Which Indonesian celebrities should I feature on AsiaFinest? Options

[heartshapedbox]

After Anggun, I will propose my other hero...Ananda Sukarlan: Indonesian pianist who lives in Spain
Perhaps only few Indonesian people that knows his name, but in classical music industry, he is the star....even he was the 1st Indonesian who was included in the list of 2000 Outstanding Musicians of 20th Century. This is his story......

Ananda Sukarlan
The piano boy

"Don't shoot me I'm only the piano player" ( title of an Elton John album )

(an excerpt from the biography of Ananda Sukarlan (and translated from Spanish) by Patricia Garza Santos)



His favorite word: focus. His hobby: work. His obsession: control. Ananda Sukarlan is that kind of musician who would toil for days on the shape of one simple musical phrase just because he felt it did not flow correctly. He knows precisely in his life, music making and career where his biggest strengths and his weakest vulnerability lie, and those frontiers are the best kept secrets which he shares with noone. His choice of music he performs (if "choice" is the right word, considering his very wide repertoire) is always highly exciting, original and even risky, which is an proof of him not being predictable. Nevertheless he has found a diverse series of success formulae that have stretched across all his years of career to date. His concerts are wall to wall greatest music ever created, some of them performed for the first time by him while the ink was still wet, with unequalled meticulosity and passion. That is why he is a true-believer-and-a-half of Musica Presente composers and their importance to the music world. He has examined thoroughly the history of music, played more music by composers of the 20th century than any other musicians of his age and, with an instinct as sharp as a successful Wall Street stockbroker he picks, performs, defends and champions new masterworks of music before anybody was even aware of their existence and convincingly puts them in an important place in the music history.

Go west, and left to his own devices

Born on June 10th, 1968 under the sign of Gemini and a monkey according to the Chinese zodiac, this brilliant Indonesian pianist left his country after he graduated from the Jesuit's Canisius High School for Boys in 1986 to study music in Holland with Naum Grubert. Ananda Sukarlan was born and raised at the very center of the metropolitan Jakarta, Indonesia. The first pieces of music he heard and liked (and still listening to and liking up till now) were the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's album, Queen (Freddie Mercury remains one of his idols up till now), Rachmaninov, gamelan music, and noises of the city which now is inhabited by 12,5 million people and has more skycrapers than New York City. The first version of Pictures of the Exhibition he heard was neither Mussorgsky's original for piano, nor Ravel's orchestration : it was the rock version of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. In Holland he had some hard day's night s studying and catching up in the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag until he graduated in 1993 with a summa cum laude. The long and winding road continued, he rolled over Beethoven and as a hot stuff he won many international competitions within three years following his graduation, which is his ticket to ride for a career as a pianist.

And what a career ! He plays as soloist with the best orchestras and ensembles (such as Berlin Symphony, Madrid, Spanish Radio & TV, Bilbao, Orleans, Rotterdam, Barcelona, Jakarta, Wellington etc with conductors such as Magnus Lindberg, Pierre-Andre Valade, George Elie-Octors, James Wood, Ernest Martinez Izquierdo, Joan Cervero, Jose de Eusebio, the Indonesian star conductor Addie MS and recently with the highly talented young conductor from New Zealand Hamish McKeich succesfully performing Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques), playing Beethoven 1st and 5th, Schumann, Ravel G major, Liszt (complete works for piano & orchestra), Ligeti, Kurtag, Messiaen's gigantic Turangalîla Symphony, as well as the many piano concertos written especially for him a.o. by the Dutch Sinta Wullur, Jan Bas Bollen and Peter van Onna, the Spaniard Jesus Torres, the Indonesian Singgih Sanjaya, the Scot John McLeod and more future piano concertos by Musica Presente composers Santiago Lanchares and David del Puerto . Since the fall of Suharto's dictatorship in Indonesia, he has performed for all the presidents of Indonesia, and was the first artist in history to perform in the Presidential Palace. He was also the first Indonesian artist who was invited to perform in Portugal after the diplomatic relationship between the two countries was reestablished in the year 2000, and also to perform for Queen Sofia of Spain. His CDs are released by Vienna Modern Masters (Austria), Col Legno (Germany), Erasmus (Holland) and Spanish Radio & TV (RTVE). Thanks to his performances, Spain was well represented twice (in 2000 and 2003) in the International Tribune of UNESCO, the second one was with the --now already historical-- live recording of his very first performance of the most virtuosic, but now has become a landmark in the history of piano music : Anandamania by Santiago Lanchares .

Ananda Sukarlan is the dedicatee of more than 100 works for piano (solo, duo or concerto with orchestra). Each one of the composers of Musica Presente has written at least one substantial work for him. In the past he has performed together with artists such as the Orlando Quartet, the cellist Francis-Marie Uitti and percussionist Tatiano Koleva. Now, his duo with his equally brilliant colleagues from Musica Presente : either with the ever-electrifying percussionist Miquel Bernat (forming the duo AM Frequency ) or with the superb, Spain's number one, second to none accordionist Angel Luis Castaño (forming the Duo AN-tifon ) is another successful leap of faith, knowing that there were no established duos of those instrumentations (piano+percussion and piano+accordion) existing in the rest of the planet. Together with his partners, they create completely new repertory, carefully choosing the right composers to create masterworks for them, perform and tour the works around the world and firmly establish them in the musical repertory. Their virtuosity also contribute in stretching the technical demands for their instruments, making possible of the impossible not for the sake of virtuosity, but to realize and to be as close as possible to the composer's idea of the original sonority. The extreme virtuosity of some pieces written for them (such as del Puerto's Diario or Santiago Lanchares' Castor & Pollux ) were never achieved by composers before, which give the fresh and totally new sound world of those pieces.



I'm just another writer , still trapped within my truth
A hesitant prize fighter, still trapped within my youth" (lyrics to Rod Stewart's song "Sometimes when we touch")

Suffering from the Gemini syndrome, the planet Mercury rules his dual personality. In Ananda's case, it's more than dual : the other Ananda is a writer and a passionate music businessman. But it's not money he's after. "Money often costs too much", said Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Ananda agrees with him. In fact, his generosity is invaluable in helping young artists all over the world, and although he is not a teacher, he has provided lots of opportunities for the young. For a few years he has been the brain and heart behind the National Piano Competition in Jakarta, and has always served as the president of the jury. After its founding and establishment in 2001 he acts as the commissioner and major shareholder of the Jakarta Conservatory of Music which houses the highly accomplished Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble of contemporary music, as well as the most complete library of contemporary music in South East Asia. The Jakarta Conservatory also acts as producer of the most successful concerts of classical & contemporary music in Jakarta. He is also the artistic director and major shareholder of the Alt+Space Festivals, a singular & original idea of connecting the biggest industrial cities all over the world : New York, Madrid, Jakarta etc. These festivals also search for young talents all over the world and help them launch their career. As in his performances, Ananda has that King Midas touch : it seems as if everything he touches turns into gold.

"Life is just what happens to you,
While you're busy making other plans " ( lyrics to John Lennon's song "Beautiful Boy")

Ananda is a person who lives his life to the fullest, does everything with passion and enjoying it immensely either when he is home among the hills of Cantabria (20 minutes from Santander, a very small town north of Spain) or during his travels. Although he is a party animal, he is also a fiercely private man in many aspects, as if he wants to make sure that nobody really know who he is.

Link: Ananda's Biography




Minggu, 08 Januari 2006
Sosok
Ananda Sukarlan Setelah Piano, Gamelan!

Sebuah piano tua.
Alat musik peninggalan seorang berkebangsaan Belanda itu jarang tersentuh. Bagi bocah tiga tahun itu, inilah mainan barunya. Tuts-tuts piano yang menarik perhatiannya terus dipencetnya. Hasilnya, bebunyian tanpa irama. Ketika usianya beranjak 5 tahun, sang kakak Martani Widjajanti membimbing bocah itu dengan les piano. Akhirnya, ketika telah duduk di bangku SMA, Ananda Sukarlan benar-benar yakin. ''Waktu itu saya mulai tahu bahwa saya senang dan mau mendedikasikan hidup saya untuk main piano dan musik,'' bungsu dari tujuh bersaudara ini menuturkan.

Sayang, orang tua tidak setuju.
Letkol Sukarlan dan Poppy Kumudastuti tidak mudah meluluskan keinginan Andy, sapaan akrabnya. Mereka masih menyangsikan masa depan profesi ini. ''Mereka bilang masa depan kamu bagaimana? Saya waktu itu tidak tahu keadaannya bagaimana,'' kata Andy mengenang. Orang tuanya gigih menawarkan Andy masuk ke Fakultas Kedokteran, Psikologi, atau Fakultas Teknik setelah lulus dari SMA. Tapi, semuanya tak ia senangi. ''Saya bilang apa saja sama, semua saya nggak suka,'' ucapnya.

Masalah lain, biaya.
Andy mengakui, tidak mudah belajar musik secara profesional di Indonesia masa itu, era 1980-an. Satu-satunya pilihan adalah belajar di luar negeri dan itu tidak bisa dipenuhi oleh orang tuanya. ''Saya bilang udah, saya cari beasiswa,'' kata Andy yang belakangan menyadari diri keras kepala dan rada bodoh karena tidak mengetahui situasi saat itu.

Gayung bersambut.
Andy mendapatkan beasiswa Petrof Piano untuk belajar piano dari Walter Hautzig di Hatford, Connecticut, Amerika Serikat. Ia kemudian melanjutkan sekolah musik di Den Haag Kingdom Conservatory, Belanda, pada tahun 1987 di bawah bimbingan Naum Grubert, Ellen Corver, dan Geoffrey Madge. Lulus dengan predikat summa cum laude pada 1993, dia meneruskan studi S2 dalam bidang musik sampai 1995.

Beasiswa terhenti.
Inilah cobaan yang harus dihadapi menjelang ujian akhir di Den Haag Kingdom Conservatory. ''Tapi, saya tidak bilang ke orang tua. Kalau saya bilang, mereka pasti suruh pulang. Mereka kan tidak mau melihat saya kelaparan,'' ucapnya. Apa boleh buat, Andy harus cari uang sendiri. Dia ngamen dengan bermain piano di bar-bar. Toh, hasilnya tetap saja tidak mencukupi untuk melunasi utang-utangnya. Saban ke bank mengecek simpanannya, saldo yang tersisa hanya 3 gulden. Angka yang jauh dari memadai meski untuk membeli sepotong roti. Sekitar 2 tahun ngamen, dia mencoba ikut kompetisi piano internasional. Itu pun dengan utang ke sana ke mari, termasuk kepada gurunya. Niatnya ikut kompetisi cuma satu: cari duit untuk makan dan bayar utang.

Jalan mulai terbuka.
Beberapa kali memenangkan kompetisi membuat utang-utangnya bisa impas. ''Seperti ada berkah dari Tuhan,'' tuturnya. Andy mengakui, kalau mau meniti karier berpiano di Eropa, satu-satunya jalan ikut kompetisi internasional. Siapa yang menang memang akan mudah mendapatkan kontrak, bisa bekerja sama dengan manajer, dan organizer. ''Tadinya saya tidak pikir soal karier. Pokoknya, saya bisa hidup dan makan. Ternyata itu membuka karier saya. Kalau misalnya saya tidak kelaparan, selesai kuliah mungkin saya terus balik ke Indonesia,'' ucap pria yang namanya tercatat dalam MURI (Museum Rekor Indonesia) sebagai pianis Indonesia yang paling banyak berpentas di seluruh dunia ini. Pria kelahiran Jakarta pada 10 Juni 1968 ini pun punya manajer sendiri. Dengan begitu, Andy bisa membuat ide-ide artistik sendiri sehingga akhirnya membuat produksi sendiri. Andy lalu melanjutkan ke program S2, sembari terus mengikuti kompetisi internasional.

Gadis Spanyol itu bernama Raquel Gomez.
Peristiwa itu terjadi ketika Andy konser di Spanyol pada 1991. Saat itu dia berkenalan dengan seorang gadis yang membuatnya jatuh hati. Ketika kehidupan mulai mapan, Andy mempersunting Raquel pada 1994 dan memboyongnya ke Belanda. ''Situasi ekonomi mulai membaik, 1998 kita pindah. Jual apartemen di Belanda, beli rumah di Spanyol,'' tutur ayah seorang anak berusia 7 tahun bernama Alicia Pirena Sukarlan ini.

Mereka memilih Spanyol.
Pilihan tinggal di Spanyol bukan tanpa alasan. Dia bilang, ''Selama di Belanda saya kenal banyak komponis Spanyol. Memang kini Spanyol sebagai kiblat musik sastra yang baru. Kalau zaman abad ke-18 kiblat itu adalah Austria, kemudian Jerman, sekarang pindah ke Spanyol. Banyak komponis ke Spanyol, saya banyak kenal dengan mereka. Pemerintah Spanyol juga sedang giatnya mempromosikan kebudayaannya, seni, film, tari, musik.''

Inilah Andy sekarang.
Nama Andy, Ananda Sukarlan, adalah nama besar seorang pianis bertaraf internasional. Dialah orang Indonesia pertama yang diabadikan dalam buku 2000 Outstanding Musicians on 20th Century. Namanya pun tertera dalam The International Who's Who in Music, sebuah buku hasil riset internasional yang memuat riwayat hidup orang-orang penting dalam bidang seni musik.

Bermain piano adalah bagian hidup.
Bagi Andy, mendentingkan tuts demi tuts piano bukan pekerjaan lagi. Inilah hidupnya. ''Memang saya dapat nafkah dari situ, tapi bukan hanya itu. Banyak hal yang saya kerjakan karena memang saya suka. Terkadang saya menulis musik, saya tidak tahu akan dimainkan oleh siapa,'' tutur Andy yang baru saja membuat konser di Jakarta. Obsesi? ''Proyek saya sekarang, saya ingin memperkenalkan gamelan ke musik sastra dunia.''

http://www.republika.co.id/koran_detail.as...230125&kat_id=3


This post has been edited by heartshapedbox: May 5 2006, 10:56 AM

[testcubaanujian]

[Aranadhel]

How about Dian Sastro?

[heartshapedbox]

How about Dian Sastro?

Give Ben your reason why Dian Sastro deserves to be featured....

[furansizuka]

Dian Sastrowardoyo


Diandra Paramitha Sastrowardoyo (born in Jakarta, 16 March 1982) is well known as Dian Sastrowardoyo or Dian Sastro, is one of famous leading Indonesian actress. Not only renown in Indonesia but also in neighbor countries. Starting her career as a model in teen magazine Gadis (1996), she’s considered as an icon of the raising of Indonesian film industry. She has received local and international awards.

Her first movie entitled ‘Bintang Jatuh’ (2000) or ‘Fallen Star’, directed by now-famous director Rudi Sujarwo, was not too hit the market. The next film in 2001, ‘Pasir Berbisik’ or ‘Whispering Sands’ brought her name into eminence. In Nan T. Achnas’ hand (Indonesian woman director), Dian encountered acting with senior actress and actor Christine Hakim (Asian Heroine – Times Magazine version) and Slamet Rahardjo. Through this film, Dian was awarded international awards: Best Female Actress at Singapore Film Festival (2002) and Asia Film Festival in Deauville, France (2002). Besides many local awards, in 2005 she bagged Most Promising and Talented Young Actress at Asia Pacific Film Festival.

The undergraduate literature student of University of Indonesia then continue soars in film industry when a brand new teen flick film ‘Ada Apa Dengan Cinta’ or ‘What’s With Love’ (2002) released the following year and the rest is history. ‘What’s With Love’ is a teen film that made a big hit not only nationwide but also internationally. It reached over 2 million viewers, and broke the sales record at the time. It became the milestone of the next Indonesian teen movies, though sad ending in teen love story was still a new thing in Indonesian films.

‘What’s With Love’ also reached huge popularity in Malaysia; it was also broadcasted in Australian and Korean TV. On April 2005 the film was released at cinemas in Japan and it received big attention from the public especially Japanese youths. ‘What’s With Love’ then republished in a form of Japanese novel titled ‘Beautiful Days’. They released the movie in DVD format as well. And thanks to Japan, they also made special website for this movie in Japanese version: http://www.beautifuldays.jp/top.html




Interview in Tokyo
http://www.cinemacafe.net/interview/bn/bn_0503.phtml

Filmografi
· 2000: Bintang Jatuh (Falling Star)
· 2001: Pasir Berbisik (Whispering Sands)
· 2002: Ada Apa dengan Cinta? (What’s With Love)
· 2003: Arisan! (The Gathering)
· 2004: Puteri Gunung Ledang (The Princess of Mount Ledang)
· 2005: Banyu Biru (Blue Banyu)
· 2005: Ungu Violet (Purple Violet)
· 2005: Belahan Jiwa (Soulmate)
· 2006: Dunia Tanpa Koma (A World Without Coma)
Awards
· 1996: Winner of Cover Girl Gadis Magazine contest
· 2002: Lux Soap exclusive model 2002 from JWT AdForce-Unilever
· 2002:
o March – Best Actress Asia Film Festival Deauville, France for film ‘Pasir Berbisik’/’Whispering Sands’
o April – Best Actress at 15th Singapore International Film Festival for film ‘Pasir Berbisik’/’Whispering Sands’
· 2004: Best Actress at Indonesia Film Festival 2004 for film ‘Ada Apa Dengan Cinta’/’What’s With Love’
· 2005: Most Favorite Actress MTV Indonesia Movie Awards for film ‘Ungu Violet’/’Purple Violet’
· 2005: Most Promising and Talented Young Actress at Asia Pacific Film Festival, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for film ‘Ungu Violet’/’Purple Violet’

‘What’s Up With Love?’ is novelized in Japan!

From www.indonesiaselebriti.com April 1, 2005

The reputation of ‘What’s With Love?’ seems hasn’t banished yet. Hitting big succeed in own country a few years ago, the popularity of the movie now reappearing, not in Indonesia but in Japan. By the Japan publishing company, Sony Magazine Inc., the film stared by Dian Sastro and Nicholas Saputra will be published in a novel titled “Beautiful Days".

"This has been so proud news. Here it is, our own country child’s design appreciated by the others, especially Japan. For all this time, we are “occupied” by Japanese manga. So it’s normal if we feel happy and proud,” said Diandra Sastrowardoyo or Dian Sastro.

For the first step, "Beautiful Days" will be printed 15 thousands exemplar with price 740 Yen or IDR 66,000. According to Dian, Sony was interested in making the novel of ‘What’s With Love?’ after the promotion of this movie few weeks ago in Japan.

"Not so long ago, I, Rudi Sudjarwo and Nicolas Saputra, were invited to Tokyo, Japan to promote this film. The Fumio Furuya Company bought the film to be run at 30 cinemas in 7 cities of Japan; they are Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Fukuoka and Kobe," explained Dian.

For 6 days in Japan, she said she got many interesting experiences. One of them was when the press conference with Japanese media. They asked her whether the lifestyle of high school students in Jakarta was so glamour and they could drive cars to school.
"Being asked like that, I just could explain that the story of the movie is related to the middle class student in Jakarta. Not all-Indonesian students driving cars, only some of them,” said her.

Besides asking about teen lifestyle in our capital city, the press also asked some jokes and slang words in film ‘What’s With Love?’. "I can understand if they haven’t gotten our slang words. Hence something that we consider funny, but they don’t get it. Well perhaps that’s what happened if we have language and culture barrier. But overall we all were satisfied with the enthusiastic of Japanese youngster to watch this movie,” added her.

[Tuanku_Nan_Renca...]

^ Adam Jordan??? Gimme a break!!

Adam Jordan Pawns

------------------------------------

Why Adam should be considered to feature on AF cover page?

Adam's 'what cewek cewek wants' smile is enough reason why he should be there with agnes and anggun, even chuck norris believes Adam is the only worthy successor of Rano Karno, who even though hasnt graduated yet even after he is 35+ yo.. watch si Doel anak betawi for more information, but still able to make two extremely pretty girls attracted to him. back to Adam.. if adam is the only rano's successor.. then he is worthy to feature up



lucu lucuan aja

This post has been edited by Tuanku_Nan_Rencah: May 7 2006, 11:55 AM

[Aranadhel]

Many thanks to furansizuka for the infos on Dian Sastro..

[furansizuka]

Adam Jordan Pawns

------------------------------------

Why Adam should be considered to feature on AF cover page?

Adam's 'what cewek cewek wants' smile is enough reason why he should be there with agnes and anggun, even chuck norris believes Adam is the only worthy successor of Rano Karno, who even though hasnt graduated yet even after he is 35+ yo.. watch si Doel anak betawi for more information, but still able to make two extremely pretty girls attracted to him. back to Adam.. if adam is the only rano's successor.. then he is worthy to feature up



lucu lucuan aja

ewww.....

[furansizuka]

Dian Sastro Part II-The Gallery
Where's everybody? It seems only me and heartshapedbox do all the things here We demand a payment then!








Tons of Dian Sastro’s pix are here:
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?...opic=39415&st=0
http://www.geocities.com/dswardoyo/

[secret@dmirer]

glen fredly!!!

kualitas vokalnya diatas rata2

armand maulana frontman nya GIGI

aksi panggungnya top abis,diatas rata2 artis asia

gwe yakin mereka yang terbaik diasia,penyanyi jepang atau korea bakal minder kalo tampil live bareng mereka percaya deh!!

[x1um312]

Agnes Monica and Ada Band

[XxRyoChanxX]

DIAN!!! NICHOLAS!!!

[furansizuka]

PART II CONTINUES

[doodlicious]

nirina gimana?

[sande_van_java]

how about bill saragi the jazz singer from USA but he is pure indonesian, Any one has his biodata or pics.......

[XxRyoChanxX]

DIAN is soo pretty

[furansizuka]

how about bill saragi the jazz singer from USA but he is pure indonesian, Any one has his biodata or pics.......

Bill Saragih is famous too -thumb I also wanna put Nadya Hutagalung in!

[Aranadhel]

Bill Saragih is famous too -thumb I also wanna put Nadya Hutagalung in!

you everyone you wanna put in... why dont you just stay to your number 1 idol for life, si ag mon itu.... keep it simple.

[furansizuka]

Indonesia has so much awesome artists that we usually have more than 1 favorite. If you feel uneasy about it, you can write your own fave artist here or in malaysian chat. Keep it simple.

This post has been edited by furansizuka: May 16 2006, 08:22 AM

[furansizuka]

After Dian Sastro, let me introduce you to another Indonesian Prominent Star!

NADYA HUTAGALUNG
PART I
Full Name : Nadya Yuti Hutagalung
Occupation : Model, MTV Asia VJ (1995-2000), Actress, TV Presenter
Etnicity : Indonesian (Batak ethnic) – Australian (French)
Place/Birth Date : Sydney, 28 July 1974

Nadya Hutagalung probably is the most recognizable Indonesian beauty. Yes, she was the MTV Asia VJ from Indonesia. This woman comes from West part of Indonesia from an island called Sumatra. She carries Batak heritage and speaks fluently in both English and Indonesian.

Nadya Hutagalung is one of famous Indonesian celebrities who reach her eminence through out South East Asia and Pacific region when she became MTV Asia VJ. She started her career as a model when she was 11 years old after won a model search in Australia and then she became international model. Her face appeared on many famous magazine covers such as Elle, Vogue, etc. When MTV Asia began to broadcast they found Nadya as the best choice to be one of the first VJs of MTV Asia. Her beautiful face, smart spoken and stunning appearance had brought MTV Asia became popular among youths.

Nadya was then touted as one of the most beautiful women according to For Him Magazine international edition, several Singapore magazines where MTV Asia Head Office located, and of course the local magazines in Indonesia. She was also became a brand image of Coca Cola, Frank & Co. and Lux soap. Nadya also appeared as a VJ for MTV Beach on MTV USA, New York in 2000 and played TV drama in Singapore.
In 1999 and 2000 Nadya won Asian Television Awards for Best Host. Indonesian newspaper Bintang listed her as one of top 10 stars on television, and Singapore’s New Paper touted her as Personality of The Year. Asiaweek Magazine wrote her as one of the Asian Trend Makers.

After leaving MTV Asia in 2001 she joined Singapore TV Station MediaWorks as a TV host and actress. Even though she’s became a part of MediaWorks she still excited to host shows in Indonesia such as ‘A Mild Live on TV-Power by Soundbuzz’ and TV drama and active in WWF organization for save orangutan campaign because she believed that was her way to keep connecting with Indonesia. In 2004 when tsunami hit Asian region Nadya hand in hand with charity organization MILK (Mainly I Love Kids) spearheaded a project called ‘Finding Sunshine’ to raise funds for tsunami victims.

PART II
From: Asiaweek Magazine (ed. 1999)
http://www.pathfinder.com/asiaweek/98/0306/cs3.html

TREND MAKERS
NADYA HUTAGALUNG

WHEN MTV BECKONED IN 1995, Nadya Hutagalung came running. Music, travel, hey, this was a job that she could have fun doing. And she has. The 23-year-old video jockey has clearly struck a chord with young audiences in the region. Consider the mushrooming number of Webpages devoted to the Indonesian-Australian (just too many for us to count). She was honored at last year's Asian Television Awards, the Indonesian newspaper Bintang listed her as one of the top 10 stars on television, and Singapore's New Paper voted her the show time personality of the year.

What makes her such a hit? Good looks and a spunky personality help. But the MTV presenter, known almost universally by her first name, reckons there's more to it. "I'm real," she says. "I don't just sit and giggle. What you see is me. If I don't feel like talking one day, then I don't. Other days I might feel like being crazy, throwing papers and stuff. So I do it." Perhaps there's an affinity for limelight in her genes. Raised in a theatrical family in Australia, Nadya was already performing in a local theater company as a child. At age 12, she was headed for Japan in pursuit of a modeling career. Her distinctive looks and vibrant personality brought plenty of work with top international publications -- and a confidence in front of cameras that helped plenty in her television career.
It's tempting to dismiss Nadya as a narcissist or an airhead. She's neither. In fact, the ex-model is something of a greenie. References to the dangers of over-fishing and destruction of coral reef pepper her TV patter. There's a degree of self-interest, of course. The star is a keen diver. Recently, she has even begun to lobby government support for protecting Indonesia's marine reserves (a relative is a member of the legislature). Nadya loves surfing too -- on the Web that is. The self-confessed Nethead is often found on chat-lines. And despite her raver's image, Nadya is definitely house proud. She is a single mother with a four-year-old son, and is happiest searching out art works and other unusual items for her new home in Singapore. A pet snake, for example. "Although I have to find out whether it's legal to keep them here," she hastens to add. Film offers have inevitably made their way to her in-tray. For now "MTV is my priority," she says. But she's dreaming of another way to mix work with play: her own dive center.




Naughty By Nature
Alone and modelling in Tokyo at eleven, a mother at 19 and a new person at 28, Nadya Hutagalung has led a life rivalled only by that of a rollercoaster's


If the quintessential 80s MTV VJ was Noni, then the 90s belonged to Nadya Hutagalung. Still the NS boy's poster-girl, it's hard to pin down her career; she's been a model, VJ, presenter and recently, a stage actress. Hard-livin', hard drinkin' and far away from home in her teen years, Nadya is the bad girl survivor. Now a mother of two, Tyrone, 10, and Fynn, 10 months, she has definitely mellowed. Fellow thespian Lim Yu Beng, catches up with Nadya, still grinning from the fact that he’s seen her do a striptease for the stage production, Closer.
More on Newman Magazine: http://www.newman.com.sg/issue/11/celebrity_nadya.html