Washington, D.C.

Lucked out big time yesterday and was able to score two tickets on craigslist to the sold-out Mika show at the 9:30 Club. (No cameras were allowed inside, the photo above is from his concert in Hong Kong although he was wearing the same outfit last night.) For those not yet in the know, Mika is a British pop sensation – trained by a Russian opera professional – whose single “Grace Kelly” reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in January. His debut U.S. album, Life in Cartoon Motion, released a month later.

And last night, Mika proved himself as truly a performer to those of us in the nation’s capital. It started with girls from the audience handing out lollipops by the box office and later included a Big Girl dancing on stage during “Big Girl (You Are Beautiful),” Mika banging on trash cans during “Love Today” and a confetti, balloon and dancing-bunny-costumed encore of “Lollipop.”

Along the way, he reflected on impressions of his first visit to D.C. “We did some sight-seeing today and saw the White House,” he said. “It was very small. I thought a man that powerful would have a bigger house.”

And then, barely audible, Mika gave one last compliment to the roaring crowd. “I don’t know if you all know how cool it is to show up in a place and see people like you,” he said. “It’s like nowhere else on the tour.”