Pupuk Kaltim marching band wins competition

Pupuk Kaltim marching band wins competition

JAKARTA (JP): Pupuk Kaltim Marching Band from Bontang, East
Kalimantan, broke the domination of Jakarta bands in the 1994
Grand Prix Marching Band competition for the First Lady's Trophy.

Pupuk Kaltim was chosen the winner of the annual competition,
which was dominated by Jakarta-based marching bands for 12 years,
on Friday.

In the final round of the competition, Pupuk Kaltim Marching
Band, which belongs to state-owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk
Kalimantan Timur, succeeded in captivating both the judges and
spectators.

The band succeeded in mixing the grandeur of its musical
arrangements, military movements and the solid sway of its flag
into a breathtaking presentation.

Pupuk Kaltim band forced all viewers, who came to support
their own favorite bands, into awed silence during its
performance. The sincerest of applause was heard only when the
band finished playing its songs.

The band started the show with a repertoire of songs from the
Batman movie soundtrack and closed it with a famous classical
tune, Puccini's Nessun Dorma.

Their marching configuration was extremely sophisticated and
required solid teamwork, extensive practice and strong self
confidence.

Rene Conway, one of the American coaches hired by Pupuk Kaltim
band, said that self confidence was the major problem. A lack of
confidence almost hampered them from winning the prestigious
trophy.

"In the beginning my major problem in coaching these kids was
making them believe that they also can win," Conway said, adding
that the band had been practicing for the event for nine months.

Kirnadi, a noted local marching band guru who was the coach of
the last year's champion, Korps Putri Tarakanita of Jakarta,
confirmed that Pupuk Kaltim's weak self confidence problem nearly
threatened their chances.

"Luckily the coaches kept boosting their competition spirit,"
Kirnadi said, adding that their skill is as same as the
participants from the capitol.

Their success was also supported by strong financial backup.
The band's team manager, Qammaruzaman, revealed that PT Pupuk
Kaltim spent more than Rp 100 million (US$45,545) to finance the
band's participation in 1994 contest.

Though money was not explicitly mentioned in its success
recipe, Andy Dougherty, the band's other coach, said that the
management of PT Pupuk Kaltim had been very cooperative.

"We were forced to do a lot of hard work to realize this
achievement," Dougherty said.

During the event, which was held from Dec. 26 to Dec. 30 at
Istora Senayan sports hall, Central Jakarta, there were 22 groups
competing for the trophy, of whom only 12, mostly from outside
Jakarta, succeeded in entering the final round.

The victory of non Jakarta-based band shows that marching
bands are not the monopoly of the capital's young people.

Pupuk Kaltim band's position was followed by the Tridinanti
University from Palembang in South Sumatra, which was named as
first runner up.

Putri Santa Ursula, the band from St. Ursula Catholic High
School in Jakarta, was declared second runner up, while last
year's winner, Korps Putri Tarakanita, also a Catholic school
band, was forced to take the third runner up position this year.
Tarakanita had won the grand trophy six times previously.

Kirnadi said that the inability of Tarakanita to defend its
title this year was caused by their poor musical arrangement and
choreography.

"They have good music and good visual attraction but somehow
it was not mixed well," he said.

The 1994 competition was tougher than the previous ones since
all of the 12 finalists designed their performances into musical
shows with special themes. The finalists were not merely marching
bands, they were moving orchestras.

Pupuk Kaltim band took up the theme of Batman movies, with all
of its players wearing Batman masks and robes.

The second runner up, Putri St. Ursula band, called its
presentation "Walt Disney Extravaganza". It played Walt Disney's
songs, such as When you wish upon a star.

Another finalist, Garuda Indonesia Drum Corp, a band, named
its performance Masa Kecilku (My Childhood), and played noted
children songs. (mas)