" I Love Beirut has to tell stories, because I know the emotional impact they can have." In an interview with Le Parisien , Mika confides in his charity concert, broadcast in streaming and live on YouTube on September 19, from his garden in Tuscany. “At a time when we become almost insensitive to the statistics we see every day on the news, the responsibility of a musician like me is to communicate emotions and arouse empathy, ” says the singer on a daily basis.
“Such a disaster calls for action, for commitment. "
Mika, at the ParisianA coherent artistic show
Mika will be the main star of the concert, which will be filmed outdoors, live from his Italian residence. During the evening, he will be accompanied by international artists whose names he does not reveal so as not to spoil the surprise.
The idea is not to have singers succeed one after the other in an undrinkable musical cocktail, but to create a real artistic narration with scenic but also cinematographic and photographic proposals. To pay homage to the land of the Cedars, Mika sees things in a big way and wants to offer "something beautiful, which has meaning, with a real artistic intention behind" . The show will start at 9 p.m. (French time) and although its content is largely secret, the music will be at the center of the event.
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Visceral ties in Lebanon
The songwriter was born in Beirut in 1983 and only lived in Lebanon until the age of one and a half. But he is very attached to his origins and the images of the explosions of August 4 last shocked him deeply: “No matter what percentage of Lebanese you have in you, it is something that remains ,” he testifies. Such a disaster calls for action, for commitment. ”
“No matter what percentage of Lebanese you have in you, it's something that remains,” he testifies. Such a disaster calls for action, for commitment. "
Mika, at the ParisianAs of August 8, he published in several newspapers a letter addressed to the battered capital, in which burst his sadness, his anger and his hopes. After exchanging with his Lebanese relatives and their entourage, the 37-year-old artist emphasizes that beyond the physical victims, the entire population is upset. He believes that the consequences for the country will be profound: "This disaster is a trauma that will leave consequences for a long time." Hence the choice of a charity concert. All the profits will be donated to the Lebanese branches of the Red Cross and Save The Children.
To read also: "Our cry is a cultural cry": in Lebanon, a concert without an audience in the middle of the ruins of Baalbek
If he could not organize it in Lebanon, Mika keeps in mind incredible memories on stage, in the desert. Notably during his last visit, four years ago, in his native country, in the heart of the ancient ruins of Baalbek. In addition to the cushions that fly through the air when the music hooks the audience, “people cry, laugh, cry, dance” , in a “delicious emotional chaos” . We understand better what the famous show of September 19 will tend towards.
Provoke emotions
The artist also denounces the “political rhetoric” set up by the Lebanese authorities in a country of the Cedars transformed into a country in ashes by years of war and marked by a serious economic crisis. "When the Lebanese Prime Minister says that those responsible will be held to account after such a disaster, it is a purely political mirror game" , adds the singer about his country "reduced to ashes" .
In 2015, the pop singer returned to his homeland as part of a United Nations mission. He shared the daily life of a support center for refugees who are members of the LGBT QI community in Beirut. An experience that was real awareness for him: “Some of the most powerful stories I have heard in my life, I have heard them there. What is extraordinary about this kind of commitment is this concentration of life that we come across. This is exactly why the I Love Beirut concert has to tell stories. ” His role as an artist, as a vector of links and emotions, takes on its full meaning in this international charitable project.
Tickets are available at ten euros on the Ticketmaster box office, online: https://www.ticketmaster.fr/fr/artiste/mika/idartiste/18
