Indonesia
1.179 Singers Joined the Audition in Surabaya
Being known by everyone like Nowela or made a hit like Regina. The dreams were spinning around the mind of contestants of Indonesian Idol Junior in Surabaya, August 13-14, 2014. They came from all over to the audition site at Balai Kartika since the opening day at 09.00 AM. On the first day, there were 819 singers being audited. On the second day, 360 people tried to impress the jury. They were in the range of 5 to 13 years old.
The fuss was that among the thousands of contestants, many have come from distance places, other cities or even cross provinces. Sekar Rahima Sahwahita, a cute 10 years old girl, took off at 04.00 AM from her home in Malang. The 6th grade student of SDN Bertaraf Internasional Tlogowaru Malang, Malang City, had been quite experienced with trophies of singing competition from school to province level. Before the Indonesian Idol Junior jury, she sang Once’s “Symphony yang Indah”.
While waiting on the audition line, Sekar made a new friend (who was actually her competitor), Queenadiva Taflana Virginisia. The girl came from Bondowoso. Queenadiva was on the third grade of SDN Dabasah Arena Siswa, Bondowoso. She went all out with the way she look, making herself as feminism as possible for the jury.
Stefany Vergin Altara Manurung and Christ Daniel Karisma Manurung were also geared up for the occasion. They came all the way from Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara with daddy Hisar Manurung and mommy TitikFerawati. Staying in uncle’s house in Buduran, Sidoarjo, both kids were convinced for their chance of winning a seat to Jakarta. In fact, 5 years old Daniel did fool the jury. He entered to audition room with guitar, looking like a skilled guitarist. “That was only an eye service. He wanted to appear rocky,” Hisar mocking her little son, who went to grade A, TK Tunas Daud Mataram.
Stefany took advantage of the waiting time to have a last minutes practice in a small room, adjusted to imitate the real audition chamber. In the small chamber, there was a glass that could make contestant saw their performance. The sweet girl who went to grade 4 of SDN 1 Ampenan, Mataram kept working on her style to appear natural and still brings out her innocent look.
However, somehow there were participants from even further places than Stefany and Daniel, Superkids. Among them was Chairil Rizqi (Aril), a nine years old boy from Unaaha, Southeast Sulawesi. The fourth grade student of SDN 3 Unaaha flew there with his mom, Neneng. He competed in Small Audition in Makassar and got a ticket for the Big Audition in Surabaya. MNCTV, as the event organizer, took charge for cost to come there. “I sang “Little Stars”. I just practiced the song last night. If I make it from here, i will sing ‘Tek kotek kotek kotek..’,” aid Aril mimicking a chicken.
After performing for Pre-Cast jury, each contestant was given a pink, blue or yellow card. They were then rounded up in a room. There those with yellow card were separated from those with blue and pink cards. It turned out, yellow is the color for those who didn’t make it for the next stage, while pink and blue did to Final Pre-Cast stage. Participants who made it into Final Pre-Cast were doing photo session before moving into video booth, facing with the jury from MNCTV and Fremantle Media. Here, those selected ones will meet the main jury, whose among them were Titi DJ dan Daniel Mananta. Those who were found worthy for the next arena in Jakarta will be notified via phone.
“This is MNCTV’s effort to make Indonesian Idol Junior a kid-friendly program. Their parents were also there in the audition room. We take high precaution for their mental. No one is going out of the room with wet eyes for failing. If that kind of sadness is watched by million of people, it will crush them. That’s why the information will be delivered via phone in person,” Ainun Fitri, Public Relations of MNCTV, confirmed.
After the audition, MNCTV held School Auditions at SDN dr Soetomo 5 (Friday August 15th 2014) and Dream Box in Surabaya Town Square (Saturday August 16th 2014). The Dream Box audition was limited for 100 people with guest Jury Delon ‘Idol’.
HAFIDA INDRAWATI
PHOTOS: HAFIDA INDRAWATI
