncy tunes to lyrics about disillusionment as one grows up and how love is pointless and only causes pain. To be specific...
51	** "Lollipop" is a childish, upbeat tune about a mother telling her son how love will ruin his life and he's better off single.
52	** "Happy Ending" is an odd variant -- it ''starts out'' downbeat and miserable, but then the gospel choir kicks in towards the end with a triumphant rendition of the chorus. You might expect the lyrics to change accordingly, and the song to actually ''have'' a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin happy ending]]...but nope, the lyrics are still miserable, and the last few notes are quiet and defeated.
53	** "Billy Brown" is a happy little tune about a man completely dissatisfied with his life, who discovers that he is bisexual, cheats on his wife, has a bit of a mid-life crisis, runs away from everyone, cheats on his wife ''and'' his male lover, and [[NoEnding we don't even find out what happens to him in the end.]]
54	** Perhaps never more present than in "Toy Boy," a very sweet-sounding song that reads like a fairy tale but tells a story heavy with clear subtext about an abusive, homophobic, overprotective mother tearing apart a gay relationship and destryoing the narrating character's (her son's lover) entire sense of self.
55	* MusicalNod: The chorus in "Popular Song" is lifted directly from the song "Popular" from Broadway's {{Theatre/Wicked}}, albeit with some changed lyrics.
56	* MyBelovedSmother: A reoccurring archetype -- one turns up in "Lollipop," "Elle Me Dit" and "All She Wants". The person addressed in "Stuck In the Middle" and "My Interpretation" ''could'' be one, as well as the mother in "Toy Boy."
57	* NoEnding: So...what happened to "Billy Brown" in the end?
58	* QuirkyGirlQuirkyTux: The dancers in the video for "Blame It on the Girls" have one half tuxedo with the other half wearing a dress, fitting for his eccentric bubblegum pop image.
59	* RockMeAmadeus: The beginning of "Grace Kelly" comes from ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville''.
60	* {{Sampling}}: The chorus for "Popular Song" appropriates the verse melody of "Popular" from ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''. A remix of it appeared on the tenth anniversary re-release of the cast album.
61	* SillyLoveSongs: "Underwater", "Step With Me", and "Talk About You", among others.
62	* TakeThat: "Popular Song" - to childhood bullies
63	* VideoFullOfFilmClips: "Kick-ass" was written specifically for [[Film/KickAss the movie of the same name]]. It makes sense that the majority of the video is clips of the movie, though Mika does make an appearance in between.
64	* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: A regular theme -- Mika's narrators often have family issues...
65	** "Elle Me Dit" is about a mother constantly criticising her child by complaining that what he's doing is the opposite of what he ''should'' be doing. The English counterpart "Emily" is an admirer complaining that the object of his affections is contrary and unsociable.
66	** "All She Wants" concerns a mother who has browbeaten her son into a "proper" marriage and life that he doesn't want. He ends up leaving his wife and fleeing in the end.
67	** "Stuck in the Middle" has similar implications, with a very traditional matriarch figure demanding the same values from her far less traditional descendant.
68	* {{Yandere}}: Being [[StalkerWithACrush stalked by one]] in "Ring Ring", but is one in "Touches You".
69	* YouKnowWhatTheySay: From "Lollipop":
70	-->"I was walkin' with my mama one day, when she warned me what people say:
71	-->Live your life until love is found, or love's gonna get you down."

Context Music / Mika