Botani Ambassador 2013

It started off when I took a semester break from my university. During my break, I decided to brave myself auditioning for BA’13. I looked it up online and tried to find out more about the audition through twitter. I asked my friend, Kristianus to come go with and audition together as well. I couldn’t remember the exact date but I participated on the first day of audition. I lined up and waited for couple of minutes to get auditioned. At the very first glance, I thought the audition was going to be all loud and showcasing talent and time-consuming. But it turned out to be all the other way around. I was asked by one of the management of the mall about some general questions and pretty much direct questions. Right after being questioned, he asked me to catwalk around the stage. The audition took only about five minutes. It left me feeling pretty doubtful.

A week later, there went the announcement for the top 60 semifinalist. The announcement was published in twitter and the semifinalist got called up by the officials as well. It was hella nerve-wrecking for me. I didn’t want to put up high expectations but I wasn’t going to lie that I was very anxious. I was at the gym at that time. I kept refreshing the timeline in twitter until my bb battery drained. I was exactly in angkot on the way back to my home and then my other phone rang. I hardly recognized the number but I was going to pick up anyway. BOOM. It’s from the official of BA’13. She (the operator) congratulated me for I was selected as one of the semifinalist of BA’13 that later would have semifinal round in Botani Square. I couldn’t contain my happiness. All I could ever think about was jumping from my seat knowing how much this overwhelmed me. I haven’t talked to anyone except my friend about me auditioning. It was pretty EXCITING.

The day of the semifinal round arrived. Each contestant was required to do the question-answer session and talent-show session. I hated when someone I knew watching me in the stage. I was much more confident if I had to do this on my own. I meant there would be no embarrassment if only strangers saw me. I chose presenting to be my talent. Easy peasy breezy pick. We did a little rehearsal before getting in to the real semifinal round. The semifinal began to start. I remembered I was on the 40ish turn to get up on the stage. It was so numbingly long to wait all people being questioned and my eyes went teary (due to the unoccupied glasses) I remembered I was being asked by Kang Edy Bingky (I didn’t know whether I correctly wrote off the correct name or not) about the importance of an attitude in this kind of competition. I answered very smoothly but it wasn’t hitting the point I could see anyone getting so bored on the whole thing. The exact same thing went for my talent show. I was on the line with several people in the stage and one of the judges which was namely famous supermodel Emmy Chaniago called out the line was the most boring out of all. She even spilled out that it made her doze off on the entire thing. Truth to be told, I was crushed on the stage. My high hopes just fell of to the lowest place on earth. I just wanted to runaway and lock myself up in the bathroom, I was exaggeratingly embarrassed with no apparent reason (D’OH) I kept on assuring myself that I thought I did what I needed to do. I needed to stop being so hard on myself. I went home with head held high.

On the next days, I as always anxiously waited for the announcement of the finalist. They said on twitter the selected finalist would get called out and would be participating in workshop and of course grand final. I was pessimistic and wishful at the same time. I kept on beating myself because I knew that I should have done better. Until I got a call telling me that I was on the top 30 FINALIST OF BOTANI AMBASSADOR 2013. It was mixed feelings and my mom was there when I got the call. I could not have been any happier than this. People might take these things very lightly but I knew that this was one of a lifetime opportunity. I should not take things for granted. In fact, I couldn’t.

I had to go through two days of workshop. I was so pumped up for the workshop because I knew that I would be having a definite blast being taught by the professionals. The line-up guests were pretty interesting. There were Mr. Edmund Daniel, Emmy Chaniago, lovely Mas Yudhistira, and Mas Agung from Bentuk Management. They were pro in their own fields. I just soaked it up all the knowledge and lectures that were nicely given by them. I got to know each and every one of the finalist. They were incredibly talented and amazing. Some of them had been doing this kind of thing a lot. Some might have had a really impressive experience in an entertainment industry. I was forever grateful to be surrounded by these people. I was also glad that the judges saw something in me that I never thought I had. Coming from a really painful childhood and not having people like you the way you wanted to be was sometimes the biggest obstacle for me to gain confidence. I was so scared all the time. This just proved to me that I am capable of anything as long as I put my heart and determination in to it.

The grand final had finally approached. I prepped all the routine, the material for the question and answer and all the costumes needed. I didn’t push myself too hard because at the end of the day, I thought winning was just a bonus. It was a very life-changing experience for me to be even chosen as the finalist of BA’13. Everything was picture-perfect and the announcement finally came. It would be a lie if there wasn’t a tiny wishful wanting to get called out as a winner. But I tried to let go and didn’t put high expectations. THEN, I got called out to receive the title of The Most Fashionable 2013. It was an attribute title and I was just so happy that I wouldn’t go home empty handed. I was beyond elated and it finally paid off after battling through beating myself and confidence crisis. I made it. It’s just a living proof that I could do things that I never imagined. I truly believe that the key of success is the combination of determination, dedication and discipline. Pray as well because God will definitely help you every step of the way.

Here’s the list of the winner:

Botani Ambassador 2013            : Ivan Henry and Suprata Annisa

1st Runner Up                          : Abdy Azwar and Nabilla Lendy

2^nd Runner Up                          : Bayu Adhitama and Maria Eveline

The Most Intelligent                 : Whida Roshitama

The Most Talented                   : Risal Alfiansyah

The Most Fashionable               : ME – Daniel Samuel

The Best Catwalk                     : Deddy P. and Dini Mega

The Best Photogenic                 : Rheza Rahman and Nhattira Aurellia

Most Favorite                           : Imam Alfarabhy and Karina Oktavia