Redefining the Crown: A Decade of Puteri Indonesia (2013–2023)
It was late 2012 when I first walked through the doors of Indosiar, stepping into a broadcaster that had long been a pillar of Indonesian television. I had no idea then that one of its legacy properties, a beauty pageant with roots stretching back to 1992 would become one of the most meaningful creative journeys of my career.
The pageant in question was Pemilihan Puteri Indonesia, founded by the visionary Ibu Mooryati Soedibyo of Mustika Ratu. Inspired by the Miss Universe competition she had attended in Bangkok, Bu Mooryati Soedibyo created a national platform to select and empower Indonesian women for international representation, emphasizing not just beauty, but intelligence and cultural advocacy. For two decades, it had served as Indonesia’s gateway to the Miss Universe stage and the broader world of global pageantry.
But by the time I arrived, the format was showing its age. The production still carried the formality of a bygone era stiff staging, predictable pacing, and a broadcast treatment that felt rooted in the previous decade. Indonesian audiences were evolving fast, consuming global content at an unprecedented rate, yet here was one of the nation’s flagship cultural events still operating on autopilot. In 2013, Pemilihan Puteri Indonesia was still handled under the previous creative team led by Rama Suprapto, with Indosiar functioning purely as the broadcast production house. That same year, I had my first meeting with Ibu Puteri Kusumawardani and Mega Angkasa from Mustika Ratu and the Yayasan Puteri Indonesia. We connected immediately, and I began studying the mechanics of the show from the inside sensing its untapped potential.
Then came 2014, the year everything changed. Armed with a year’s worth of observations and a clear creative vision, I proposed something that had never been attempted: a full creative rebrand. My pitch was clear transform this pageant into a modern beauty spectacle that could stand alongside the best in the world, while remaining deeply rooted in Indonesian identity. The cumbersome name “Pemilihan Puteri Indonesia” was streamlined to simply Puteri Indonesia. The logo was redesigned with a contemporary sensibility. And most importantly, the show itself was reimagined from the ground up.
What followed was a decade of relentless creative evolution. I took on the dual role of Creative Director and Showrunner positions I held personally, year after year, from 2014 through 2023. Every edition was built around a central theme drawn from the living culture of Indonesia’s provinces. The traditions, the artistry, the spirit of a specific region would become the soul of that year’s show woven into the set design, the choreography, the musical arrangements, and the narrative arc of the evening.
One element became the show’s unmistakable signature: the opening video. Each year, I personally directed these cinematic sequences, crafting them as short films rather than mere introductions. They became the emotional gateway into the pageant visual love letters to Indonesia’s diversity, shot on location across the archipelago, blending fashion, landscape, and storytelling in a way that no other Indonesian television production had attempted. For many viewers, the opening video alone was reason enough to tune in.
The rebrand was not merely cosmetic it elevated Indonesia’s standing on the international stage. Between 2014 and 2020, Puteri Indonesia titleholders achieved a remarkable run of consecutive Miss Universe semifinal placements, a streak that put the nation firmly on the global pageant map. In 2017, Kevin Lilliana won Miss International, becoming Indonesia’s first and only Big Four pageant winner a historic moment for the country. At Miss Supranational, Indonesia’s representatives earned ten placements between 2013 and 2025, culminating in Harashta Haifa Zahra’s victory as Miss Supranational 2024.
The cultural recognition followed. In 2019, President Joko Widodo declared Puteri Indonesia a National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indonesia an extraordinary distinction that acknowledged the pageant’s role in celebrating women’s empowerment, cultural preservation, and national unity.
That same year marked another milestone. After years of broadcast on Indosiar, Puteri Indonesia moved to SCTV for its 2019 edition both networks belonging to the Surya Citra Media family. The transition was more than a channel swap. It signaled SCTV’s investment in the pageant as premium entertainment, giving it a broader audience and a bigger production canvas. The show has remained on SCTV ever since, continuing to draw millions of viewers each year and expanding its digital footprint through Vidio and YouTube.
Looking back across this decade, Puteri Indonesia is one of my proudest achievements. It is proof that Indonesian television can produce world-class live entertainment not by imitating Western formats, but by mining the extraordinary depth of our own culture. Every crown placed on a young woman’s head carried the weight of her province, her heritage, and the belief that Indonesia’s beauty is not a single standard but a magnificent spectrum.
From a dated televised selection to one of Asia’s most respected beauty pageants that was the journey. And I had the privilege of being at the helm for every frame of it.
