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Anggun to perform a virtual duet with Pavarotti
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Duet: Singer Anggun posts a photo with the late opera maestro Luciano Pavarotti on their upcoming duet, which will premiere on Thursday on the Results Show of 'Asia's Got Talent'. (Courtesy of Instagram/anggun_cipta)
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ndonesian pop singer Anggun will perform a virtual duet with the late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti during the final of Asia's Got Talent on April 11.
Anggun – who is a judge alongside award-winning singer-composer David Foster and South Korean-American hip-hop star Jay Park — will perform the duet during the two-episode finale of the show, Asia’s biggest talent competition, now in its third season, in Singapore.
Nine finalists from across Asia – including Indonesian singer Siti Saniyah, Filipino hand shadow performer Shadow Ace and Taiwanese hip hop dance group Maniac Family – will have the chance to bring home the US$100,000 grand prize at the show, which features a variety of acts.
Anggun said the collaboration with one of the greatest operatic singers came about following her sold-out concert in Italy several months ago, when she met with Pavarotti’s widow Nicoletta Mantovani, who is also the president of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation.
She said Mantovani was extremely dedicated in honoring the memory of her husband, taking her to a memorial room filled with memorabilia ranging from costumes, scores and archive records.
“When Nicoletta asked me to do a virtual duet, I could not believe it. This is an immense honor,” said the singer.
For the duet, which will air on AXN at 8 p.m., Pavarotti’s original recordings will be used, with Anggun recording her vocals to be mixed in.
“Singing on the greatest maestro of all time’s master recording is thrilling. Our vocals must be in perfect harmony and I went through a lot of emotions during the recording session,” Anggun said.
Anggun, who embarked on her international career and moved to France in 1994, is the world’s most famous Indonesian-born recording artist, and one of the very few Asian entertainers to have earned international acclaim.
She is immortalized in wax at the prestigious Madame Tussauds museum, becoming the first Indonesian female artist to achieve this honor.
Her song, "Snow on the Sahara", reached the Billboard Dance Chart top 15 and Billboard Pop Songs Chart top 20 in the United States, making Anggun the world's best-selling Asian female artist outside of Asia. She also composed and sang the theme song for the movie The Transporter II, the first Asian-born artist to do so for a number-1 US box office film.
Her contributions to the global music industry have also been recognized by the French government, which awarded her the prestigious Chevalier des Arts et Lettres. She also received a World Music Award in Monaco for the World's Best-Selling Asian Artist. In 2017, Anggun won the Best International Asian Act and Best Female Act in the daf BAMA Music Awards in Germany.
In December 2017, two of the singles from her latest album, 8, achieved top-10 and top-20 status on the US Billboard Dance Chart, respectively. (ste)
