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Twitter erupts as Asian Games opening ceremony praised by netizens

President Jokowi's grand motorcycle entrance captured the attention of those watching from across the world and made the top of trending lists. 

Asmara Wreksono (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, August 19, 2018

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Twitter erupts as Asian Games opening ceremony praised by netizens President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo waves to the audience from his motorcycle on the stage of the 2018 Asian Games Opening Ceremony, Saturday. The stunt garnered praise from netizens and made number one in Twitter's trending topics. (INASGOC via Antara/Dhoni Setiawan )

T

he opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Games at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (GBK) in Jakarta created quite a hype on social media, Saturday evening.

Several key moments from the grand event, directed by television veteran Wishnutama, include President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's grand motorcycle entrance, which captured the attention of those attending the event at GBK, as well as around the world via television and streaming services.

Prior to the President’s entrance to the stadium, a video was shown of the President on his way to the opening ceremony. Jokowi and his entourage were shown to be stuck in traffic. The President then got out of the car and took a motorcycle to get through the traffic.

On the way to the stadium, the President skillfully maneuvered the motorbike through Jakarta’s small roads. Although in a rush, he still gave way to schoolchildren waiting to cross the road.

Finally, as he reached the stadium, the President rode across the stadium, waving to the audience who wildly cheered, before finally exiting the arena, and moments later appearing in the VIP box.

The grand entrance wowed netizens, and Twitter erupted with compliments for Jokowi as well as NET Mediatama as the TV station that produced the video.

Twitter user @reyeolie captured the Korean Twitter trends, which shows President Jokowi’s popularity among Koreans.

Another key moment from the opening ceremony was when dangdut singer Via Vallen performed “Meraih Bintang” (Reaching for the Stars). During the singer’s performance, President Jokowi was seen moving his arms along with the rhythm.

Netizens were quick to react, one of them was the President’s son, Kaesang Pangarep.

Read also: Jokowi opens Asian Games in dazzling ceremony

Kaesang’s tweet read: “His fingers may form a ‘metal’ sign, but he still sways when dangdut plays,” which obviously poked fun at Jokowi’s widely known love of rock and heavy metal music, genres that are almost the opposite of dangdut music.

Jazz singer Tulus belting the national anthem marked another key moment in the ceremony. Other singers such as Raisa, Rossa and Ryan D’Masiv wowed the audience with their performances, which featured heavy cultural influences from various provinces in Indonesia. Jazz prodigy Joey Alexander delivered a flawless piano performance of “Gending Sriwijaya”, a famous traditional tune from South Sumatra.

The 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony involved thousands of dancers, choreographed by renowned singer and dancer Denny Malik.

Another renowned choreographer involved in the massive performance was Eko Supriyanto, who has done choreography for world-class superstar Madonna. In the opening ceremony, Eko handled three segments with a total of 1600 dancers.

Ronald Steven and Addie MS proved their musical prowess as music directors, while dramatic costumes designed by fashion designers Dynand Fariz and Rinaldy Yunardi also managed to garner positive reactions.

Praise came from netizens as the show neared its end and finally featured Indonesia-born singer Anggun, who sang the iconic song “Pemuda”, previously popularized by eighties singer Candra Darusman of pop group Chaseiro.

Aside from the performers, the gargantuan set design, which was built by 350 workers, also managed awe netizens.

Twitter user NurkholisMakki said in his tweet, “I cannot imagine how tiring it must have been to build this set for the Asian Games. Building a set for a theater performance is already hard work, but these people managed to build GBK to this level of splendour. I salute those who work behind the scenes!”.

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