Mika and Perez's curious connection

On Friday we decided to treat ourselves and head on over to the Time Warner center to catch sexually ambivalent British pop star Mika's first East Coast in-store and signing. And I'm a bit sad to say that it left a bad taste in my mouth -- and I'm not just talking about the lollipops that they handed out.

It wasn't that Mika started an hour after the scheduled time -- he was at a photo shoot (for Out magazine, as the PR guy was keen to announce to the throngs of teenaged girls and thirtysomething gay men that had gathered) and these things happen. It wasn't the fact that there was no oxygen to be had after about twenty minutes or that someone right in front of me stank to high heaven.

It was the fact that Mika was introduced by Perez Hilton.

Those of us who have been following Mika's Stateside invasion have noticed that Perez has been oddly prominent at the early appearances of this particular musician. Odd, in that Hilton isn't a music critic and doesn't run a music site -- he's a gossip writer who has made his politics crystal clear when it comes to celebrities whose sexualities fall under public scrutiny. After having forcibly "outed" Lance Bass and Neil Patrick Harris, Hilton said on his own site:

"Today is a victory. Today is another step towards full equality under the law for gays and lesbians. … We are so proud (despite the naysayers) in having a hand in bringing about change. … The closet no longer exists if you are a celebrity or a politician! … We are throwing down the gauntlet and issue a challenge to all the closeted celebrities out there: Come out. Come out NOW! Come out in droves!!"

Oh really? "The closet no longer exists"? How interesting, then, that Hilton is now an honorary member of the PR posse of a man who flat-out refuses to discuss his sexuality publicly. Isn't Mika exactly the kind of celeb that Perez would usually attack for his coyness? Could it be that Hilton has compromised his well-documented principles for the chance to be part of an album launch and for a place in the pocket of a pop star?

I would hope that Hilton has at least wrangled an exclusive closet-bursting interview from the singer (if he is indeed gay) in return for his troubles -- anything less and I'd think the guy was losing his edge. There has to be a reason why a man who has made a career of outing people and a singer who won't discuss his sexuality but actively courts a gay audience are sharing the stage like some sort of acid-induced sister act.

Was this Mika's doing? Or Perez's? I hate to point fingers, but there's something very wrong with this picture, and it's not just the hair color.