American Idol, Simon Cowell, and 45 Million Reasons

I wrote some time ago that Simon Cowell was intimating that he might be leaving American Idol to focus on his other interests. However, it would seem that the American Idol franchise has managed to cobble together a contract that includes 45 million reasons why he should stay. This is about 9 million more reasons than his last contract contained.

The fact that Paula Abdul has decided to pull up stumps and pursue opportunities elsewhere is neither here nor there as far as I am concerned. I would still watch American Idol for the train wrecks that think they can sing and for the total slaying that these wanna be singers get at the hands of Cowell. Cowell is always good for a whole range of "you can't say that on tv" put downs that show the power of 15 seconds (or 2 maybe 3 minutes) of fame have.

The fact that more and more people turn up every year for auditions proves the point on the lure of fame, like moths to a flame.

Oh well, looking forward to another year of American Idol mayhem.

Miss Indonesia -- Learning to Speak Indonesian

I would have figured that to become Miss Indonesia that the ability to speak Indonesian, even Indonesian like Cinta Laura's hybrid version, would be a pre-requisite for entry into the competition. However, the crowning of the current Miss Indonesia proves otherwise.

The crowning of Karenina Sunny Halim (sometimes spelt Kerenina) is a interesting one. The young women are always stunningly beautiful, but pageants are supposed to have extended beyond the superficial looks to the judging of the women's skills and contributions to the greater community and not just whether she looks like a knock-out in an evening dress and a swimming costume. There is no doubt that Karenina is a beautiful young woman.

There is also little doubt that she is smart. She holds qualifications in public relations, teaching, performing arts, music, and marketing, among others. There is also little doubt that she does not speak much Indonesian. The question then is whether or not she is the best choice to represent Indonesia on the international stage?

Karenina needed a translator in order to be able to understand the questions from the Indonesian judges of the pageant. This is akin to, let's say, the winner of the Miss Australia pageant requiring a translator to answer the judges' questions in English. I don't know that it would ever happen.

It seems that Karenina is also a little short on the knowledge of Indonesian culture front as well. My guess is that she is in for a crash course in the Indonesian language and the culture of the vast archipelago that is Indonesia.

Nevertheless, I wish her nothing but the best as she represents Indonesia in the Miss World competition to be held in Johannesburg in South Africa.

The Jessup Follow-Up

This is just a short post to note the success of the Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) effort at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Competition.

The Team ended up being ranked 13th out of 120 teams. This is an impressive effort and highlights once again that Indonesian students can compete and succeed against the best in the world. The picture shows the team at the "Go National Ball" with team members from the University of Hawaii.

Congratulations!