kapanlagi.com

JAKARTA: Many singers like to ad lib, but Rio Febrian might add this small qualifier – don’t do it when singing the Indonesian national anthem.

Rio has got into trouble with accusations he broke the law in singing “Indonesia Raya” with his own improvisations during the final campaign rally for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Saturday.

“We had no intention of abusing ‘Indonesia Raya’,” Rio’s manager Kiki told detik.com on Monday.

“We were very careful with this. Rio just did what the organizing committee, Transcorp [the management of Trans TV], asked him to do.”

The relevant law, the 1958 government decree on the national anthem, prohibits anyone from singing the anthem using tones, rhythms or lyrics other than those set out in the regulation.

Rio could face three months of jail if found guilty of violating the regulation. The Trans TV management denied that what Rio sang was their arrangement of the song, written by W.R. Supratman.

“It was spontaneous from Rio,” Trans TV public relations manager Hadiansyah Lubis told detik.com.

Hadiansyah said any responsibility for the content in the rally belonged to the Democratic Party campaign team and not to Trans TV.

According to music analyst Ben Leo, the problem lay with lack of familiarity with the regulation.

“He had no intention of [breaking the law]. Don’t blame the musicians because they have no idea they might be breaking a regulation,” he said.

“I remember about three years ago 10 guitarists publicly performed an instrumental rock version of ‘Indonesia Raya’ and they got an award for their performance.” — JP

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