'Indonesian Idol' enters fifth season, with no sign of letting up

A. Junaidi ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 04/15/2008 11:37 AM  |  Potpourri

IN SEARCH OF FAME

"Indonesian Idol" is back, entering its fifth season, and its popular as ever.

The singing contest is currently at the eliminations phase, having selected 97 contestants with different vocal characteristics and skills from various professional backgrounds.

Anggi Kusuma, an officer of Salatiga Police Precinct, Central Java, is one of the contestants in the local adaptation of the American Idol talent show.

"I'm on leave. My commander has permitted me to join 'Indonesian Idol'," the 20-year-old second brigadier told The Jakarta Post.

Nuhud, a traffic police officer from Palembang, South Sumatra, was another contestant.

Both Anggi and Nuhud wore their intimidating brown uniforms to the Monday eliminations.

Auditions for the show, aired by RCTI, were held in 15 cities and brought the two officers and other would-be talents, street singers and students to Jakarta.

The pair were selected from more than 100,000 applicants, with dreams of stardom, who waited long hours for auditions.

Applicants came mainly from big cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Bandung as well as small towns including Cirebon (West Java); Madiun and Malang (in East Java); Ambon (Maluku) and Manado (North Sulawesi).

"They have powerful vocal characteristics. I can remember most of them," one of the Indonesian Idol jurors, Indra Lesmana, told reporters.

The 40-year-old jazz musician and singer was optimistic that the current elimination stage would produce better talent than last year's contest.

Indra and other jurors -- singer-cum-song writer Anang Hermansyah and pop diva Titi DJ -- would select 24 of the 97 candidates at the current elimination stage to join the next workshop stage.

Yogi Hartarto, Indonesian Idol project leader, said besides their singing skills, many of the candidates had musical abilities such as being able to play guitar or piano.

"I hope the next Indonesian 'idol' wins the Asian Idol," Yogi said Monday at a press conference at the Gedung Kesenian Jakarta theatre in Central Jakarta.

As many as 12 contestants would be selected from the workshop stage -- based on SMS votes and jurors' evaluations -- to enter the final phase. The Indonesian Idol winners are then selected solely from SMS votes.

Vocal skills alone are not necessarily enough to win the Indonesian Idol contest, with attractive personalities (like last year's winner Ihsan) winning audience votes despite questionable singing skills.

Mike, winner of Indonesian Idol's second season,(?) failed to gain a place at last year's Asian Idol contest, although some local music critics say he had a better voice than other contestants.

"It's not just a singing contest. It's also a popularity contest," Indra said.

Maintaining popularity was another job for Indonesian Idol winners although the private television station would provide continuing support for them by involving contestants in on-air and off-air activities, Yogi added.

"Once again, it depends on them maintaining their popularity. They should strive to improve their abilities," he said.

Some Indonesian Idol winners, like Delon, are still singing while many (including finalists) have now been forgotten as audiences democratically move on to search for new idols.

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