Domkete: Agnes Monica

Agnes Monica Biography

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 the2008 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 breakthrough

Agnes 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 inPernikahan 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 forher 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 development

In 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 Agnezious

Composing 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.

Fundraising

Agnes 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.

Agnes Monica