IO – Singer from Indonesia, Anggun Cipta Sasmi was again chosen as a judge for the Mask Singer search event on French TV. “It is a great honor to be a judge on the biggest talent search TV program from the first TV channel in Europe,” said Anggun C. Sasmi in her press re- lease.
“This year was much more ex- traordinary because it featured great international stars”.
Receiving the opportunity to be the only judge from Indonesia, Anggun said that in fact, for a long time she had wanted other faces from her homeland to be there and appear in the talent search arena abroad.
“Over 20 years after my inter- national career started, I would like to see other Indonesian faces sing their songs on prime-time TV shows or become judges in talent search shows on foreign TV”.
“I started on this path two de- cades ago and it is time for young Indonesian women to show the world the diversity of talent we have,” said Anggun.
Anggun will shortly appear in a television film broadcast in France, Belgium, and Switzerland, saying that at this time she could not help but miss wanting to return to her hometown in Indonesia to meet her fans after the Covid-19 pandemic ends.
“I miss the people of Indone- sia and my family. I pray that my hometown will always be safe, be prosperous, and always shine throughout the world.”
Anggun’s popularity was not easily achieved. Before her name was known internationally, Ang- gun started her career in Indonesia from the age of seven, with the first recording album ‘Dunia I Have’.
As a teenager, Anggun released the single “Tua-Tua Keladi” which then catapulted her name into the Indonesian music galaxy.
Anggun’s success as a singer challenged her to create songs.
Two of her songs, namely “Bayang-Bayang Ilusi” and “Mim- pi”, turned out to have succeeded in bringing her success with several achievements in Indonesia.
Anggun, now 46 years old, mi- grated to Europe when she was 20 years old. She lived in London and the Netherlands before making up her mind to settle down in Paris, France. She also gave up her status as an Indonesian citizen to live in France.
In France, Anggun met produc- er Erick Benzi, the world’s top pro- ducer and one who also produced albums for Celine Dion. Anggun released her solo album, entitled Au Nom de la Lune in 1997. The single entitled “La Neige au Sahara” (Snow on The Sahara) sold out in France and became a Summer Hit in 1997.
Thanks to ‘Snow on the Sahara’, Anggun also became the first Indo- nesian artist to break the Billboard music chart, after occupying the 16th position on the Billboard Hot Dance/ Club Play and 19th position on the Billboard Border Breakers Chart.
Successful in France, Anggun also penetrated the international world by recording her album in two lan- guage versions, namely English and French, for example, the soundtrack album Open Hearts which was re- leased in 2002, and Luminescence in 2005.
In addition to successfully perching on the Billboard charts, Anggun also won various Cheva- lier des Arts et Lettres awards from the French government, the 2013 World Music Awards by winning nominations for three categories at once, namely World’s Best Female Artist, World’s Best Live Act, and World’s Best Entertainer of the Year as well as the Taormina Special Award for humanitarian activities as the FAO Goodwill Ambassador. (rp)