Pop News Bits: Mika’s Coming And Gaga’s Not

So you know by now that Gaga cancelled the remainder of her Born This Way Ball Tour, right? These things get passed along very quickly. You probably have seen an endless stream of boohoo Facebook statuses and tweets by now. She had a tear in her hip (think it could be wearing all those crazy-ass heels?) – surgery and rest is being demanded by doctors. And we’re not even talking about a postponing of anything. We’re talking about a straight-up cancellation situation; ticketholders can claim refunds pronto. Now, as a way of talking about this possibility without actually accusing her of anything, we’ll deflect that to Wendy Williams instead. Wendy casually hinted at the idea that, well, maybe this was because the tickets weren’t selling all that well. And to be real, there has been a noticeable decline in Gaga-obsession; things just aren’t the way they used to be (post-Fame). But what’s really sad? We were pretty excited about the presence of her Born This Way Foundation’s Born Brave Bus Tour, in which 13-25-year-olds could get a wide variety of anti-bullying and mental health counseling FOR FREE. We guess that’s just not happening, either. Can’t find ANYthing on the world wide webs about the Born Brave stops going on without the tour.

In the good news department, we have a fondness for that cute and queer pop star Mika. You know him, right? His 2007 debut,Life In Cartoon Motion, was just plain fun. It’s years old now but there are a few still jams on it that’ve stood the test of time. “Billy Brown”? “Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)”? “Grace Kelly”? Guess what – Pitchfork gave his debut a 1.5. He put out a sophomore effort in 2009 and then just a few months ago put out his third, The Origin of Love. And today he announced an ‘intimate’ tour of North American dates. This means, for him and for Philly, a stop at Union Transfer. I’m just going to show you what the press release says:

“Mika has just announced a North American tour of intimate venues. He will be performing a special stripped down set accompanied by a pianist and guitarist. Mika’s recent Fall North American tour sold out in minutes. This is a rare chance for fans to get up close and personal with Mika and hear new arrangements of his catalogue including his recent album.”

Maybe he’s bigger than we know at this point because UT isn’t exactly what you think of when you think small and intimate. Especially if it sells out (it won’t). But we’ll probably be there – it’s on a Monday (4/8)!