Upcoming concerts: Enrique, Gareth and Maksim come to town

Upcoming concerts: Enrique, Gareth and Maksim come to town

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The list of international artists who braved the travel warnings
to play gigs here in recent years is not very impressive. But,
taking a more positive outlook, our country is beginning to gain
reconsideration as a safe ground.

American rock groups Korn and Toto, pop diva Mariah Carey and
legendary songstress Jane Birkin kicked off the new year's
musical moments with performances in February.

Now, three more performers will stage concerts here: Latino
pop idol Enrique Iglesias, British teen heartthrob Gareth Gates
and Russian crossover pianist Maksim.

Iglesias' concert will be on March 28 at the Jakarta
Convention Center's Plenary Hall, Central Jakarta, while both
Gates and Maksim will perform at the Indoor Tennis Stadium in
Senayan, Central Jakarta, on April 6 and April 27 respectively.

Iglesias, 27, is part of a growing number of Latin artists
lured into the crossover market, led by Jennifer Lopez and Ricky
Martin.

First recognized as Julio Iglesias Jr., the younger Iglesias
has earned a reputation as a singer in his own right, no longer
living in the shadow of his heart-throb father.

Several major labels rejected him at the beginning of his
career, but Iglesias proved them wrong by topping the charts in
1995 with his self-titled debut album. It sold over one million
copies in Latin America and produced five hit singles.

Vivir followed in 1997, and was also a huge commercial
success.

The single that made him a household name, however, was the
Spanglish hit Bailamos, featured in the 1999 Will Smith film Wild
Wild West.

Although Bailamos was hugely successful, Iglesias is reluctant
to record entirely in English, saying "I gotta remember
something, what got me here was Spanish."

A few hits followed, such as Hero, Rhythm Divine and Escape,
with videos starring the likes of actress Jennifer Love Hewitt
and tennis bombshell Anna Kournikova, his girlfriend.

Iglesias, however, allegedly lip-synched in a concert in
Poland. U.S. shock jock Howard Stern also accused him of lip
synching and played an audio tape allegedly proving Enrique
cannot carry a tune.

He denied both accusations.

The next performer here is determined, hard-working and
friendly; his favorite color is blue; he is obsessed with his
hair and despised "show-offs, selfish people and people with huge
heads ideal", according to the organizer's press release.

I am sorry, I thought this is seventeen magazine.

Gareth Gates was the finalist of British Pop Idol, but shot to
fame when he released his debut single, a cover of Unchained
Melody, on March 2002.

The single made the then 18-year-old singer the youngest solo
vocalist ever to top the British charts, and was also named
Record of the Year 2002.

He released his debut album What My Heart Wants to Say in
2002, followed by his latest album Go Your Own Way, released last
year. Both earned him commercial success and there are bound to
be hordes of screaming fans to greet him here.

The most interesting of the visitors is Croatian pianist
Maksim Mrvica (clue: pronounced Maravitsa, with a rolled 'r').

He caught attention when the video of The Fight of the
Bumblebee, a crossover instrumental piece, appeared on MTV last
year.

Born in Ibenik on the Adriatic coast, 29-year-old Maksim began
classical piano lessons at nine. When the war in the former
Yugoslavia broke in 1990, he continued his musical studies in
university despite "a thousand grenades a day in my town".

Maksim has won a handful of piano competitions, including in
Budapest and Paris.

Both 2001's debut Gestures, a disc of contemporary Croatian
piano pieces, and 2003's The Piano Player experimented with the
crossover genre and targeted all ages.

What will it set you back to see the boys? Enrique's tickets
are Rp 350,000, Rp 750,000 and Rp 1.25 million, while Gates' run
between Rp 150,000 and Rp 200,000. Maksim's ticket prices were
yet available at press time.

Tickets can be obtained at major record stores, call Java
Musikindo at 021-57988623-25 for information, or click
www.javamusikindo.com.