'Dangdut' singers make a killing

'Dangdut' singers make a killing

YOGYAKARTA: Dangdut (traditional music) performers and their
managers in Yogyakarta are being swamped with bookings during the
election campaign, which has doubled or tripled their incomes.

Sutomo, the manager of Star Galaxy Dangdut Group, said on
Saturday that bookings started to flood in after the election
campaign began on March 11.

"We often receive two or three bookings per day, but we can
only perform one show a day because of the difficulty in moving
from one area to another due to severe traffic jams caused by
campaigns," he said.

The group's fee per performance is usually Rp 4 million to Rp
5 million, but the campaign period has seen the fee increase to
as much as Rp 7 million per performance.

Laila Chandra, a Star Galaxy singer, said she usually earned
Rp 40,000 per show, but during the campaign period could earn Rp
150,000. Dangdut singers Nining and Reina from Jakarta said they
had been contracted by the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P) for campaigns across the archipelago. They
refused to name the amount of money PDI-P is paying them.

Dangdut shows are popular among political parties to entertain
those present at party rallies. Ironically, many rally
participants ignore campaign programs and only care about the
dangdut show. -- JP