Cherrybelle

Cherrybelle, also known as ChiBi, is an Indonesian girl group which was formed from an audition. This band was founded on 27 February 2011 and consisted of nine young girls. On 12 April 2012, Devi and Wenda resigned as a member of Cherrybelle. As a result of the departure of 2 core members, on 8 June 2012 Kezia Karamoy and Steffy were elected to become the new members of Cherry Belle to replace Wenda and Devi. Cherrybelle was formed on 27 February 2011 in Jakarta, Indonesia. At the time, Korean groups were highly popular in Indonesia and numerous K-Pop-inspired groups were forming like custom and also choreography. Similar to their Korean counterparts, these groups attempted to release "catchy" tunes and include choreography in their performances. Music producer Dino Raturandang held open auditions in Kelapa Gading, Jakarta, which 400 girls attended. After the first round left twenty hopefuls, nine girls were chosen for the group, under the stage names Angel, Anisa, Cherly, Christy, Devi, Felly, Gigi, Ryn and Wenda. All were in their late teens or early twenties. According to Wenda, they were chosen in part for their "Asian look", on top of their singing and dancing abilities. After several months of training, including occasional practices until 3 a.m. WIB (UTC+7) and living together for a month to improve interpersonal relationships, in August 2011 Cherry Belle released "Love is You", a mini-album with five tracks. The album – a rarity for K-Pop imitators in Indonesia – was released as both a standard and deluxe edition. "Love is You" sold well. The band's first single, "Dilema" was released soon after and received much airplay. Cherry Belle also performed regularly, both on television and in concert. They also found numerous fans, who go by the nickname Twibies. On 8 April 2012, Cherry Belle launched Love is You, a film directed by Hanny Saputra detailing their rise to stardom. The members played themselves. The film has the same title as the band's second single. Later that month, Devi and Wenda were let go from their contract, reportedly due to being too old for the group. Cherrybelle, like many other K-Pop influenced Indonesian bands, has been criticised for copying Korean groups' acts. Raturandang disagreed with such a characterization, saying that I-Pop – his term for the genre – was an evolution of K-Pop, just like K-Pop had been an evolution of J-Pop, and that the acts were repackaged for Indonesian fans. .