gallery artist indonesia: Cinta Laura

Rabu, 20 Agustus 2008

Cinta Laura, a young Indonesian artist makes her way to the toll of fame when she debuted on a local television series called “Cinderella”.

She won the Indonesian award for Best New Actress, and was called upon to chant the 5 pillars of the Indonesian constitution, Pancasila, in the presence of the very much respected Soekarno family during the 100th anniversary of National Awakening.

Impressive portfolio, don’t you think? Especially for a 14-year old.

But it wasn’t her acting skill that made her famous. Instead, it was her LACK of skill that made her name known to every Indonesian.

Like in any entertainment business, stars are trend setters.

Paris Hilton with her bimbotic attitude marked the Hollywood scene to be “That’s Hot”, and soon after, her trademark is worshiped by millions of her very-annoying fans.

In the land of Indowood, Cinta Laura pulled a similar trick.

Instead of going for a one-liner trademark like Paris did, she decided to copyright every word that comes out of her mouth.

Let me put it into a scenario.

If you were to ask an ordinary Indonesian How are You, they would most probably say: “Oh Kabar baik, terimah kasih” (Oh, I’m fine, thank you).

But if you were to ask Indonesians like Cinta Laura, they would reply: “Oh, ka-bwar shaya baiq kwok. Teriy-ma Ka-shey” (Oh, I’m fine, thank you)

I know it sounds like a dish coming out from a Kebab store, but trust me, that’s Indonesian in dysfunctional mode.

Born as half-German and half-Javanese, she uses this excuse to defend her funky accent when speaking Indonesian.

But it appears she can speak Indonesian with an Indonesian accent when she is acting in her series.

So, the dilemma boils to the question: Is she faking it?

Like Paris Hilton, Cinta Laura gains fans, and attracts even more haters.

Videos posted in YouTube come in the form of a mockery of her accent, and one song was even made for her.

My Indonesian friends at my University share a sense of dislike towards her, and thinks she’s incredibly “nyebelin” (annoying) and often when we speak, they’ll switch on their Cinta Laura accent, to spark a laugh in a conversation which eventually ends in bad-mouthing the star.

For me personally, I do not dislike her, nor do I like her, but I sure think she makes a pretty damn good trend-setter.

With the life of the celebrities in Indonesia filled with Marriage scandals, and endless display of their extravagant lives, Cinta Laura puts fresh humor in the land of Indowood.

Not only are the ordinary Indonesians mocking her, but her fellow stars, always always mock her accent too.

But there’s a twist in the negativity of this. With a song made by an Indonesian to mock her, a cellular service provider decided to put that song into one of their HOT Ringtones.

The song generated heavy publicity, and it is reported that Cinta Laura could grab hundreds of thousands US dollars as a profit benefited from the Service Provider.

One thing about her that I find quite annoying (besides her accent) is her over-acting attitude. She exaggerates everything she does, but again, who can blame a 14 hormonal year old for doing so?

And why in the world would the Soekarno family chose her to read out the Pancasila? The whole ceremony could become a laughing circus.

Oh well, all I know is that, she swept Indonesia harder than the Tsunami did in 2004.

Pic Cinta Laura