Agnes Monica (born
Agnes Monica Muljoto on July 1,
1986) is an Indonesian pop singer, dancer, actress, songwriter, and
producer. Her first teen album "..And the Story Goes" (2003) made her
popular as a teenage singer. It sold 30.000 copies only in 3 days. It
was a big success in Indonesia with the singles "Bilang Saja", "Jera"
and "Cinta Mati". This album made her received a high result in sales
and get double platinum. Then she released her second album "Whaddup A..
'?!" (2005). Her second album was also a success, with a hit single,
"Tak Ada Logika". It sold 50,000 copies in 10 days. After a week, it
went to triple platinum (with no album promotion in Malaysia). Her third
album was "Sacredly Agnezious" (2009), with her hit single,
Teruskanlah. but the album that produced her biggest hit to date,
"Matahariku".
Her
success has brought her fame not only
in her homeland, Indonesia, but also in neighboring Asian countries
such as Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Philippines and in the Netherlands.
Her performance at the
2008 Asia Song Festival in Seoul, Korea,
led to fame in Taiwan, Korea, China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific
region. She is the only singer in Indonesia who has own dance group
called,
Nezindahood, which always come along whenever Agnes
performs. In 2009, she began planning to launch an international career,
and started Mandarin lessons. One result of this was her role in two
Taiwanese drama series, "Romance in the White House" with Peter Ho, and
"The Hospital" with Jerry Yan.
Career
1995-2002: Career breakthroughAgnes
started her career at the age of 6 as a singer and host of a children's
TV show. As a child singer she released three albums called
Si Meong,
Yess and
Bala-bala. And not enough with that career, She also became a presenter of VAN (Video Anak Antv) on Antv,
Tralala-Trilili on RCTI and
Diva Romeo
on Trans TV. And her hard work got the prize, In 1999 and 2000, she won
a Panasonic Award. She became the most favorite children presenter for
her work at
tralala trilili. Her second children album,
Yess, was also became the Best Kid Album in 1999 and the award she received is not stopping but get more and more every year.
When Agnes was 15 years old, not only she played in a very big hit series called
Pernikahan Dini,
but also she is trusted to sing the series theme song. The series
itself is a big test for her. Because In the series she had to act as a
teenager who got married by accident and has a child. This role is
surely hard to act because she is only 15. But once again she proves
that she is a real actress. As the result of her role in
Pernikahan Dini series, she won four awards : two Panasonic Awards in 2001, for
The most popular drama series by viewers choice and
most favorite drama actress, and two SCTV awards in 2002 for
Most Popular Drama and
best actress.
It is said that for playing in this series is she is said to be one of
the most expensive highly paid actress. Because of her acting in
Pernikahan Dini, she getting very busy in the year 2002.
In
2002, she acted in 3 series "Lupus Milenia", "Kejarlah Daku Kau
Kutangkap" and "Amanda". For additional information "Kejarlah Daku kau
Kutangkap" is a remake from Indonesia best seller movie.
2003-2004: And The Story Goes...In 2003, Agnes released her album
And The Story Goes....
The album is really shows her mature skill in singing, look at her
voice in the song "Jera", "Ku tlah jatuh cinta" and "Bilang Saja". A lot
of big singers helped her to made this album including: Ahmad Dhani,
Abdee Negara(one of the personnel of Slank) and Titi DJ. She also
starred in TV series including
Cewekku Jutek, for which she also recorded the theme song "Indah",, and "Kau yang terindah". She won a Panasonic Award for
Favorite TV Drama Star and also as SCTV Award for
Best Actress.
In 2004, she starred in two series,
Bunga Perawan and
Cantik. She won a Planet Music Award for
New Female Artist, and three AMI Awards for
Best
Duo for her collaboration with Ahmad Dhani in the song "Cinta Mati",
Best singer, and Best dance and techno for her song "Bilang Saja", plus an SCTV Award for
her acting in Cantik. She was nominee in MTV Asia Awards 2004 and she also was the youngest artist of all nominees in Asia.
2005-2007: Whaddup A.. '?! and overseas career developmentIn 2005, Agnes released her album
Whaddup A.. ?!
in collaboration with US singer Keith Martin. Because of this huge
success selling caused the album to be re-released with the new concept
and VCD bonus. Two singles, "Bukan Milikmu Lagi" and "Tanpa Kekasihku"
has reached number 1 in MTV AMPUH . She won an SCTV Award for
best actress. and an award from Indonesian News Channel for
Music Video favorite Female.
In 2006, She won many awards such as : SCTV Music Awards for
Famous Pop Solo Album, MTV Indonesia Music Awards for
favorite female artist, Panasonic Awards for
Favorite Female TV Drama Star, 2 awards from VMI awards for
Favorite Video Clip and Best Actress in Video Clip "Tanpa Kekasihku", 3 awards from AMI Awards for
Best Pop Female Solo Artist, Best R&B production for Solo, Duo, or Group category, and Best Design Graphis : Lesin Design, and Gadis Award for
Go Regional. Agnes was involved in shooting the drama
The Hospital in Taiwan, where she acted alongside Jerry Yan, a member of the band F4. She also acted in the drama
Romance in the White House
alongside Peter Ho, though she only appeared in a few episodes. For her
brainpower, achievements and strong determination, a Korean Electronic
brand LG picked her as their ambassador in Indonesia. Alongside with LG,
she has numerous advertisements appear on media everyday, from a
fashionable Japanese motorcycle, to a traditional Javanese
Jamu. She also has been nominated by "Dewan Pimpinan Persatuan Artis Penyanyi, Pencipta Lagu dan Penata Musik Rekaman Indonesia" as
Phenomenal New Generation Indonesia Music Artist
By
the end of 2006, Agnes had the first concert in Malaysia. It was
planned to hold a concert in Brunei as well, but the government of
Brunei canceled it due to the objection from local religious counselor.
In 2007, She won two more awards for
Best Performance Artist
from Go Show and Extravaganza 3rd birthday. She became the special
guest star for The first Asian Idol, that held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Agnes Monica was also appointed by DEA (Drugs Enforcement
Administration) and IDEC Far East Region as the Anti Drugs Ambassador to
promote drug-free life for youngsters in Indonesia. The task requires
Agnes Monica to travel to 18 Asian countries in support of the
international anti-drugs campaign, including Nepal, South Korea, China,
India and Australia. According to the Chairman of IDEC Far East Region,
Mr. Thanos, they chose Agnes after a long observation. They considered
her a perfect choice as apart from being famous in east and south-east
Asia, Agnes has a healthy life-style and has achieved many successes.
She also became the Brand Ambassador for Japan's Honda Motors in
Indonesia. In the end of 2007, Agnes Monica has been called as a
Star Entertainer 2007.
2008-present: NEZ, Sacredly AgneziousComposing
and writing her own songs are not enough for her, she also produced her
latest 2 albums that will be released simultaneously (limited edition
mini album & Sacredly Agnezious). The limited edition consist of 2
singles, while Sacredly Agnezious contains 10 tracks in it (with gold
edition contains 13 tracks).
In 2008, Agnes released a mini album titled
NEZ
in DVD/VCD format. It contains two new videos, "Matahariku" and "Godai
Aku Lagi". This mini album also released in Malaysia, Singapore, and
Brunei with different packaging and different titled
Matahariku. Although this is a mini album that just contain two new videos, the mini album had reached more than 100.000 copies.
Agnes won an MTV Indonesia award for
Most Favorite Female Artist. Because of her work in the past, Agnes received the
Most Favorite Singer and
Wannabe Award
in the Nickelodeon Indonesia Kids Choice Awards 2008 (The first Kids
Choice Awards in Asia). Agnes still has not started her "international
debut" but she won an award at the Asia Song Festival 2008 held in
Seoul, Korea as
The Best Singer Award from the committee of Asia Song Festival 2008. Her appearance in the series
Jelita made her popular in Malaysia. It was watched by nearly two million Malaysians.
In 2009, Agnes released her album
Sacredly Agnezious
in two versions: the first contains 10 songs and the second version was
a limited edition, containing 13 songs (10 songs from the first version
plus three songs, Intro, Interlude and Outro). A special version of the
limited edition is on the front cover, both the text and logo Sacredly
Agnezious was coated with gold.
Agnes become one of 17
musicians to receive a Talk Less Do More Award from Class Mild Award,
naming her a Class Music Hero. Agnes Monica also became the youngest of
all Class Music Heroes. This is was her first award in 2009. On
February, she became the new Channel V AMP (Asia Music Platform) Artiste
and was featured for two days on the channel.
While generally
Indonesian students finish high school in six years, Agnes finished on
only four years. She took a one-year year break from studying to act in
Shanghai and Taiwan in 2008. She dropped out of university to pursue her
ambition for international success and plans to start her music career
in the USA. From the past of her acting skill, now Agnes Monica is the
highest paid actress in Indonesia. She is paid 60 million Rupiah per TV
series episode.
FundraisingAgnes
has conducted fundraising activities for victims of the 2004 Tsunami in
Aceh and the earthquake victims in Java. In 2009, Agnes visited Situ
Gintung and helped many disaster victims there by singing a few of her
songs. Agnes Monica also helped raise over Rp 400 million for Persis,
Surakarta?s soccer team, through a benefit concert held at the Diamond
Convention Center in Surakarta.
About The Song
Agnes Monica receives a triple platinum award.
"Godai Aku Lagi", the second single of her album,
Sacredly Agnezious
, was heavily inspired by several international acts. The opening of
the clip mimicked the music video Moulin Rouge,while the ending of the
video was a tribute to the international blockbuster ?on Flux. There is a
scene in the video where Agnes Monica, wearing a white wig, is strapped
on a chair but vanishes into thin air when she is about to be injected
with a toxic chemical substance. This scene was based on Madonna's music
video of Die Another Day. "Godai Aku Lagi" set a record of hitting 1.5
million personalized ring-back tone sales, resulting in the song going
triple platinum.
The limited edition of her mini album sold
well not only in her homeland, Indonesia, but also in Malaysia and
Singapore. In addition, "Matahariku", the first single of the album,
Sacredly Agnezious,
was certified platinum folllwing the activation of 1.5 million
ring-back tones in 2008, and also became one of the most watched
Indonesian female Singer videos on YouTube, garnering over one million
views less than 5 months. After 10 months, the figure rose to more than
two million viewers.Then, After one year of it published, it rising
again over 2.5 million viewers.