Promotion of Vanka and Rachel: The Significance for JKT48

Sunday, 23rd of February 2014. Balai Kartini, South Jakarta.

The venue, filled with thousands of JKT48 fans, became a witness of a new “history” in JKT48’s timeline:

Jennifer Rachel Natasya (Rachel) and Thalia Ivanka Elizabeth (Vanka/Tacil), two members from the 2nd Generation JKT48 Trainee, was promoted as regular members of JKT48 Team J. That moment was filled with loud roar of excitement from fans, and for some of them, tears in their eyes.

As the smoke clears, we will appraise the significance of their promotion for JKT48 in their current situation. For the objective of being fair and square, I will not delve further into any kind of rumors and hearsay regarding the promotion.

First, we will take a look at the numbers: the statistics that are the results of their performance during Rachel and Vanka’s time in JKT48.

Rachel’s performance numbers in JKT48 theater is not to be taken lightly: As of today, she already performed 148 times across various setlists (Demi Seseorang, Matahari Milikku, Aturan Anti Cinta, Pajama Drive).

This number exceeds the number of performances from many JKT48 members: Akicha, Frieska, Haruka, Jeje, Rena, Sonia; even the JKT48 Captain Melody by a slight margin! Even compared to her colleague in Team KIII from the same 2nd Generation, she still have more shows under her belt compared to some of the members. 

Vanka’s perfomance number in JKT48 is also not to be underestimated: Even if 123 of her theater performances is the smallest compared to her colleagues in Team K3, it is still higher than some major members of Team J. Both of their theater performances are way above other 2nd Generation Trainees that are yet to achieve their centennial (100th) theater performance.

Social media-wise, Vanka is more popular than Rachel: Her 20th position with more than 200 thousand followers is larger compared to Rachel’s 35th position with a little above 170 thousand followers.  But as a side note, Rachel’s Twitter popularity is lower than all of  other 2nd Generation Trainees except for Shafa.

These statistics alone would convince people that both Rachel and Vanka’s promotion are not “just another promotion”: With the de facto “vacuum” of the concurrent JKT48 members (Akicha and Rena), in which their default location hinders any effort to ensure a regular appearance at JKT48 theater, the number of available Team J members dwindled down to 17 members.

With the current tempo and the academic situation (some of the Team J members are in their final years in school, with more concentration devoted to National Exam study effort), substitute members to fill in any absent members are to be expected. And 1 member warming the bench isn’t exactly ideal for Team J.

The current trainees (all consisted of 2nd Generation members) can be “utilized” to fill in the gaps in both Team J and Team KIII shows, should any regular member is absent. This causes some of the Trainees to appear in the theater almost daily, almost double the “dosage” of the usual regular performances. This certainly affects the quality of the performances in the theater.

So one of the logical solution is to have some members promoted to regular member positions in Team J, to ensure they can fill the gap of Akicha and Rena’s absence. The recently promoted Trainees could then concentrate on performing only in one setlist, one team, instead of performing interchangeably in both Team J and team KIII’s setlist.

Do note, that with the recent announcement in AKB48 group’s Dai Sokaku Matsuri (Grand Reformation Concert), in which Akicha and Rena was severed from their overseas concurrency status (Tentatively until Wednesday), this promotion cannot come at a more perfect time.

There is still 2 (two) days more for Akicha and Rena to send an appeal should they protest this decision from the management, but if the decision stays, Rachel and Vanka’s promotion should be a large boost for Team J’s morale and to ensure a more consistent theater performance quality.