At just past half nine last night, Mika bounded onstage to rapturous applause and cheers from an audience made up of men and women of all ages.
The gig was initially billed as being in the gloriously intimate Academy 3, but was of course moved to the largest Academy following Mika's huge success. For those of us who bought our tickets months ago, the Academy change was expected, but a bit disappointing.
While waiting for Mika to come onstage, girls in blonde wigs and bright pink dresses were around handing out lollipops to a delighted crowd. The same girls appeared on stage much later in the show, much to the envy of all the girls in the crowd eyeing up those pink Bo-Peep dresses.
The show kicked off with Relax (Take it Easy), and I for one was stunned by the sheer power and accuracy of Mika's voice, even when in falsetto range. I almost convinced myself he was miming at one point. Of course, he wasn't- he is simply one of few pop stars who can actually sing.
Love Today and Billy Brown, both popular songs from Life In Cartoon Motion, really got the crowd going. Mika himself also looked to be having a jolly good time. Grace Kelly, of course, inspired the most dancing and singing from the crowd. It became apparent at this point that a substantial amount of people had bought tickets for this show based solely on hearing that track.
The highlight of the show was actually the encore. The fans nearer the front had been calling out for Lollipop to be played throughout the whole set, and now they got their wish. This cheesy but altogether feel-good little number was accompanied by masses of glitter sprayed into the crowd, dozen of lollipops thrown by Mika himself, and huge balloons floating across the room. Enough to lift anyone's spirits, this was a brilliant end to a brilliant show.
Mika has once again proved himself to be worthy of his hype.
What next?More by Mika? More gigs? More pop?