2 Former JKT48 Personnel Participate In CHUANG Asia: Thailand

Caithlyn Gwyneth Santoso (right) and Made Devi Ranita Ningtara (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Two former JKT48 idol group members are two of the 70 participants who will participate in the fifth season of the competition to become idols, "CHUANG Asia: Thailand" which will start filming on January 19.

These two participants were Caithlyn Gwyneth Santoso or disapa Caithlyn (15) who was previously a member of Generation 9 JKT48 and Made Devi Ranita Ningtara (Devi), a woman born in 2000 and was once part of the JKT48 Generation 5 Team T.

Both Caithlyn and Devi at a press conference in Jakarta, said they had prepared to show their best during the program.

"What I want to sing is because before this event I didn't have the opportunity to show my vocals and my personality side, which was very cheerful," said Caithlyn.

Caithlyn previously underwent an online audition. At that time he sang the song "Gone" belonging to idol singers as well as BLACKPINK group members and performed the choreography of one of the songs in the film "Barbie".

"At that time I was offered a manager for this. The preparations were quite long, maybe a month. It was an online audition," he said.

After being declared to have passed the first stage of audition, he admitted that he was both excited and nervous. Speaking of motivation to participate in "CHUANG Asia: Thailand", he said he wanted to know how to become an idol and focus on his favorite, including in the world of singing.

Meanwhile, speaking of preparation, Devi, who came from Bali, returned to learning to sing and dance because she had not done it on stage for about five years. He also studied rap because it was a new thing for him.

Like Caithlyn, she also auditioned online. At that time she performed several Western songs and K-pop songs to show her ability to perform the choreography.

"Yesterday's audit I played several Western songs, and for the dance I'm K-Pop," he said, who felt he had to show his best because he represented Indonesia.

Devi said she would highlight the choreography in "CHUANG Asia: Thailand".

"If it's vocal or dance, I want to non-jolin dance. If there is a chance for Balinese dance too, so they know that Indonesia has other cultures," he said.

On the other hand, Country Head of WeTV Indonesia Lesley Simpson said both Caithlyn and Devi along with 68 other training participants from 9 countries namely China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, America, India, and Korea will compete in the preliminary round which sets aside half of the total participants.

Later, from the 35 participants who passed, they will be screened to the next round, leaving 20 people.

"Of the 20, 7 people were selected (as personnel from the female idol group formed by the event). The highest votes became the center position. They on every tour, concert, will always follow the position according to the vote," said Leslie.

The journey of the "CHUANG Asia: Thailand" training participants will be broadcast on the WeTV application starting February 3, 2023 at 21.30 WIB. Those who want to participate in voting for favorite participants can also access the same application.

"CHUANG Asia: Thailand" involves well-known mentors such as idol singers as well as K-pop group member GOT7 Jackson Wang, singer Mike Angelo, Jeff Satur, Ten of WayV & NCT idol groups, and Nene Pornappan who used to participate in the 2020 "CHUANG Asia" event and became one of the winners.