Agnes Monica

Agnes Monica (born Agnes Monica Muljoto; July 1, 1986) is an Indonesian recording artist and actress of Chinese ancestry. Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, she started her career in entertainment industry at the age of six as a child singer. She has recorded three albums which established herself as one of the most popular child singers in the 1990s.

She also became a presenter of several children's television programs. At her teen age, Agnes expanded her career into the world of acting. Her role in the soap opera Pernikahan Dini rocketed her name in the showbiz industry. Following her rising popularity after starring in few series of soap operas, she became the highest-paid teenage artist. In 2003, she released her first album And the Story Goes that marked her transition from a child singer to a female singer.

Agnes is known as a controversial figure in Indonesia, for her dream to bring her music to international stage is considered as a pompous proclamation.But despite of that, she has done many things to make her dream come true and made herself as an inspiration of young people.

On her second studio album Whaddup A.. '?!, she collaborated with an American R&B singer Keith Martin. In 2005, she appeared in two Taiwanese drama series, The Hospital and Romance In the White House. She participated in 2008 and 2009 Asia Song Festival, which took place in Seoul, South Korea; and she received "Best Asian Artist Award" for each her participation there from the chairman of Korea Foundation for International Culture and Exchange. In 2010, she was one of the international hosts on the red carpet of American Music Awards of 2010 in Los Angeles, United States.

Besides her commercial success, Agnes has also achieved numerous awards, including ten Anugerah Musik Indonesia, seven Panasonic Awards, four MTV Indonesia Awards, and seven JpopAsia International Music Awards.

She has also earned 2011 Nugraha Bhakti Musik Indonesia (NBMI) from The Minister of Culture and Tourism and the Union of Indonesian Singers, Songwriters and Music Record Producers for her contribution and support for the Indonesian music.

For her clean image and healthy life, which she has always presented, Agnes was appointed as the anti-drug ambassador of Asia as well as the ambassador of MTV EXIT in combating human trafficking.

Agnes has conducted fundraising activities for victims of the 2004 Tsunami in Aceh and the 2006 earthquake in Java. In 2009 Agnes visited Situ Gintung, where a dam failure had come about and led to flood; not only did she donated sum of cash there, but she also sang few songs to cheer the victims up.

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.

Sunday, July 24, 2011 by Amidanah Rohmah · 0