‘Ambisexual’ singer Mika nominated for music award
Chart-topping singer-songwriter, Mika, has been nominated for the prestigious BT Digital Music Awards 2007.
Under the category of ‘Best Pop Artist in association with TV Hits’, the Beirut-born singer will be up against Natasha Bedingfield, Simon Webb, Lil Chris and The Hoosiers for the award.
The 24-year-old’s hit single Grace Kelly spent weeks at the top of the charts and his debut album Life In Cartoon Motion has sold half a million copies since it was released in February this year.
His camp performances have sent gay pulses racing, but he refuses to be drawn, which led to speculation that he may be gay or bisexual, leading some commentators to coin descriptive phrases like ‘ambisexual’ and ‘gaybe’.
Despite speculation about his sexuality, in an interview with the Guardian Mika dismissed the issue of his sexual orientation as the “million dollar question”, but stopped short of giving a million dollar answer.
He insists that people should be more concerned about his material than his sexuality.
“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.
The annual BT Digital Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony where consumers are encouraged to log on and vote on the official website: www.btdma.com.
There are 20 prestigious awards up for grabs this year with 12 voted for by the public.
This year, the slogan of the ceremony is “The digital revolution is upon us”.
The revealed results and official award presentations will be televised on Channel 4.
