Brit pop star won’t say which way he swings
He is the toast of the music industry, and his hit song Grace Kelly sits at the top of the singles chart, but no matter how many times journalists ask, he won’t tell.
Beirut-born pop crooner Mika is keeping mum about his sexual orientation.
Some commentators have judged that a smart move for any artist aspiring to a career in America.
Mika has been spotted by music industry giant Tommy Mottola and will be given a chance to break the US market, where so many Brit acts have failed before him.
The tousle-locked 23-year-old, whose family fled war-torn Lebanon when he was a child, has shot to fame in the last year.
His camp performances have sent gay pulses racing, but he refuses to be drawn.
“I never talk about anything to do with my sexuality. I just don’t think I need to. People ask me all the time. But I just don’t see the point,” he said, according to contactmusic.com
“In order to survive I’ve kind of shut up different parts of my life, and that’s one of them, especially this early in my career.
“I don’t really feel that it’s necessary to know in terms of my music. Some people make records that are defined by their sexuality but mine really are not. It does play a lot with campness. It has a theatricality to it. Why not? It’s pop music!”
Mika, real name Mica Penniman, was educated at the exclusive Westminster School, where politician of the moment Ruth Kelly also studied.
He was clasically trained at the Royal College of Music and has been favourably compared to Freddie Mercury, George Michael, Scissor Sisters, Rufus Wainwright, and Sir Elton John.
Mika will be perfoming at HMV on Oxford St, London on Feb 5th.
