Feature: TikTok singers enliven Jakarta streets at night
by Veri Sanovri, Hayati Nupus
JAKARTA, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) — At 11 p.m. local time, Sherly and Yamo started to perform live on the social media platform TikTok at the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout, one of icons of the capital city Jakarta, against the backdrop of fountains, tall buildings generating beautiful lights, and people passing by.
The two young singers used to perform at cafes and nightclubs but have now decided to use TikTok as their stage, backed by various equipment like tripods and ring lights. The performance would be staged all night long to about 7 a.m. the next day.
They also danced to the music’s beat from time to time while singing solos or duets, some of which were Mandarin songs.
“There were only 15 viewers when we first started singing on TikTok, but about one month later, our audience reached more than 5,500 in one live show,” Yamo, a 27-year-old known as Moskov on TikTok, told Xinhua recently.
The metropolitan city’s main streets were still bustling into the night with people enjoying life after a long day of work, study, or other activities.
“Being able to sing in the city at night, surrounded by fountains, tall buildings, and many blazing lights, is a special attraction to many,” Yamo explained why he and Sherly chose to present their live singing at this time of the day.
Sherly has been singing on her own TikTok account as well for the past month, and her viewership has been growing.
She said the development of social media by the Chinese company ByteDance provided chances to young talents, especially with the function of live streams.
“I’m thankful because in a short period of time, I made a name for myself on TikTok, and there were about 1,500 viewers in one live show now,” she said, adding that she hoped for more business opportunities and bigger stages to come.
As of May 2023, Indonesia had 113 million TikTok accounts out of 135 million users in Southeast Asia, the second behind the United States.
Source – Indonesia News
