MetroBatavia

Listen to Anggun's Echo (You and I).

 

Finally released! It's not the official video - but it's Anggun's official song for France for the Eurovision Song Contest. You can also download the song on iTunes.

Anggun represents France during the Eurovision Song Contest.

Great news for France and for all fans of Anggun! Anggun is the artist who will represent France during the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan in May this year! She will compete against solo singer and groups from all over Europe. Her contest song is called "Echo (You and I)". On January, the 29th an exclusive preview of the song will be broadcastet on france3.fr. "Echo (You and I)" was written by Anggun and William Rousseau to music by Jean-Pierre Pilot.

Perhaps the Eurovision Song Contest will boost her international carreer. In 1994 Anggun left Indonesia to pursue an global way. Well, it's been quite a long time (1997) when her greatest hit "Snow in the Sahara" was played around the globe. We'll see how "Echo" will perform ... 

Katy Perry rocked the stage...

...and kissed a boy. Adri, 21, was the lucky guy who was allowed to climbed the stage at Sentul International Convention Center near Bogor after Katy promissed that “the first boy to take their shirt off to get up on stage.” The pop queen gave him a kiss on the cheek, and later Adri kissed her back while taking their picture with the camera on his mobile phone. After that, she sang her smash hit "I kissed a girl".

It was Katy Perry's first gig in Indonesia. “You guys have been waiting for so long, it feels like a lifetime,” she said. She assured fans that it was exciting to finally be in Indonesia, and added that she was “enjoying Jakarta but I’m sunburned.”

Anggun live in Jakarta.

This is your chance to see superstar Anggun live in Indonesia. Anggun who moved to Paris a couple of years ago will perform at the Plenary Hall Jakarta Convention Center on November, the 27th. This is her only concert in Indonesia this year.

We'll see what songs she's going to sing. Perhaps she performes the songs of her new album "Echoes" which has been released in April this year along with the alltime favourites "Snow in the Sahara" and "Still reminds me".

Angklung world record vs. Justin Bieber.

 

On July 9th this year 5,185 people played angklung together in Washingtion DC. That was the largest angklung orchestra performance ever. The record made it into the Guiness Book of World Records. The whole event was organized by the Indonesian embassy in the USA. It's great watching Indonesians with Americans and tourists playing this traditional bamboo instrument to songs like Michael Jackson's "We are the world".

Furthermore, we found another unique angklung performance by little students of SD Bianglala Bandung. They performed Justin Bieber's song "Baby"! Just watch the video below.

 

Incubus rocked Jakarta.

 photo taken by Muhammad Asranur

Have you been to Istora Senayan to watch Incubus live? If not you can click on the videos below to listen and watch their great performance. All video clips were recorded by Indonesian Incubus fans. Jakarta was one a few gigs in Asia during their world tour "If not now, when" - just like Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Tokyo. Btw, in 2008 Incubus were the last time in Jakarta to play a concert.

 Promises, Promises.

 Drive.

 Nice to know you.

 A crow left of a murder. 

Norman Kamaru is changing the police’s image.

In April we reported about lip sync policeman Norman Kamaru who caused a huge hype throughout Indonesia and the Internet. His YouTube sensation hits more than 2.6 million views! Norman, an ordinary policeman, has been invited to all the important TV shows in Indonesia. On stage, Norman always wears his police clothes. It is his trademark, it makes him unique because he is real, a real policeman. 

We know that the Indonesian police has not a really a good reputation. But now there is Norman. He represents all Indonesian police officers and he probably is changing this set image. Norman is down to earth, he is just a like a friend of ours. Norman is the best thing what could happened tot he Indonesian police.

If Norman would be the face of a national PR campaign the agency that made this would win several awards. There is coverage everywhere, national and even international attention, and probably a significant change of the police’s image. But Norman is real – a real viral phenomena.

Indomie rap video by J20.

 Indomie, Indonesians favorite instant noodles enter the western pop - well rap - culture. The noodles got their own song. It’s the world’s first instant noodle rap song! British rapper J2O / JtwoO wrote a song about the Indonesian brand. If you want to see a Mercedes Benz with a trunk full of noodles you should watch this funny video. You can download “Indomie” here. It's all about the Indomie!

Halo Beb - funny Black Eyed Peas parody.

 
In the beginning there was Dirty Dancing's popular "Time of my life". Last year, The Black Eyed Peas took over with "The time (dirty bit)" and now Jak FM  released a funky version. Jakarta's No. 1 radio station among young adults produced a real funny parody called "Hello Beb". The song is more or less a love story without a happy ending. The disco boy likes a girl - but she wants a funky dancer, no nasty guy. The song is performed by 4x100, the songwriters are Jak FM members Ronal Surapradja & Tike Priatnakusumah. It is even worth to watch the "making of". Enjoy...

 

Chaiyya Chaiyya - the original Indian song.

In addition to the lip-sync policeman here is the original music video from 1998. Shah Rukh Kahn dances in the film "Den Se" to the song "Chaiyya Chaiyya". The singers are Sukhwinder Singh & Sapna Awasthi. According to Wikipedia "Chaiyya Chaiyya" is one of the most popular songs in India!

While Indonesian Norman Kamaru breaked 1 million views today, Shah Rukh Kahn and his Indian dancers still have 96,000 views.

Indonesian policeman lip-syncs to Bollywood song.

“POLISI GORONTALO MENGGILA” is the latest YouTube hit from Indonesia. The video shows Norman Kamaru, a policeman from Gorontalo, Sulawesi how lip-syncs to a Bollywood song. And he is doing it well. Funny Norman has been watched by 700,000+ people on Youtube so far. The reactions of the people of his town Gorontalo were throughout positive. Instead of just playing with his cell phone - like his colleague did - Norman is boosting his career (during his lunch break?). We’re curious to see what's next.

Shout for Justin Bieber & Iron Maiden.

 

Indonesia is on the schedule of international superstars again. 
Janet Jackson, Iron Maiden and Justin Bieber - they all will perform in Indonesia this year. Last week Janet Jackson entranced an audience of 4,000 with her “All Nite (Don’t Stop)” show that was especially designed for Jakarta’s audience.

This Friday heavy metal band Iron Maiden will rock Jakarta at the Ancol Carnival Jakarta. Tickets are reportedly sold out, with enthusiasts coming from many parts of Asia. Iron Maiden will also perform in Bali on 20 February.

 
A highlight for the younger audience will be Justin Bieber. He will appear on April 23th 2011 at the Sentul International Convention Center. The event is expected to attract an audience of more than 10,000 people from Indonesia and overseas.

There were times when artists like Alicia Keys cancelled their gigs in Indonesia due to bomb alerts, etc. Fortunately the atmosphere has changed and Indonesia is becoming an important destination for international concerts.

We speak no Americano - Bali version.

Watch this funny video by global YouTube-Star MysteryGuitarMan. MGM made his very own instrumental version of “We speak no Americano”. For his interpretation he used traditional Balinese instruments such as bamboo gamelan and bamboo flute.

MysteryGuitarMan is in real life Jonatas Penna, a Brazilian guitarist, animator, and filmmaker who lives in LA. His YouTube channel MysteryGuitarMan ranks #6 of the most subscribed channels worldwide!