Sinna Sherina Munaf or better known as Sherina Munaf (born in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia on 11 June 1990) is an Indonesian actress, singer and songwriter of Minangkabau descent. She is the niece of Indonesian singer-songwriter, Fariz RM.
Life and career
Sinna Sherina Munaf was born on 11 June 1990, the second child of Triawan Munaf and Luki Ariani. As a child, she enjoyed painting and singing. Her parents arranged for her to have singing lessons from Elfa Secioria. In 1997, she won a karaoke contest in Jakarta, followed by victory in a second singing contest in 1998.
1990–2001: The beginnings and Petualangan Sherina
In 1999, at the age of nine, Sherina made her debut album Andai Aku Besar Nanti (When I Grow Up) under Tantowi Yahya's label Ceepee Productions. The album went Platinum, selling over 250,000 copies and won two Indonesian Music Awards for Best Child Song and Best Children's Album.
In 2000, Sherina's father, Triawan Munaf, collaborated with Mira Lesmana to produce the movie Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure), which directed by Riri Riza and gained wide theatrical release in Indonesia. The soundtrack of Sherina's Adventure also gave the youngster another hit album. According to Ceepee Productions record company, it went Platinum by the end of August, with sales of more than 200,000 copies and revenues of $387,000.
The album Petualangan Sherina won Indonesian Music Awards for Best Child Song and Best Children's Album plus Best Child Singer. Sherina also won Most Favorite Child Artist from Bobo twice in a row (1999 and 2000). In 2000, Asia Pacific Film Festival gave her a Special Jury Award as the Talented Child Actress. Despite her talents on the big screen, Sherina preferred to be known as 'just a singer'.
An article in Asiaweek magazine described her as Asian News Maker of the year 2000. She was interviewed by BBC London, which gained the attention of Westlife, who would duet with her on "I Have a Dream" for the Asian market. Gumilang Ramadhan (general manager of Sony BMG Indonesia) said, "part of the profit from the sales will be given to Indonesian children through an international charity foundation".
In 2001, Sherina was interviewed by Hong Kong TV network Star TV on its "Focus Asia" program, in which she was named a Princess of Pop by Adrian Brown. She appeared in numerous TV commercials and was sent by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) to Japan for an orangutan awareness campaign: Borneo Orangutan Survival. Sherina was nominated as the Most Preferred Kid Actress and TV Talent based on National Kid Market Survey by Frontier Marketing and Research Consultant. Also on the same year, she recorded a cover of "I Have A Dream" with Irish boyband Westlife to raise funds for UNICEF and received a special award in the "Most Talented Child Artist" category in the 2001 Asia Pacific Film Festival in Hanoi for her performance. At the end of 2001, Sherina was named the Most Shining Star Child by RCTI.
In June 2001, Sherina sang "Simfoni Raya", written by Guruh Sukarnoputra for his album Bakti dan Persembahanku, released to celebrate the centenary anniversary of the birth of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno.
2002–2004: My Life
In 2002, Sherina released her third album, titled "My Life". This album showed Sherina shifting from childhood songs toward teenage themes. The album's singles are "My Life", "Click Clock", and "Aku Beranjak Dewasa". It also features a song written by Sherina, "Kisah Sang Lebah" (Bee Story).
2007–2014: Primadona, Gemini, and Tuna
To shed her child star image, Sherina signed to Trinity Optima Productions and released her fourth album, Primadona, on 14 March 2007, spewing out two singles: Sendiri and Ku Disini. 7 of the tracks of her fourth album was written solely by Sherina herself. Slank veteran Abdee Negara was recruited to play guitar chords for Sendiri. Before she released her fifth album, Gemini, on 9 July 2009, she created two soundtrack singles in 2008: Jalan Cinta for Ayat-Ayat Cinta and KuBahagia for Laskar Pelangi. Both soundtracks appeared on Gemini, which spewed three singles: Cinta Pertama dan Terakhir, Geregetan (technically a cover of her father's song from his band days) and Pergilah Kau. Around 2007–2010, she became brand ambassadors for Panasonic, Casio, and Maybelline New York.