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span class="caption" style="width: 398px;">JP/Indah SetiawatiHard Rock radio presenter Ary Kirana, recently portrayed a Chinese-Indonesian mother in the musical Langit Biru [Biru’s Sky].

The 32-year-old, also a member of the vocal group Warna, has been popular for her roles in several dramas and musicals, including Gita Cinta [Love Hymn], Onrop, Ali Topan and Kabaret Keroncong [Keroncong Cabaret].

“I am currently preparing for a role in drama and musical performance that will be held in January next year. It is an adaptation of a Broadway show that will be presented in English.

The main character is a man who is at the crossroads of his life. He is undecided whether to get married or not. His friends, who have various experiences with relationship, try to give him some advice. The musical tells a story of young people in my time.

During my leisure time, I like to eat good soups and watch movies. I love dishes that have some soup in them, such as bakso, soto, Japanese ramen or shabu-shabu. Menus that can match chili, garlic and sauce will make me happy.

For movies, I was upset when the public could not watch Hollywood movies following the tax dispute a few months ago. I even planned to go to Singapore with my friends just to watch a row of movies like Captain America and Pirates of the Caribbean!

We canceled the plan because the movies were finally screened in Jakarta. By the time they hit the cinema, it was a bit too late.

My dismay was very reasonable. You know, we — Jakartans — do not have many options to release our stress. We do not have many parks to go, pedestrian streets to walk and hills to climb or to cycle, so we eventually end up in shopping malls. I do not like going to malls, but most cinemas are in the malls, so I have no choice. But when the good movies were not available there, I felt angry.

I recently watched Real Steel and it was awesome. It’s not merely an action movie, but also a movie about father and son relationship.

If I have more day offs, I would look for a beach to visit. I can enjoy myself on the beach with nobody’s accompany. As long as I have my iPod and beers, I will be fine. I recently went to Thousand Islands in North Jakarta to go snorkeling. However, I like Bali as a destination for my vacations. I know people may say that I am such a mainstream Bali tourist as all people seem to go to Bali to spend their holiday.

I have to admit that Bali is the most affordable and comfortable place. The accommodations and meals in Bali may be more expensive that the ones in Lombok, but the island of gods has more options to choose.

To me, it is also safer to go to Bali in terms of transportation because I can easily spot taxis.

As for my career, I will continue my path in becoming a presenter. To tell you the truth, I actually love singing better than presenting. I just don’t like the music industry. Just like other businesses, music will have to compromise with the market at the end of the day.

I just can’t do that because to me, singing should come from the heart. How can you compromise every single day? That is why I choose presenting jobs to earn my living because looking for money as a singer turns out to be not that fun.

Singing in corporate events is painful to me because you will keep singing the same old songs like ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’, ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘I Will Survive’. I get bored singing the same songs again and again.

If I really had to earn money from singing, I would choose to sing in hotel lounges and wedding parties because the audience is more appreciative. No matter what songs you pick, people in the lounge will applaud. It is also fun to perform in the wedding parties because the people in the occasion are beautiful, dressing up and happy.

In some years to come, hopefully I’ll be a good mother, wife, have my own TV show and can sing in a place where people appreciate the singers.”

— As told to Indah Setiawati