Speaking about the piano’s affect on Mika, the source said: "He felt totally inspired. He felt the spirit of Freddie surround him and Mika said he felt more creative than he ever had."

The Beirut-born musician’s single Grace Kelly reached No 1 in the UK singles chart on downloads alone following a change in rules.

He’s already been described as the next Freddie Mercury.

Mika hails ’power of online media’ - Jan 23 2007
Newcomer Mika is thrilled to have had the internet at his disposal as he made his way into the charts.

The 23-year-old’s single, Grace Kelly, has ousted X Factor winner Leona Lewis from the top of the charts because of downloads alone - the track gets its hard copy release on January 29.

He says: "I always go on about the power of online media and sharing your music on the internet, and I’m really thankful that now I have some sort of ammunition to prove that everything I’ve been saying about online media, from the smallest blogs to the biggest entertainment fanzines, are really driven by passion.

"It’s going by strength of word of mouth, and people making up their own minds after they’ve listened to the songs online. That’s amazing, particularly since I haven’t won a show, I haven’t got in trouble or done anything particularly scandalous so I don’t have tabloid inches on my heels."

He’s already been described as the next Freddie Mercury, but this is one label that Mika is reluctant to accept.

"Other people have compared me to him. I name-check him in Grace Kelly but I would never really compare myself to him, simply because I admire him far too much as a musician and a songwriter. In my mind, he’s untouchable," he smiles.

Mika in fashion deal? - Jan 22 2007
It appears that Mika has followed up his chart success by landing a deal with fashion guru Paul Smith.

The star, whose debut single Grace Kelly is at No 1 in the UK Download Chart and UK Singles Chart, is due to front Smith’s global spring/summer advertising campaign, The Sun said.

He is rumoured to be earning a six-figure sum for the campaign, which will see his face on billboards across the world from February 1, according to the paper.

But fashion has not always been a friend of the star.

Mika said his colourful dress sense meant he was targeted by bullies at school.

He told The Sun: "I was a show off as a kid, a bit weird. But I had that beaten out of me by everyone I was at school with."

He also told the paper how being a "dyslexic kid who couldn’t really speak English" resulted in him discovering music.

Mika, who was born in Beirut, says he knew at the age of nine that songwriting was his calling.

Mika’s album, Life In Cartoon Motion, will be released on February 5.

Mika ousts Leona from top spot - Jan 22 2007
Newcomer Mika has ousted X Factor winner Leona Lewis from the top of the charts.

Mika, tipped to become one of pop’s biggest success stories this year, climbed two places after debuting his single Grace Kelly last week.

Leona, who spent four weeks in the No 1 spot with A Moment Like This after winning the reality show back in December, dropped to No 6.

Just Jack climbed two places to the second slot with Starz In Their Eyes, while The View were up eight places to see Same Jeans at No 3.

JoJo was at No 4 with Too Little Too Late and Eric Prydz vs Floyd at No 5 with Proper Education.

The Ordinary Boys climbed steeply with I Luv U, up from 22 to No 7, while Take That remained in the top 10 with their comeback single Patience at No 8.