Eurovision: What Mika is doing now from chart-topping success to Italy star

There'll be a familiar face appearing on Eurovision this evening - singer Mika.

Finding fame with his 2007 song Grace Kelly, Mika has been keeping busy since selling nearly six million copies of his debut full-length studio album.

The Lebanese-born Brit Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated star is now better known for his work in Italy and has been chosen to co-host the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin.

Mika - real name Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr - takes his place alongside famous Italian names Laura Pausini and Alessandro Cattelan in hosting the event, which will see almost 200 million people tune in across the globe.

For many, this will be the first time they have seen Mika since he broke through in the 2000s, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been up to much.

The singer-songwriter is described by Eurovision's website as a performer "without artistic barriers set by genre, geography or societal expectations," which is reflected in his trans-European career to date.

Since launching his debut album, he has gone onto release four more and from 2013 has spent the majority of his time in Tuscany, Italy - where he has a house and studio.

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Known in the music industry for his versatile voice - which has performed everything from pop to opera - multi-lingual Mika was chosen to serve as a judge and mentor on the French version of The Voice and X Factor Italia.

His work in France has been so successful that he sung at the final of the country's version of Strictly Come Dancing and performed at the top of the Eiffel Tower for its 130th anniversary celebrations.

He has also been honoured with the nation's Order of Arts and Letters for services to music.

Meanwhile in Italy, where Mika is a household name, he was given his own variety television show. Titled Stasera Casa Mika, or Mika's House Tonight, it won the 2017 Rose d'Or prize for Best Entertainment Series and 2018 Flaiano Prize for Best TV Programme.

He is currently continuing his work with The Voice France's All-Stars edition and X Factor Italia.

Away from the entertainment world, Mika has been important in charity and humanitarian causes. In 2020, the singer held a streaming concert in aid of Beirut, Lebanon, to help the population recover from a devastating explosion.

Kylie Minogue, Salma Hayek and Rufus Wainwright were also heavily involved in the concert, which raised over £1million and resulted in Mika receiving the Lebanese Order of Merit.

This came six years after he visited Lebanon with the UN Refugee Agency, when he spent time with refugees who had been forced to flee their homes during the ongoing conflict in Syria.

In France, Mika has long been a supporter of the charity Imagine for Margo - Children without Cancer.

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