A Pint-Sized Phenomenon
The biggest thing on the Indonesian showbiz scene is a 10-year-old who says she just loves to sing
By ARIF MUSTOLIH Jakarta 

For little Sherina Munaf, it all started two years ago, when she finished first in a karaoke talent contest at a Jakarta shopping mall. The next year, she won another. Mom and dad were delighted. What a splendid idea it would be, they thought, to record her voice so that she would later know what a clever little thing she had been as a youngster. Two years on, 10-year-old Sherina is an Indonesian showbiz phenomenon, the star of a movie that is setting box-office records and with two hit albums to her name.

What came through on that "childhood" recording was a voice that was strangely different from other children's. It had genuine musical coloring, a tone and complexity that suggested Sherina could perform a lot more than simple infant material. From that belief sprang the debut album, Andai Aku Besar Nanti ("When I Grow Up"), ostensibly for children, but featuring songs that appealed to all members of the family. The album sold 300,000 and within months had picked up a cluster of awards at Anugerah Musik Indonesia, the local equivalent of the Grammys. Sherina won Best Child Singer, Best Child Song (Andai Aku Besar Nanti), Best Children's Album and Best New Singer. 

Lucky? Of course. But this is no simple story of a fortunate little girl. Sherina's musical - and other - talents have been honed almost daily since the age of five. A sampling of her weekly schedule: Monday: swimming at 5 a.m., school, singing classes in the afternoon. Tuesday afternoon: ballet followed by English. Wednesday: more swimming, classical piano at lunchtime and jazz piano in the afternoon. Thursday, Friday and Saturday: the same all over again. Says one of her music teachers: "I'm amazed by what she can do. She's a master at the piano and singing and even acting. No matter how difficult the material she's given, she always tries to work on it and succeed."  

Before musical stardom came her way, Sherina's nascent acting skills had already attracted the attention of the Miles Production film company, which thought she would fit nicely into a musical they were planning called Vera and Elmo's Adventure. Producer Mira Lesmana recalls what she had in mind: "We set out to make a film for Indonesian families. They don't want serious, heavy stuff. The important thing was to produce something that was entertaining and would make families feel good about the Indonesian cinema again." Shooting began in November last year, with Sherina as the young lead. 

As the storyline was being finalized, Andai Aku Besar Nanti hit the stores, catapulting Sherina from a talented wannabe to an established name. She was now bigger than the movie. Vera and Elmo's Adventure was retitled Sherina's Adventure. Directed by Riri Riza, it tells the story of a musically gifted girl very much like Sherina who moves with her family from Jakarta to Bandung (in real life, Sherina's family went the other way). When a classmate is kidnapped in a business dispute, our pint-sized heroine sets out to free him. The simplicity of the story and the old-fashioned family entertainment it delivers have struck a chord in a country direly in need of light relief. Released in June, Sherina's Adventure has been seen by over a million people and has earned an estimated $723,000 - a fortune by the standards of the Indonesian cinema. The people at Miles Production are delighted with the way things have turned out for them. They spent $241,000 on Sherina's Adventure.

Ten-year-old Novita Amalia is typical of the youngsters who have flocked to the movie. She says she and her parents queued for hours twice in the hope of getting tickets, but failed. She then took matters into her own hands and lined up after school. It was a long wait and there was lots of pushing and shoving, but she got what she wanted. What's the appeal? "The songs are good and the girl is pretty," she says. "It would be nice to be like Sherina." As for the star, she seems a little confused, but is taking it all in her stride. "I had no idea. I had never imagined, never knew. What is this popularity? The point is I like to sing."