Mika pulls Big Chill show

United Kingdom | 03 August 2007

Warbling pop preener Mika has pulled out of today's Big Chill festival, citing a throat infection that could potentially ruin his career (according to the Big Chill grapevine anyway!)

The star flew back from Japan last night and instantly cancelled the next week's worth of live dates, including this afternoon's Big Chill performance.

A festival source said: "He's in a bad way apparently. We've moved Richie Havens up from earlier to fill his slot and brought in a local act, Julia Palmer Price."

Julia, formerly a member of The Dinner Ladies, got the call first thing this morning. The singer lives in nearby Malvern and according to organisers she was only to happy to step in.

Mika's cancellation considered, the festival has started fantastically, despite one of the campsites being closed down due to flooding.

The north campsite, a favourite with hardcore Big Chillers due to its proximity to the dance arenas, has been waterlogged for days meaning site planners were unable to install the necessary infrastructure.

But the sun is shining now and thousands of festival goers are enjoying the first few bands, our pick of the bunch being the David Chesworth Ensemble, with tracks like 'This Floating World' and 'Malignant Humour'. Deep.

Other expected highlights today include Kruder & Dorfmeister, Guillemots, Red Snapper, Cinematic Orchestra and Ellis Island Sound.

We'll hopefully be bringing you updates from The Big Chill over the weekend; however we are experiencing a few technical gremlins!