Mika who?…and A Musical Passion

If Mika Hakkinen is the first name that comes to your mind, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

I’m actually referring to Mica Penniman, who’s a singer that goes by the name of Mika. His latest single Grace Kelly, is my absolute favorite song of the moment – have you heard it? If you haven’t, you should… His voice is reminiscent of Freddie Mercury and the song reminds me so much of The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles. The Grace Kellysong always leaves me smiling, although I haven’t mastered the lyrics yet. Mika hails from Lebanon and although he sings well, believe it or not, he can’t read music, he suffers from dyslexia and on top of that he was severely bullied in school.

I am always in awe of musicians who do well even though they can’t read music. I think that is nothing short of phenomenal. It actually makes me ponder and rethink my career path. I’m a music lover and my hubby says I am musically-inclined, but why did I not venture into the music industry? I met this hotel lounge pianist in KL a couple of weeks back; he’s about fifty years old and he had the awesome job of entertaining hotel guests by playing the grand piano in the lobby of the hotel. He was playing all sorts of jazzy tunes, and I could tell he could play by ear. We got to talking and when I told him I played the piano till Grade 8, he was stunned that I didn’t pursue it further. He added that it wasn’t easy getting to that level… and I’d have to agree with him. It definitely was not a bed of roses to get that far. Well for one thing, to continue with this musical passion of mine, I’d first need to get a space to fit a piano… okay, I’d make do with a clavinova now. The thing is my apartment now is short of space…which leaves me with only one other option: get a house.