Two Indonesian VJs rise from pack to 'MTV' screens

Two Indonesian VJs rise from pack to 'MTV' screens

By Yogita Tahil Ramani and Edith Hartanto

JAKARTA (JP): A bevy of beautiful women dance and jiggle in
white, short T-shirts. As the Spice Girls blare out girl power
commands to "shake it to the left, shake it to the right", the
eight dancers languorously take off their tops.

They teasingly reveal a concealed leather ensemble of black
bra and tight minis, and proceed with more bumping and grinding.

Lining the wood-paneled bar of the Hard Rock Cafe are high
stools with nose-pierced, midriff-baring, micro-skirted teenagers
on their knees, high fiving buttoned-down executives ogling the
scene.

The raunchfest occurred during the MTV VJ Hunt Finals last
Saturday.

The two-month, nationwide search received a staggering 2,771
entries. Eight finalists were shortlisted -- six from Jakarta,
one from Bandung and another from Semarang -- and MTV Asia
organizers stopped at nothing to work up frenzied suspense before
the announcement at the cafe.

The hunt -- mainly conducted in bars, cafes, discotheques,
malls and on college campuses in Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang and
Bandung -- drew "lots (of applicants), ranging from teenagers to
30-somethings," said Amalia Ahmad, external affairs coordinator
for ANteve, which airs six hours of MTV programming daily.

She said the Indonesian VJ needed to have charisma, a keen
sense of music, proficiency in Indonesian and English and be
articulate.

The VJ should also be willing to make appearances at odd
hours, she added.

Bianca Adinegoro, host and producer of MTV's Seratus Percen
Indonesia -- aired Friday at 3 p.m. and Tuesday at 1 a.m. on
ANteve -- said VJs got to network with movers and shakers in
entertainment.

"You come into contact with almost anybody who's somebody in
the entertainment business, be they record company people or
music directors and producers."

The animated bunch of finalists -- Akhda Khalid, Intan Khahi,
Senia Ariska, Alia Amitra, Alex Abbad, Ketty Janur Sari, Sofie
Simandjuntak and Fransisco Glenn Rozanno -- showed a lot of
potential, but only Ketty and Alex walked off with the VJ titles.

Ketty, 22, was chosen for this year's Close-Up Crystal Award
for the "Most Charming Smile" and received prize money of Rp 2
million. Alex is 19.

Excellent

They received three-month trial contracts and will get to host
new shows in the coming year.

The original plan was for only one winner, but senior vice
president of the MTV Networks Asia, Nigel Robbins, said this had
been changed because of the pair's "excellent VJ qualities and
charisma, (and) each of them could probably host shows suited to
their own personalities".

Alex was suited to more "grungy, rock and metal" fare, while
Ketty could host "romantic shows", he said.

Alex, a grungy looker with a 1970s dress code, said he is an
idealist. He is a student at Jakarta's National University at
Pejaten in Pasar Minggu, but he said he would probably put his
studies on hold during his VJ stint.

"I would definitely like to work first as a VJ. I'm going to
gain all the experience I need to, and then enter the kind of
college I want to," he said.

"My parents support me, but I want to try to be on my own. I
depend on them for both emotional and financial support."

His grandfather is half Yemeni, but Alex stated his pride in
being Indonesian.

Doll-faced Ketty will defer her TV broadcasting studies at
Pasadena City College in Los Angeles as opportunity knocks.

"And besides, I miss being in my homeland.

"I don't think I'm going back there. I may or may not finish
college. Besides, my boyfriend is here."

But the audience was more excited by the entertainment than
the announcement of the winners.

Lime green MTV sticker-tattooed faces guffawed at local TV
host Indra Safera's jokes and his imitations of a traditional
herbal medicine seller, an incessantly kowtowing Japanese and a
standoffish Toni Braxton. There were the refreshing sounds of the
alternative rock mesh from local bands Kubik and Pals.

There was also Rahul Khanna, 25-year-old host of Friday's
midnight show, MTV Fresh.

Dressed in a silky red shirt and black jeans, he had teenagers
literally jumping out of their seats and middle-aged women acting
giggly over their disinterested partners.

The winners and the also-rans were exposed in the question-
answer session hosted by Rahul and VJ Sara Sechan, officially
just five days a VJ and already the lone host of MTV Ampuh on
Anteve every Saturday.

Some failed to come up with sharp, spontaneous answers, and
others were sunk by lack of English skills.

One of them replied yes when asked by Indra if she thought
makan beling (eating glass) would make people laugh.

He promptly retorted: "Then, why don't you eat glass and make
people laugh?"

Sofie, 22, a reporter for MTV Land, a radio host and DJ, and
Glen, also 22, a radio host and DJ, handled the questions with
distinct aplomb.

Ego

In answer to Sara's question -- "If Madonna were to stage her
last ever performance and you could call the shots, what would
you do?" -- Glen leapt on stage and said he would have Madonna
"flown to Indonesia on Air Force One and perform nationwide,
instead of only in Jakarta".

Sofie countered Indra's tantrum-throwing turn as music diva
Braxton with sweetness, saying "she would get Toni's videos
promoted and played on MTV, because MTV was the music channel in
Asia".

"Indonesian VJs have very likable personalities. They don't
carry egos either, which is quite refreshing," Robbins said.

He added that the station's strategy involved tapping into the
needs of the local audience.

"We have to create the MTV image that is accessible to all
Indonesians, since not everybody is comfortable with English."

MTV Asia, a 24-hour programming service of MTV Networks Asia,
is an international network for viewers in Southeast Asia aged
15-34. It is a joint venture of MTV Networks and Polygram which
owns and operates MTV Asia, MTV India and MTV Mandarin.

Delivered via satellite to cable, MTV Asia claims to reach
more than 31 million homes in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei and
Vietnam.

MTV Asia features a mix of regional and international music
videos, local productions, entertainment news, artist interviews,
concert coverage and viewer contests.