Now this is what I call Show(woman)ship!

Yes, it is the amazing Inul Daratista, the Queen of Dangdut, Mistress of Ngebor (lit: "drilling"). Watching several of her clips on YouTube gave me a rather faint research idea. Dangdut is commonly known as the music of the lower-class in Indonesia. It's crass and sexually suggestive but still remains hugely popular in Indonesia. It has also been exploited by opportunistic politicians as a means to reach out to and show solidarity with the masses--the cozy relationship between Rhoma Irama and Suharto comes to one's mind. Anyway, it'll be a good topic to look into and I haven't seen any academic piece being written about it. It seems like a cool side-project to do in Indonesia next year--if I get accepted by Fulbright. The topic will be: Inul, Dangdut Music, and the Politics of the Masses in Indonesia. It'll not simply be about dangdut and conventional politics; Islam can also be thrown into the mix as Inul has ruffled quite a few feathers among the Muslim elites, especially the ultra-conservative Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI). I'm hoping that my cousin, Tata, can pull some strings and help me set up an interview with Inul. Tata's company actually brought Inul to Malaysia last year to perform at Hotel Istana in KL but I missed it.

Damn, Inul! Those gyrations are making me dizzy!

p/s: Maybe Bob Dylan can learn a thing or two about crowd interaction from Mbak Inul.