Mikael Larsson (fictional character)

**Mikael Larsson** (born 25 March 2002) was a student, cheerleader, singer, debater and chorister at Carmel Secondary School, and later a student at the University of Hong Kong. He was "Carmel's Cheerleader" from December 2018 until 31 August 2020, and the oldest member of the Carmelian PopStars from its establishment until 31 August 2020.

## Early life

Mikael was born in a spring evening in 2002 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to a couple as their second child. Mikael grew up with his sister, Margareta, who was five years older than him. From kindergarten to secondary school, he used the English diminutive "Mike" mononymously.

Margareta studied at an all-girls school from kindergarten to secondary school, and as a result, most of Mikael's friends during primary school are older girls. Because of this, he thought that an all-boys traditional school like La Salle College or Wah Yan College of Kowloon would be incompatible for him, and so he chose Carmel Secondary School, one of the best co-educational English schools in Kowloon. He was allotted to the Loyalty House, which was purple in color.

## Student

### School grades

Mikael had been a constant high achiever at school. He is good at almost every subject, except the subject Chinese Language. In Form 1, he achieved a form rank of 8th place out of 131 students, In Form 2, he achieved a form rank of 13th place out of 130 students. In Form 3, despite failing the Chinese Language subject, he came in 6th place.

Mikael chose Physics, Chemistry and ICT as his new senior secondary electives. In Form 4, he achieved a "Best 5" of 33, and in Form 5, he achieved a "Best 5" of 32. Unfortunately, due to complicated circumstances, he ultimately got a "Best 5" of 29, much lower than what he expected. The moment he received his results, he cried for the whole morning before realizing that he belongs to the Top 2.8% of students in Hong Kong. He has been told by his teacher that he had always been too harsh towards himself.

On 13 August 2020, Mikael ultimately got admitted by the University of Hong Kong into its Global Engineering and Business Program.

### Academic talents

Mikael was recommended by his primary school teachers to the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education, and he took courses there during each summer vacation period.

In Form 3, Mikael represented his school at a mathematics competition, and in Form 5, he represented his school at the CAP TEST organized by the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong.

## Cheerleader

### Loyalty House

Mikael did not join the cheerleading squad for his house in the 2014 CSS Sports Days. Later, he joined the squad in January 2016 when he was in Form 2, for the Sports Days in March. There, he knew many friends of his who would become future committee members of Loyalty House.

When Mikael was in Form 3, Loyalty House refused to recruit boys into the cheerleading team for the October 2016 Sports Days, and so he went to participate in the events instead. He later become a committee member of Loyalty House in January 2017.

Mikael joined the cheerleading team again for the 2018 Sports Days in Form 4, this time being assigned with the song "Bomb-a-drop (T-Mass Remix)". In Form 5, he became a member of the smallest cheerleading team in the history of the CSS Sports Days ever, in 2019. The team consisted of two girls from Form 6, four girls from Form 5 and Mikael, and were assigned with the songs "Naughty Boy" and "POP/STARS".

Mikael planned to become the leader of the house cheerleading team in June 2019, but the subsequent resignation of a house teacher resulted in complicated situations which led to a young star at a TV channel being chosen instead. Mikael refused to join the young star's team, so he became a helper instead. However, during the relays in the afternoon, he made a comeback as a "cheerleader emeritus" with his privately-owned "iron fists".

### Carmel's Cheerleader

Mikael become a cheerleader for his school when he decided to provide constant support to his school volleyball team. Initially, he only cheered for the boys' volleyball team of his school in the 2017-2018 season, but thanks to a pianist from the girls volleyball team helping him at his solo vocal performance at the Joint School Music Competition, he extended his support to the girls' volleyball team in September 2018. After the 2018 Jing Ying Tournament, he extended his support further to other Carmelian schools.

Since Mikael noticed that he was the only regular supporter of the team, he realized that he is the only cheerleader for his school, as most of the cheerleaders at the Sports Days only cheered for their respective houses. Therefore, he titled himself "Carmel's Cheerleader", and he often added the words "only" or "one and only".

Mikael usually painted banners to cheer for his teams as he did not have a pair of personal "iron fists". However, due to the unstable environment in October 2019, he wanted to avoid political connotations, and so he ordered a pair of iron fists that would belong to himself, one blue and one purple. The blue color matches the color of his cheerleading jacket and the jersey color of the CSS boys volleyball team, while the purple color matches the color of his house and the jersey color of the CSS girls volleyball team.

## Singer

### Singing Contest

At the age of 13 years and 3 months, Mikael became the youngest participant of the CSS Singing Contest in 2015, and he held the record during his time at school. Out of his five attempts in the contest, he only managed to qualify for the final twice, in 2017 and in 2019. He barely prepared for the first four contests, but he spent lots of effort in both the singing and the choreography of the 2019 entry, which gave him a fifth place in the Grand Final.

Unlike many contestants who decide to sing to the original lyrics of their entries, Mikael tend to write his own lyrics for his own entries, and with the exception of 2016, all the lyrics contain Swedish.

Mikael's entries at the CSS Singing Contest
 2016
 2017
 2018
 2019

### Carmel Choir

Mikael joined the Carmel Choir in September 2016 as a Form 3 student. He represented his school at the Super Voice Singing Contest, the Joint School Music Competition and the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, with choral songs like "Celebrate (Come to the Music)", "I Saw A Falling Stars" and "To Dream the Impossible Dream". Additionally, as a part of the Choir, he performed a few non-competition pieces at the CSS Annual Concert, such as "Hallelujah Chorus" and "How Far I'll Go".

Mikael became the Secretary of the Choir from September 2017 to September 2018, and he is the only member in his form to remain the Choir in Form 6. He temporarily quitted the Choir during January - May 2020 in order to prepare for university admission exams, and permanently quitted by the end of 2020 through graduation.

## Debater

Mikael became interested in debating as he attended the Inter-House Debating Competition every year. In Form 5, he learnt the art of debating through English lessons, and he recommended himself to the house chairperson for the Competition. In the end, Mikael's team got qualified for the Grand Final and got the second place, with Mikael himself getting the honor of the best debater. He later joined a debating course at the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education.

## Personal life

Mikael liked playing retro video games from the 1990s and the early 2000s. He also listened to Eurovision songs quite often. He is not interested in anime in general, but a few Swedish-dubbed anime series are his favorites.

## Outfits

Mikael's summer uniform at school includes a short-sleeved white shirt, a black belt, a pair of white long trousers, a pair of white socks and a pair of black leather shoes. His winter uniform includes a long-sleeved white shirt, a red-silver necktie, a black belt, a pair of gray long trousers, a pair of white socks and a pair of black leather shoes.

Mikael's outfit as Carmel's Cheerleader includes a blue polyester-cotton hoodie jacket, a purple T-shirt, a slightly tight, jet black pair of long trousers, and a pair of black sneakers. During December and January, he also wears a dark blue scarf. He holds a blue and a purple iron fist.

## Inspirations for the character

Mikael Larsson wrote himself into the Carmelian PopStars project. However, to show the house color of characters, Mikael drew himself with purple hair and purple eyes.