By Fildza | 18 08 2000

This week’s artiste of the week is Kris Dayanti. The first Asia Bagus Grand Champion has released her latest, “Mencintaimu”.

The very first recording that she did was when she was just a 9-year-old girl. For that, she received Rp 15,000 for dubbing the Megaloman soundtrack. Her next album was “Burung-Burung Malam”. She recorded it at the age of 12. Sadly, her album did not do well. “I did the recording because after that the producer gave me a bar of chocolate,” said Kris.

During her high-school days, she participated in a lot of singing competitions and modelling pageants. In 1991, she became a finalist in Gadis Sampul, a cover girl contest. It was also during that period she met James F. Sundah and recorded two songs for him. With that, she began to receive many invitations to sing and model.

It was Youngki Suwarno who brought Kris Dayanti to an Asia Bagus audition. There, she felt inferior because of her dressing. The other contestants were decked in glittering show dresses whereas she was simply dressed in jeans and T-shirt! Her hopes were dashed of course, “but it turns out that I was the ideal image they illustrate, by dressing up your age,” recalled Kris passionately.

After her winning, she instantly became a star. With eight albums to her credit and a few singles, she has reached superstardom. She is not only known in her country but around the Asian region as well. Since then, she has amassed all the luxuries a famous star would have. On top of that, she is now blessed with two beautiful children and a caring husband, Anang.