Live Review: Mika at The Fillmore, 06/09/07

Live Review: Mika at The Fillmore, 06/09/07

Mika channels his inner Freddie: Aidin Vaziri | There's little doubt that he had been practicing the rock poses and casually choreographed routines that accompanied each song for a long time. For "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)," he pulled up a well-endowed burlesque dancer to rub up against; his legs splayed wide apart and hips jutted to the side as he pounded through the Elton John-ish lament "Any Other World." And easing into mock-operatic "My Interpretation," he announced, "After studying my 'Rufus at the Fillmore' DVD, I get to do it myself." But his main inspiration clearly comes from Freddie Mercury. Appropriating the Queen lead singer's signature moves, arch vocal acrobatics and vaudevillian sense of grandeur, Mika doesn't even pretend to disguise his obsession. On "Grace Kelly," he sings it out loud: "So I try a little Freddie!" And upon closer inspection, "Big Girl" feels a lot like Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls." Like Mercury, Mika also refuses to be pinned down on the topic of sexuality. Look hard enough, and the clues are all in place -- and not just because on "Billy Brown" he sings of a married man who falls in love with another man. "My record company said you can't put a song like that out in the United States," Mika said. "Guess what? We've got 2,000 people singing it back at us." Whatever his logic, it seems to be working. The first few rows at the Fillmore were crammed with preteen girls wearing glow-in-the-dark necklaces and waiting for a quiet a moment to screech, "Mika, I love you!"