loading…
Ahmad Dhani admitted that he was annoyed with Once Mekel for greeting President Jokowi first when he attended the Dewa 19 concert in Medan some time ago. Ahmad Dhani’s photo/Instagram
For information, on February 11, 2023, Dewa 19 held a concert in Medan. At that time the President and First Lady Iriana Jokowi were present. What’s interesting is that during the concert, Ahmad Dhani, as the band’s founder, was said to have refused to greet the President. The one who took the initiative to greet Jokowi and the First Lady instead was Once Mekel, the former vocalist of Dewa 19 who was lined up to be the guest star.
In his conversation with senior journalist Karni Ilyas, Ahmad Dhani dismissed the notion that he did not want to greet Jokowi. The musician admitted that he did not know the presence of the number one person in Indonesia at his concert at that time. In addition, the information circulating during the concert was enough to make the situation a bit chaotic.
“The fact is, it’s actually like this, it’s actually a bit chaotic on the ground. We don’t know if the President wants to come or not, we don’t know. But as soon as I know Mrs. Iriana is coming, I say hello. I don’t know if Mr. Jokowi is coming, I don’t know ,” said Ahmad Dhani, quoted from the Karni Ilyas Club YouTube channel, Sunday (2/4/2023).
Information became even more confusing after Virzha, the vocalist of Dewa 19, was given an order by someone suspected of being a Paspampres by Dhani, not to greet Jokowi from the stage. However, when Once Mekel appeared after Virzha, the vocalist of Dewa 19 in the 1999–2011 period actually greeted the President.
“Suddenly Once came, said hello. Singers are always behind the stage, getting information. If I’m always on stage, I don’t know,” said Dhani.
When Once was present as the first person to greet Jokowi, Ahmad Dhani admitted that he was annoyed. Because, Dhani’s reason, Once is not a member of Dewa 19, so it is not appropriate to greet the honorary audience first.
“When Once greeted me, I was a bit annoyed. Because he wasn’t a member. He shouldn’t have greeted me, I should have greeted him as the owner of the band, as shohibul bait. Once wasn’t shohibul bait. He was just a guest star,” said Dhani .
Because he was already annoyed by Once’s actions, Dhani finally only asked other band members to greet President Jokowi. While he did not do the same.
“I didn’t say hello, but I told the other members to say hello. Because I was already Once, I was annoyed,” said Ahmad Dhani.
However, according to Dhani, Jokowi himself is not concerned about this. This information he got from people in the palace circle. Hence, the musician born in 1972 was relaxed in responding to public chatter about him not greeting Jokowi at the Dewa 19 concert in Medan.
(tsa)