A little night schmoozing

----------------------------------- Lepas Malam, hosted by Farhan Trans TV Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. ------------------------------------

Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

From the Jakarta-at-night backdrop to the strategically placed branded mug on the host's desk, the similarities between Lepas Malam (End of the Night) and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno are glaringly obvious.

It is, in fact, an almost total lifting of the format of the U.S. show, with a few select modifications. There is the opening monolog, here pared down to a joke or two for local host Farhan; his casual jacket and pants paralleling the neat and tidy attire of Mr. Leno; and even the sometimes forced comic banter between him and his drummer, the latter the Indonesian equivalent of Leno's resident stooge, Kevin the guitarist.

It also sticks to the formula of a couple of celebrity guests paired with a musical performer. Watching it all, one almost expects Farhan to come out with a chin prosthetic.

The inevitable assumption is that the show, trapped by its formulaic format, will be a wooden and labored nonstarter, another fumbling attempt to transport a foreign vehicle to these shores.

Also stacked against it is the somewhat checkered history of the Indonesian talk show. It's still a relatively new style of programming, the pioneer being Ebet Kadarusman's show -- also owing much to The Tonight Show -- on RCTI in the early 1990s.

With the rise of TV production houses in recent years, a few more have bravely tried to show their gift of the gab in the genre, from the late Indra Safera's noteworthy but sometimes overly sentimental show, Meutia Kasim's stilted, almost judgmental one-on-one's (no surprise, then, that she is now trying her darndest to be the high priestess of mean on Indonesian Idol) to the coquettish probing by '80s TVRI newsreader Anita Rachman in a thankfully shortlived outing.

In late 2000, entertainer Hughes provided a breath of fresh air on Angin Malam (Night Breeze), using her smarts and gift for quick repartee to make the show a success. Her departure a couple of years later brought into sharp focus the importance of a good host in keeping the audience satisfied; while her replacement Peggy Melati Sukma gradually found her hosting feet, the next one in line, former Miss Indonesia Angelique Sondakh, seemed desperately out of her depth.

It's a mighty pleasant surprise that Farhan is a natural for the TV show format, creating a lively and interesting late-night schmooze. In a sense, however, it is only to be expected, because his training ground was radio deejaying, before he moved onto a highly successful spell as the host of the TV variety show Pesta on Indosiar.

On both of those, he was paired with Indy Barends in what became a truly complementary male-female partnership, each of them feeding off each other with smart, sassy, sometimes risque comebacks.

Farhan obviously relishes the opportunity to shine on his own this time round. He knows that the art of the interviewer in subjugating his ego to listen to what someone else has to say. He eschews both kid gloves or claws; attentive in his responses, he can toss out an aside to defuse the situation when his subject seems uncomfortable. He does not gush or fawn, but neither does he needle, which was sometimes the downfall of Hughes.

His clout in the entertainment industry has allowed him to get A-list guests, from actresses Sukma Ayu, Sophia Latjuba, Ayu Azhari and Maudy Kusnaedi, the singer Nicky Astria and political movers and shakers such as Minister of Communications Agum Gumelar and A.M. Hendropriyono.

Coaxing the notoriously media-shy Ayu on his show, and then engaging her in a relaxed discussion of living in the media glare and her new dangdut record decrying social injustice, was a minor coup. He dealt gently with an understandably uneasy Sukma (in a show broadcast shortly before she fell sick), avoiding any judgmental badgering about the recent sex photo scandal.

Everybody gets into the spirit of fun; the sight of a leather jacket-clad Hendropriyono, now chief of the country's intelligence service, singing a few lines of I'm Every Woman as the credits rolled at the end of Wednesday's show was priceless.

Lepas Malam is formulaic, without a doubt, but it may prove the formula for success.