AB Three thrills teen crowd in concert at Fashion Cafe

AB Three thrills teen crowd in concert at Fashion Cafe

By K. Basrie

JAKARTA (JP): They are young, beautiful, energetic and
entertaining. They are AB Three, one of Indonesia's most talented
groups.

The three young women once again proved they are among the
country's best entertainers in a concert at Fashion Cafe last
week. The internationally-renowned group's stunning vocals and
dance confirmed their professionalism and bright future.

The concert attracted hundreds of fans, mostly teenage girls
with pocket cameras in hand and parents behind them. Sometimes
they joined the trio by singing along exuberantly. They applauded
loudly, screamed and then went into rhapsodies with the intro and
ending of each song.

The teenyboppers flocked around the catwalk and dazzled the
charming trio with myriads of camera flashes.

In pink short dresses, neck scarves and white heels, Lucy
Rachmawati (Uchy), Riafinola Sari (Nola) and Widi Mulia kicked
off their show with their first hit from their debut album
Cintailah Aku (Love Me).

Basking under strikingly colorful spotlights, the three rising
stars sang the hit's lyrics in turn or together while moving in
splendid harmony on the stage. Accompanied by recorded music,
their sweet voices echoed among the fans' sentiments in the dim-
light hall.

As if under command, the crowd fell silent before softly
singing the refrain with the three cute singers:

Cintailah aku, setulus hatimu, kasih. Jangan kau biarkan cinta
kita, berlalu begitu saja, hanya karena emosi dihatimu.

(Love me tenderly, sweetheart. Don't ever let our love perish
just like that only because of the emotion in your heart)

As the hit neared its end, screams thundered from the crowd on
the cafe's balcony. The rest of the audience immediately followed
suit with euphoria. A long, loud applause escorted the cute trio
as they set up the song's ending, while the teenage fans' camera
flashes showered them.

The trio raised the roof with their best works picked up from
their two albums: Cintailah Aku released in 1995 and Kerinduanku
(My Longing, 1996), which covered pop and soft-rock songs such as
Get Into The Heat, I Want You, Andaikan Saja (If) and Suaramu
(Your Voice). They mixed them with popular legendary hits such as
the Beatles' Yesterday and the Bee Gees' How Deep is Your Love.

The crowd became boisterous when the trio sang Suaramu with
their slim bodies undulating up and down and hands winding gently
like eagles flapping their wings high over the sky. The throng of
juvenile guests packed around the catwalk couldn't stop their
hysteria. With hands covering their faces, the fans screamed with
ecstasy. What a view!

Begging

When Uchy tried to say farewell and invite the audience to
welcome the cafe's home band, the crowd grunted and shouted:
Lagi.. Lagi... Lagi... (more).

The trio gave the crowd one more song before waving goodbye
and going back stage.

The MC, Dado from Prambors Rasisonia radio station came on the
stage and announced that the cafe's band would entertain the
audience. While he spoke of the band's abilities, the crowd began
a rowdy chorus: AB Three... AB Three ....

A spotlight suddenly lit up a circular stage near the
entrance. The crowd turned to watch the spot, thinking they would
see the cafe's band which they believed boring. But the three
cute singers came out to strut their stuff again before the
enchanted crowd, who fell silent for seconds before bursting into
screams of joy.

AB Three opened the second session after a five-minute break
with a hit off their second album, Kerinduanku.

The song is so popular that the crowd followed the trio word
for word throughout. Widi, the youngest of the trio, even handed
her cordless microphone to a girl near the stage who sang the
words perfectly.

Despite paying Rp 35,000 each for standing room or Rp 80,000
for a seat compared to Rp 20,000 on ordinary nights, the crowd
seemed happy with the concert.

Sparkling stars

The trio began to shine in 1993 after they had each become
weekly champions on Asia Bagus! A television show broadcasted in
Singapore. The three stars have recorded a series of triumphs in
many overseas festivals since 1994, including Rumania's STAG
Festival, Finland's Midnight Song Festival and the Eastern Europe
music festival. A load of local awards are already in their
cabinets.

Credit for their success goes partly to their professional
management team, which comprises big Indonesian showbiz names
such as Chris Pattikawa, chaperone-manager Maryati, songwriter
Youngki Suwarno, English translator Tengku Malinda, choreographer
Willie Puah and costume designer Samuel Wattimena.

Pattikawa, who runs Antero Bagus, the Asia Bagus! network in
Indonesia, got the three talented ladies together in 1994 and
named them AB (Antero Bagus) Three.

In their 45-minute concert, Uchy, Nola and Widi exploited all
their vocal and dancing talent while presenting 12 songs, which
differed little from their recorded work.

The concert would have been perfect, except that it began one
and a half hours late and the Fashion Cafe demanded that the
audience buy its merchandise, with a 10-percent discount, before
they could get an autograph off AB Three.

The trio ended their show with their song We Are One, a
message to their fans that they face a challenging future.

We are one, in facing the future, challenges and promise
awaits us.