THE SURPRISING RESULTS OF JKT48 10TH SINGLE MEMBERS ELECTION
I finally got spare time to write. Okay, to be honest, I got much spare time before but I didn’t have mood and idea to write. So, today is “right time” for me to write, to write about the results of JKT48 10th Single Members Election. I know it’s already late since the announcement has been made almost three weeks ago. But there is saying that says “better late than nothing”. So, here I come to write about it.
After the announcement, I almost can’t say a word. It was like a drama with plot twists. Yes, twists, not just one. That twists especially happened because this year election wasn’t only choose 16 senbatsu members but also 16 undergirls members for members who get position 17 to 32. And I have noted many things that made me really surprised. Here they are.
First, it was the “new” members who got senbatsu position. Many members who weren’t get position in last election made some breakthrough and got position in this year election. There were 5 new members who got senbatsu positions. They were Gabriela Margareth Warouw (Gaby), Sendy Ariani (Sendy), Riskha Fairunissa (Ikha), Priscillia Sari Dewi (Sisil) and Andela Yuwono (Andela). Yes, I don’t include the “new” members who got undergirls positions since last election was only for senbatsu (16) positions. But if I include them, that five would become 17. That was because many “new” members who got undergirls positions. They were Elaine Hartanto (Elaine), Rina Chikano (Chikariina), Frieska Anastasia Laksani (Frieska), Michelle Christo Kusnadi (Michelle), Rona Anggraeni (Ayen), Shinta Naomi (Naomi), Sinka Juliani (Sinka), Dwi Putri Bonita (Uty), Maria Genoveva Natalia Desy Purnamasari Gunawan (Desy), Rezky Wiranti Dhike (Dhike), Lidya Maulinda Djuhandar (Lidya) and Shani Indira Natio (Shani). Well, I can conclude that undergirls position give broader chance to the members.
Elaine was the spotlight for the undergirls position. It is not only because she is the center but also the breakthrough she has made. We can even still call her new member in JKT48. Her team, Team T, is only about 3 months old. If we considering she had only been about 1 year in JKT48, her achievement in this year election is more than good. We also can’t forget about Gaby, Sendy and Ikha. Especially Sendy and Ikha, they are really popular between fans recently. Gaby got her last senbatsu position in the RIVER single. And Sendy last senbatsu position was Flying Get single. That two were long time ago, more than one year ago. Ikha got her first senbatsu position in Koi Suru Fortune Cookie single and she need to wait about 1 year to get her second chance to become senbatsu in Kokoro no Placard single. So, to be honest, they are not “senbatsu members”, not regular one at least. They are not as popular as regular “senbatsu members”. Their achievement in this year election is really a breakthrough to them.Â
But, if we talking about breakthrough, the main figures were Sisil and Andela. I actually intended to only choose one between them but I finally gave up. They were great and awesome in their own way so I really can’t choose one. First for Sisil, she is really something in this year election. It was like from zero to hero story. She was never became senbatsu in 9 JKT48 single. She was not very popular between fans. Except for fans that regularly go to JKT48 Theater to watch Team KIII show. Sisil is famous when doing her MC session. If we talking about senbatsu members, Sisil is lacking behind many members. But, the results of the election already said otherwise, she got 8th position, a senbatsu position. Her position is very surprising even from the 1st preliminary results when she got 1st position. For this one, I must salute to her fans and voters. You guys did a really good job! Sisil, you are great, girl!
If Sisil is great then Andela is awesome for me. Who would have thought if a member who stills Trainee 5 months ago can get 4th position? Well, I only predicted that she will get undergirls position, a center maybe but not for senbatsu. But when the announcer said 4th position from Team T, I really surprised! It must be Andela. No one else can do that in Team T. And yes, it was Andela who got 4th position. What a breakthrough! From a just trainee member since about one year ago and became full team member just only about 3 months before the announcement, Andela really did a big leap. After this achievement, I believe no one can deny her as 3rd Generation and Team T center (ace). Maybe, she will lead the next generation of JKT48.
But even good things have bad consequences. Some girls are up and some girls are down. Another highlight from the announcement is the demotion of 4 members who got senbatsu position in last election. They were Thalia (Tata), Jennifer Hanna (Hanna), Viviyona Apriani (Yona) and Jessica Vania (Jeje). It was even worse for Yona because she got fewer votes than last election. She got 8917 votes when the election for 6th single but in this election she only got 5505 votes. I really surprised with their position, to be honest. My first thought, they wouldn’t be far from senbatsu position. But, the fact that they only get undergirls positions and went down too far from their last year election positions is so disappointing for me. They need to work harder if they still want to become popular idol as JKT48 members. This thing happened when 3rd generation members who got better positions than them and members who got more popular than before and stole their positions. I look forward to see what will happen.
Like a good movie with a good climax, this election also has a very awesome climax. The climax happened when the MC announced the 3rd position. Our “absolute ace”, member who called as “the face of JKT48” and the captain of JKT48, Melody Nurramdhani Laksani (Melody) didn’t get number 1 position. She only got the 3rd position. Maybe, no one predicted these results before. Many fans were already prepared themselves to accept Melody as the number again. Especially when she made big leap from 17th position in 1st preliminary results to 1st position in 2nd preliminary results. I personally thought that the surprises are end with Andela’s 4th position announcement. If good movie has only climax, a greater on give a twist when the climax. Melody’s 3rd position was a very surprising twist for the climax of JKT48 10th Single Members Election. And the very climax was Jessica Veranda (Ve) position announcement. The fashionable girl got number 1 position. The results, even for fans who want another center beside Melody, are surprising. Is this the sign of the end of Melody’s reign? Well, no one knows, yet. She is and always will be the important member for JKT48 until she graduates in the future.
So, the results have been announced and JKT48 got new center. It’s time for fans to wait the release date of the new single. I heard it will be released on May 27th and the title is Kibouteki Refrain. Even before the release date, it’s already become controversy between fans. Maybe I’ll write about it later. Anyway, keep support JKT48 sincerely. Don’t become stress from idoling!
PS: In case you miss the result, you can check the full results here: http://jkt48.com/pemilihan2015/result?lang=id