Dangdut in America (2007)

In 2007, NSR Productions organized a talent search to find Dangdut singers in the United States. This project was called "Dangdut in America" and the projects' goal was to bring together American and Indonesian cultures through Dangdut music. Public auditions for Dangdut in America were held in Philadelphia on February 16, 17, 23 and 24 of 2007. These auditions were open to the public and attracted approximately 50 participants from greater Philadelphia area. During the auditions, the participants were asked to sing their favorite English song, next they were given indonesian Dangdut lyrics and asked to sing them, finally the participants were asked questions about dangdut and Indonesia.

From the Philadelphia auditions, the judges selected three finalists - John JLS, Chris Valkyria, and Yuki Yamaguchi. These finalists are from Philadelphia (John), Europe (Chris) and Japan (Yuki). Over the period of next month, these three finalists met on weekends and learned to perform Dangdut music. But they were not just learning Dangdut, they also got training in Indonesian language, they sampled Indonesian food, they met with members of Indonesian community in Philadelphia and they went on sight-seeing trips (like a skiing trip to Liberty Mountain in Pennsylvania).

The Dangdut music training sessions were held at the Center for Ethnography on the University of Pennsylvania campus – directly opposite the world-famous Wharton business school. These facilities were kindly arranged for NSR by the center director (Professor Mary Hufford) and her assistant (Dr. Yoonhee Kang). In addition to training the finalists in Dangdut music, NSR also recruited an all-american band of musicians. These musicians were from Philadelphia community and they participated in the dangdut sessions at University of Pennsylvania and learned how to play dangdut music.

Finally, on March 18 of 2007, NSR organized a two hour Dangdut concert that featured auditions finalists along with the all-american band. The concert was open to the public and was attended by American and Indonesian community. During the concert, the three American finalists sang Dangdut songs in Indonesian language. Songs they sang included: Mandi Madu, Bintang Pentas, Cuma Satu, Cuma Satu and Hello Dangdut.

Dangdut in America (2008)

In 2008, NSR Productions organized a second round of talent auditions in the state of Delaware. The winner was Arreal Tilghman and in the summer of 2008, Dangdut in America project reached a second milestone - where Arreal traveled to Indonesia to learn how to perform Indonesian Dangdut music, to introduce American Dangdut to Indonesian public and to experience Indonesian people and culture. We are grateful to the Indonesian people for their kind welcome and support of American Dangdut singers. Arreal received wide coverage in Indonesian media. Upon his return to the United States in late 2008, Arreal Tilghman has completed recording Dangdut in America album - the first-ever Dangdut album produced and release in the United States! For information