Lebanese-born singer Mika was honored the ‘Keys of the City’ of Florence last month. The honorary citizenship – the keys symbolically represent a copy of those that open the main doors of the city – is the culmination of a love story between Mika and Florence, which had its peak in the summer of 2016 when the singer performed his Pop Simphony together with the Or- chestra of the Maggio Fiorentino. “Florence is a charming city, its citizens are elegant and appear very reserved, but when they open themselves they are empathetic and generous,” said Mika.
Mika has declared himself very much satisfied of the award re- ceived.
“The keys are quite heavy, I prom-ise I will not lose them, I will not leave them on a bus: I spoke to my mom about it, and she warned me to not do it as my usual,” he said. The decision of the award is part of a plan by the City of Florence to promote culture.
“Florence loves whoever loves cul- ture, and Mika’s contribution, both with his music and television pro- grams, has been quite important and has aroused much attention amongst the young generations; for this reason, and for having cho- sen, in all these years, Italy as his adoptive land and having demon- strated so much affection for our city, in particular thanks to his collaboration with the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, I award him the Keys of the City,” said Nardella.
Born in Lebanon in 1983, English singer and songwriter Mika was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2007 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2007. He released his first full-length studio album, Life in Cartoon Motion in 2007. The al- bum sold more than 5.6 million copies worldwide and helped him win a Best British Breakthrough act and receive a Grammy Award nomination.
His latest album, No Place in Heaven, was released in 2015.