Who helps sell out Mika shows in the United States? ItemWorld is no demographer, but our crowd survey at Wednesday night's all-ages First Avenue show told us that the Britpop sensation has a fan base comprised mostly of teens and queens. The tall, shaggy-haired singer and his four-piece band ripped through 15 songs in 80 minutes, including most of his 2007 CD, "Life in Cartoon Motion." Besides Mika's high-energy falsetto melodies, there was dancing, banging on cans, giant puppets, a live cartoon shadow show, balloons, streamers and confetti. The encores -- "Grace Kelly" and "Lollipop" -- drove the young (and heavily female) audience to ever louder screaming. We haven't had that much fun since our eighth birthday party, which, by the way, was a blast.

CLAUDE PECK

Fantasies of breaking world records may be endless, but natural ability unfortunately is not. For all you dreamers who aren't pro athletes or members of MENSA, Saturday's attempt at the world's longest Bunny Hop may be your chance. Organizer Robert Marbury (of Rogue Taxidermy fame) hopes to assemble 2,000 people at noon Saturday at the Art Shanty Projects on Medicine Lake in Plymouth. Don't know how to hop the Hop? Marbury and trained volunteers will give a quick lesson on the 1950s novelty line dance. It may sound risky, with 150 tons of humans hopping on a frozen lake, but Marbury said the danger adds to the appeal: "It's like a marathon. You can't envision the bad things happening."

MEGAN KADRMAS

Folks who arrived early for last Friday's Minnesota Orchestra concert of sci-fi film music were treated to a costume contest in which fans dressed up as characters from "Star Trek" and more. "Who are the judges?" one female onlooker asked, unaware that the four men in suits and the woman in "Trek" garb were the orchestra's four trumpeters and the captain of the Twin Cities fan club USS Nokomis, Mary Pucel. Without missing a beat, her male companion replied, "I'm not sure who the others are, but that one's Manny Ramirez." Actually, it was Manny Laureano, the orchestra's principal trumpet. Ramirez plays, too -- left field with the Boston Red Sox, which is an entirely different enterprise.

RANDY A. SALAS

We're not sure which scene was worse for Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus fans: The over-managed, blocklong lines that kept 16,000 fans waiting for an hour outside her Target Center concert in October, or the under-managed, run-for-your-life mayhem during opening weekend of her "Best of Both Worlds" 3-D concert film that almost left some fans trampled á la the Who circa 1979. Apparently, no one told theater managers at the Oakdale 20 theater Saturday that those tweens are nuts. That, or maybe they were hoping to sell extra popcorn and candy after all the spills. One thing we're sure of: Fans were equally excited when her tour partners the Jonas Brothers took the screen. Maybe parents should start lining up now for the Jonases' own Target Center show Feb. 20.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Eat vegan pancakes, make Valentines for political prisoners and help women in prison get their hands on reading material at the Women's Prison Book Project's annual pancake breakfast Feb. 16 at Minneapolis' Walker Community Church. Started 12 years ago, the volunteer organization gets about 500 requests a month from inmates across the country, said Sarah Gioia, local theater director and WPBP collective member. As you'd expect, popular fiction is in heavy demand (especially mystery and romance), but so are nonfiction subjects (addiction recovery, GED studies) as well as children's books for visits by kids (more than half of female prisoners are mothers). Plus, "there's a woman who often asks for fashion magazines that have the perfume samples still in them," Gioia said. For info, see www.prisonactivist.org/wpbp.

MEGAN KADRMAS

Whether Sen. Barack Obama can bring together Americans remains to be seen, but the presidential hopeful was able to reunite all the members of Golden Smog, including Jeff Tweedy. The Wilco frontman rejoined his Minneapolis cohorts -- Marc Perlman, Kraig Johnson, Dan Murphy and Gary Louris -- for a half-hour Smog set at Obama's rally Saturday afternoon at the Target Center. Among the songs purposefully played were "Beautiful Mind," "Until You Came Along" and a cover of Brian Wilson's "Love and Mercy." A rousing version of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding" had also been rehearsed, or at least semi-rehearsed, but then the band remembered it wasn't at the 400 Bar anymore (and had to cut it short). On Monday night, actors Scarlett Johansson and Kal (Kumar) Penn were also in town rallying for Obama at the University of Minnesota campus.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER