JKT48 2nd Generation : An Article from GADIS Magazine

JKT48 2nd Generation: The Next Big Thing in Indonesia

The progress of JKT48 had gained a huge success. That’s why; it didn’t need such a long time for them to give birth to their second generation. Through the process of the audition, 29 people were chosen to become the newest member of JKT48 2nd Generation. Let’s read their exciting stories.

Their Activities before joining JKT48

Most of the JKT48 2nd Generation Members are already familiar with Japanese arts and culture. Their interests in joining JKT48 might have been triggered by their interest in expanding the talents they’ve already have before. For example, let’s meet Kariin-Chan , who already familiar in musical and theatrical acts, even appeared in some stage shows. “I already did some theatrical acts with a studio in Bandung. Besides, I also took part in dance lessons, and I got some achievements and awards for acting and dancing”, said this little girl. Same thing with Natalia, Vanka, Lidya, and Noella, who all are already, learned some dancing and acting.

Besides, there are also some members who already active in the modeling world, one of them are Della. “Before I joined (JKT48), I often do modeling gigs for music video, magazines or TV commercial. I also starred in TV soap operas” stated the girl who is also a fan of Agnes Monica.  Dhifa and Naomi also admitted that they have quite the same thing. “I also did some modeling jobs before I joined JKT48. And I often joins fashion show contest.”

Different situation fell upon Olive, Ni-chan, and Yona, who actually didn’t do modeling, dancing or acting. They actually really close to the Japanese culture, which became one of many reasons of them joining the audition for JKT48. All of them stated that their leisure time outside their school before joining JKT48 was spent in Costume Play (Cosplay) activities. “Before I enter JKT48, I was only a 1st year ordinary student who just began my college study in Bandung. But I actively enroll in Japanese Culture Festivals, especially cosplay,” explained Yona who loves classical music. Already accustomed with Japanese culture, thus they are aware of the JKT48 2nd Generation Audition.

The Exciting Audition Phase

Almost all members stated that they will never forget everything they experienced during the audition. These girls who all came all around Indonesia admitted that there’s so many challenges to be fulfilled during the audition process. All leaves them with such good, funny, exciting and pleasant memories. One of the biggest challenged they had to face was the difficult physical training.

“I was not ready for such tense physical training, the same goes with the other members. There was a time when I was punished because I wore a pair of jeans pants instead of the training ones. The trainer then asked me to do push-ups and sit-ups : 50 times each. The result was my body aches all around and hard to move, made me cry at that time. That’s because my body was surprised with the training” said Via who loves going out to the mall. Naomi added that there were some auditionees whose condition dropped because of exhaustion. “But after doing those for a few times, we can adapt with the trainings” said this hip-hop loving girl.

Besides hard physical training they need to endure, that talent show they need to do while auditioning was also exciting and leaves some great stories to be told. One of them was Uty who was asked to recite from the Qur’an. “When I was auditioning, I was asked about what my talents were. I said that I am capable of reciting the Qur’an, and the judges asked me to practice it right in front of them. And I did practice it. At that time I was thinking I need to be honest regarding my talents. It’s better than I lied about something else, and I can’t do that thing if I was told to do so.” this soccer-fan girl put in plain words. “For me, I do the Ngebor Style Dancing [TN : a dangdut style dancing brought to Indonesians by Inul Daratista] when auditioning, Hehehe” Nobi-chan  recalled.

The Ups-and-Downs of Joining JKT48

After being chosen as the part of the 29 members of the JKT48 2nd Generation, these happy girls admitted that there are many precious experiences they have to go through. “I was once an irritable girl. Joining JKT48, I learn to suppress my emotion and understand other members. Especially because all the members are girls” said Nobi-chan.

“There are many positive things that we get, joining the JKT48. One of them was gaining new friends. Also by joining this group, I can meet my idol. One of them is Ajun Prawira [TN : The guy hosting the JKT48 2nd Generation Audition in RCTI along with Wenda Tan].” Said Dena. The same thing applies to Viny who admit that she’s very happy to meet the members of AKB48 during their visit to Japan.

Along with all the happy things, they of course have to face difficult times joining JKT48. One of the most difficult things they had to face was to split with their families for a while, like Rona’s experience. “I come from Pemalang, Central Java. [TN : It’s like different Prefecture/State than Jakarta or even Bandung which is nearer to Jakarta]. Since I joined JKT48, I did not meet with my Papa for a while, we only communicate by telephone. Besides I was kinda sad because none of my friends from Pemalang who joined the audition with me pass (the audition)” said the girl who loves rock music.

As the second generation who appears after the success of the first one, their existence was once viewed with skepticism. “There is still much pessimism  regarding the JKT48 2nd Generation. Some people sneered at us, especially during our first debut. We have to admit that we’re sad since we got that quite not-so-positive response.” said Viny. But this girl who was a Nicholas Saputra fans [TN: a prominent actor, got his first popularity breakthrough via the movie Ada Apa Dengan Cinta in 2002, thus ending the drought of high-quality movie in Indonesia since the 90’s] make sure to the fans that this second generation are able to proves themselves worthy and can make the same achievements  their sisters just did.

School and Career

It’s not easy to divide their time between their schools and career in JKT48, because their activities in  JKT48 were tight. Also the hard trainings they need to go through almost every day. “Sometimes when I’m so tired because of the training, I take some quick nap between classes at school. Because it’s sometimes kinda hard to me to resist my drowsiness. Luckily , my teacher understands my tight schedule so they refrain from giving me punishment” Uty said to us.

The school’s understanding is,  needless to say , important to help most of them striving through academics and career.  But not all members got the same compensation from their school. This once happened to Dena who was nearly getting herself dropped out by her school board. “It was difficult and riskful when I was asked to part my time between academics and career. I was nearly kicked-out by the school board. They asked me to choose between school and JKT48” she recalled. Sinka was also once got bad marks for Math, because she can’t concentrate because of the exhaustment after hard training. But as the time goes, they adapt more and more to the tight schedule, and they get more understanding from their schools.

Other members have their own way to even up between academics and career, by going through homeschooling. “I feel that it will difficult for me to split my time. So when I joined, I decided to go through homeschooling”.” Said Octi. Another member who joined Homeschooling beside Guitar-Playin’ Octi was Olive.

Fun Facts :

• ♦ Dellia confessed that she is the most slow-in-thinking girl between all of the members [TN : The Indonesian words used in the article was “Lola” or “Loading Lama”, can someone give me the right English word? ]

 

• ♦ Nobi-chan had twice entered the GADIS Sampul competition, in 2010 and 2012 [TN : a modeling contest held by the magazine which published this article. Maybe it can be imagined like an audition to be SEVENTEEN magazine cover models].

 

• ♦ Sisil said “Since I joined JKT48, I lived in Jakarta. Up till now, it’s still hard for me to find delicious food here. Because there’s no pempek as good as I have in Palembang. Because the training session was kinda tight, I was once dropped and stayed in hospital”

 

• ♦ Because the car she rides was broke down, Nadila once had to ride in an overcrowded train from her house in Bogor to have her training session.

 

• ♦ Last year Noella had already entered the audition for the first generation. But she was not lucky at that time. That’s why she tried for the second time and managed to pass, while singing to the song Lebih Indah from Adera.

Writers : Putriyantini, Fransiska Soraya, Mariska Tracy, Mayseeta

Source : GADIS Teen Magazine #06, February 26 to March 7 2013, http://www.gadis.co.id.

Translator Notes :

Indonesian still sees academic certificate as something important, especially to applied for job. Most people still ask their children to continue their studies to college. That’s why most JKT48 members still goes to school or college.

For the second generation itself , their performance was still not stabile, sometimes they’re wonderful, sometimes the performance was so sloppy that some fans expressed their disappointments on twitter. But that’s normal, since they’re new to this thing, but they need to maintain their performance so that people would come to their  show.

I had my eyes on Viny, I never see a bad show when she appears in the show. Nichan also often astonishes me with her good MC-ing.