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)