Jokowi meeting Putri Ariani at the State Palace in Jakarta on June 14. -Facebook/Joko Widodo.
JAKARTA (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Indonesian singing sensation Putri Ariani met President Joko Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (June 14), receiving words of encouragement and pocket money ahead of the future rounds of the America’s Got Talent reality show that she will be competing in.
Putri, who is blind, made headlines last week after earning a Golden Buzzer from the show’s creator and judge Simon Cowell during an audition in the United States. This allows her to bypass some rounds of the competition.
Three videos of Putri and Widodo, or Jokowi as he is commonly known as, were uploaded on his Instagram page.
Two other videos of the meeting were uploaded to his YouTube channel.
“I and all the people (of Indonesia) will support Putri in the America’s Got Talent 2023 competition, which she will take part in August,” said Widodo in a caption of one of the Instagram posts.
The 17-year-old, who comes from Yogyakarta in Central Java, was catapulted to international fame when her audition clip on YouTube garnered close to 30 million views over six days.
She performed an original track Loneliness, as well as a second song as requested by Cowell.
Putri has been blind since she was three years old and has been performing since she was seven.
She rose to fame in 2014 after she won the second season of Indonesia’s Got Talent.
She was also a finalist in the 2016 singing contest, The Voice Kids Indonesia.
She has released almost 30 songs on the Apple’s iTunes streaming service. Her most successful song, Tak Mampu Lupa, was released in 2022 and has more than 11 million streams on Spotify.
In a video of their meeting, Putri is seen chatting with Widodo about the audition. She also showed him the Golden Buzzer and performed two songs for the President and other officials.
Widodo gave her an envelope, which he said was pocket money for her to spend in America.
“This is so extraordinary and touching. I had no idea I would be appreciated by the President. Thank you so much, sir,” said Putri, who was accompanied by her parents.
She also met Indonesian Education Minister Nadiem Makarim earlier this week, when he offered her a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, should she get admitted.
Putri had said during her audition that it was her dream to join the school, one of the world’s best for the performing arts.
Local media cited Nadiem as saying: “Putri’s inspiration for this country is extraordinary. Therefore, we want to realise Putri’s dream of studying at her dream campus, where the selection is very strict. So we will fully support it.
It was reported that Putri would also be receiving help for her application – in the form of a letter of recommendation from the Education Ministry.
