The music video for Mika's song "Grace Kelly" is a performance video that shows Mika singing and playing instruments in a studio setting. The video mocks the music industry by having Mika conform to pop conventions like bright costumes ironically. While using some pop elements, the video challenges the industry's pressure on artists to change their style. It celebrates individual artistic expression.

1. {
Original Music Video
Review:
Mika – Grace Kelly
By Holly Morsley

2.  The song was written by Mika for his debut album,
Life in Cartoon Motion.
 The song was written as a response to Mika’s music
label as they asked him to conform to the pop genre
more by changing his sound. Therefore it is likely
that a lot of the stylistic features of the music video
have been used out of irony or in order to mock the
genre as this song was written in a negative
response to it.
 The song expresses Mika’s frustration at the music
industry for not allowing artists to be themselves.
Context

3.  The music video for Grace Kelly by Mika
is a performance music video, which
means that the artist performs the actual
song within the music video. The video
not only shows the singer performing
vocally but playing the piano and other
musicians performing instruments such
as drums and guitars.
 It could also be argued that the music
video for this song is disjuncture as the
video’s content has nothing to do with
the song’s lyrics.
What type of music video
is it?

4.  The setting for this music video is in one location. It is set in a
studio that is made to look like a living area, complete with
fireplace, couches and a piano.
Setting – Brief Description

5.  This could have been done in order to mockingly
conform to the music industry as it represents the
luxurious lifestyle of the music executives as the
setting is lavishly furnished with oil paintings.
 The use of the furniture such as couches and beds
could be used to represent the laziness of the music
industry as they are willing to conform to genre so
easily. Alternatively, the video could also created the
impression of being a casual artist who, while taking
music seriously, wants to appear down to earth.
 The setting, as much content as there is, is
stylistically plain, which could highlight how plain
the music industry is by forcing artists to conform to
the convention of pop.
 The setting is evocative of 1960’s styles, looking old-
fashioned and having background props such as
posters for bands such as The Beatles, who were
pioneers of the pop genre. This could reflect Mika’s
message as he wants the music industry to have an
old-fashioned approach.
Setting – Mocking the
industry

6.  Throughout the music video,
the main artist Mika has 3
major costume changes.
1. His red outfit
2. His blue shirt outfit
3. His purple jumper outfit.
Costumes – Mika

7.  The usage of bright colours within his costumes is also a
common convention of the pop genre, showing that he is
conforming to the codes and conventions of the genre.
 As stated before, this may be done ironically as the message
of the song is about not conforming to the genre. Therefore,
by doing so, he is mocking the genre that he is trying to
conform to.
 The costumes worn by Mika could be used to represent the
different sides of his personality that he wants the music
industry to take note of. For example the red jumpsuit could
represent his passionate side while his blue outfit could
represent his melancholy side.
 As we can see, the trousers that Mika wears contain a white
stripe down the seem of the pants. While this may be simply
stylistic, it may also highlight the unconventional nature of
Mika’s style.
Costumes - Mika

8.  The little girl in the beginning of the music video is shown to
be wearing a bright, yellow, seemingly old fashioned dress
and red shoes.
 This child is used for voicing the extracts of placed at the
beginning and the end of the song.
 This outfit could be used to represent innocence in the child,
which is something that the pop genre likes to play on in
order to relate to a younger audience and to appease
secondary older audiences.
 This could also be done to represent the style of Grace Kelly,
the actress of whom the song is named after. The actress was
known to have worn dresses with a similar look. As the little
girl is used to give a voice to lines by the actress, this could be
a potential reason.
 Again, the bright colours conform to the music video genre,
which could be an attack on the industry on Mika’s part or a
genuine attempt to conform.
 There is also another little girl present that wears a similar
ensemble. This could be done for the same reasons.
Costumes – Little Girl

9.  Much like the main artists, there is variety in the costumes
worn by the extras.
 There is variety in the different styles worn by the
background character, some choosing casual clothing such
as jeans and t-shirt,while others choose more formal
clothing.
 This could be used to represent the differences between
artists in the pop genre, showing that artists should be
allowed their individuality despite their chosen genre.
 Nevertheless, some may argue that these various costumes
link to the genre as pop videos try to be relatable to the
audience. The difference in costume allows for different
audience members to relate to the costumes
 However as there is no other factor that allows the
audience to relate, it could just be a stylistic choice.
Costumes –
Musicians/Extras

10.  The musical instruments used in this video include:
• Guitars
• Pianos
• Drums
• Microphone Stands
 This could be used in order to show how serious Mika
is about music and how he wants to be seen as a
serious music artist.
 This also could be a way of mocking how some artists
don’t use the instruments that are used in producing
the song, setting himself above other artists.
Props – Musical
instruments

11.  There is a small scene during the bridge of the song in which
people are dancing and holding props such as umbrellas and
light sticks.
 The reason for this is unclear, potentially allowing it to be
linked to the disjuncture category.
 However it may also used to represent how pop music videos
are focused on the visuals of a video rather than the meaning
by placing meaningless props in.
 The brightness of the light sticks could also represent the
happy nature of the song, making it conform to the genre.
 This effect is also done with fairy-lights too, which have
connotations of innocence.
 The usage of the umbrella could be seen as a reference to Gene
Kelly, who is famous for appearance in “Singing In The Rain”
as is seen as a classically popular artist. It could also refer to
the process of music videos being made.
Props – Light sticks and
umbrellas

12.  Towards the end of the video, the studio plays host to a
party and several props are seen that are linked to
parties such as:
• Confetti
• Party food (on top of the piano)
• Drinks.
 This could present Mika as being a fun artist, drawing
in younger listeners to his music.
 This could also link to the common convention of fun
being used as a theme in most music videos, with a lot
of modern videos portraying party scenes to represent
this convention.
 It also allows for younger members of the audience to
relate to the artist as parties are often linked with youth
culture.
Props – Party props

13.  The lighting within this music video is, while not
being completely pitch black, is quite dark, making
reference to an old movie lighting technique from
the 50s which was used to allow to focus to be made
of the faces of “beautiful” characters.
 This could be used to intentionally contrast
brightness used in most pop videos to represent
happiness.
 Due to the slightly sad nature of the lyrics of the
song, the darker lighting could be used to represent
that.
Lighting

14.  The body language of the characters is shown to be happy
and energetic. Throughout the video, Mika dances and moves
his body to the beat of the music in an upbeat manor.
 Mika’s interactions with the little girl are almost as if he is
playing with her, doing dance moves that link to the lyrics (I.e.
“So I tried a little Freddie” – does a Freddie Mercury style
pose).
 This is used to make Mika seem fun to the viewer and to link
with the upbeat tone of the song, which is common in most
music videos.
 The extras, while being less animated than Mika, also have
positive body language,, smiling and being generally upbeat.
This becomes more energetic during the party seen.
 Again, this is used for the same reasons.
Body Language

15. Camera Angles – Close-up
• The majority of the close-up shots used
within the video are of Mika himself.
This is usually done during important
sections of the song such as the pre-
chorus and the bridge. Therefore these
shots highlight the importance of these
moments in the video.
• The poses that Mika is in reflect the
stylistic features of 1950s cinema

16.  Wideshots are used for two main
purposes.
 The first main purpose of the wide shot
is to be able to see larger aspects of the
location.
 The wideshot could also be used to show
the amount of people in the room,
highlighting that it isn’t just the main
artist working on the song but lots of
other people as well.
Camera Angle – Wide
shots

17.  There is no example of sexualisation in this
music video as the song has no sexual
connotations. This could be used to go against
the general pop mould, which is what Mika
was aiming to do this music video.
C&C - Sexualisation

18.  As mentioned previously, this does utilise bright
colours in certain aspects of the video such as in the
confetti and in Mika’s costumes.
 Regardless, the rest of the setting of the music video
is bleak and has a colour palette consisting of
browns and blacks.
 This could be a stylistic choice on behalf of Mika that
could allow for these bright colours to stand out.
However it may also be used to allow the light-
hearted personality of the artist to be evoked, rather
than to conform to the codes and conventions of the
genre.
C&C – Bright Colours

19.  Narratively, the video offers very little in terms of the
relatablity as there is very little aspects for an audience
member to relate to.
 However one could argue that the message behind the
lyrics of the song and the frustration demonstrated in
the video could be relatable as the audience may feel
the same frustration of being told how to act. This
could be relatable to all of audience members as this
could be taken in a personal or professional context.
 The costumes are arguably relatable as they are
everyday clothing for a regular, working class audience
in their mid-20s. The same could be said about the
body language and the party props as this reflects the
video’s demographic as being young adults.
C&C - Relatability

20.  The message behind the song is about being told
how to act in order to fit into a specific mould. This,
therefore, doesn’t correlate to the genres’ usual
music video themes such as friendship, romance,
and freedom. Thus, one could argue that Mika fails
to conform to the genre codes and conventions.
 However the idea of being able to do what you want
could link to the theme of freedom and rebellion as
the video is inadvertently telling the audience to be
themselves. As a result, this would mean that Mika
does, in fact, conform to the genre. This decision
could be done intentionally to ironically conform or
done unintentionally as the song’s intentions was to
ignore the genre codes and conventions.
C&C - Themes

21.  To conclude, Mika chooses to both employ and ignore certain
characteristics of the pop genre in order to degrade the music
industry and to impart the message to the audience.
 The video does this by showing the progression from a
structured and organised video to more free form and chaotic,
giving a metaphorical victory over the structure of the music
industry.
 The expression of “walk out the door” could also present a
more literal method of degrading the music industry, saying
that if the music industry won’t take the artist, they can’t have
him.
 Therefore, in conveying this message, the video is successful.
 However as the song is supposed to fall into the pop genre, it
could be argued that the lack of codes and conventions
utilised could mean that the video is unsuccessful in
conforming to the genre. This, nevertheless, was done for
intentionally.
Is this music video
successful?