SHE has been called 'pornographic' and her performances, dubbed as a strip tease act.

Meet 23-year-old singer-actress Dewi Persik, who has now joined the controversial ranks of Indonesian dangdut queen Inul Daratista.

The authorities from East and West Java said that Dewi would be barred from performing in four Indonesian cities unless she cleans up her sexy stage act.

The Jakarta Post reported Bandung's mayor Dada Rosada as saying that he would prevent the dangdut singer from performing in his city if she didn't tone down her performances.

Mr Dada said: 'I'm not banning Dewi from Bandung but I will prevent her from performing with her current style.

'But if she wants to change her act and appearance, then she can play here.'

The singer is supposed to perform at a detention centre on 29 Apr.

The sultry singer, whose real name is Dewi Murya Agung, is known for her skimpy outfits, husky voice and her distinctive vigorous dance style known as the goyang gergaji (sawing dance), which mimic the movements of a saw cutting a piece of wood.

WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS

Her tight skimpy tops, unable to withstand her high-speed hip gyrations, have come undone, on many occasions, in the middle of her concerts, exposing her ample bosom.

In a telephone interview with The New Paper from Jakarta, Dewi said that she was upset about this controversy.

'I am very disappointed that this has happened. I never heard directly from these authorities that they are banning me.

'I didn't even get one letter or phone call from them telling me they wanted me to change my performance. Then I find out from the media they don't want me to perform,' she said.

She claimed that she received threats from groups she described as religious conservatives, who allegedly said that if she performed, they would burn down the performance areas.

POLITICAL PAWN?

Dewi said: 'I'm just a political pawn for these people who are trying to get popularity for themselves by making me look immoral.

'I am only doing what my fans and the people who hire me to perform want me to do.'

Dewi is the youngest of four children in a middle-class East Java family.

She made her name as an actress in the popular Indonesian sinetron (television soap opera) called Mimpi Manis (Sweet Dreams) and is now starring in a horror flick called Tali Pocong Perawan (The Corpse's Rope)

She has only one dangdut single to her name, but claims that she is working on a new album.

Dangdut is a blend of Indian, Arab and Indonesian folk-pop music, popular in the 1950s and 1960s in Indonesia and Malaysia.

It has always been associated as the music of the working class, with its' bawdy lyrics and suggestive dance moves.

In the last 20 years, after being relegated to the musical shadows by rock, metal and pop music, dangdut is seeing a revival.

However, contemporary dangdut singers such as Inul Daratista have drawn heavy criticism from religious authorities in Indonesia, for using sex to spice up their performances (see other report).

Malaysian dangdut queen Mas Idayu said that as a dangdut performer, she never felt the need to dress sexily.

She said: 'We don't need sex to sell albums or ourselves. The music is good enough to do that.'

Indonesian journalist Eny Kartikawati said there is nothing wrong with the genre itself.

There are dangdut singers such as Ikke Nurjanah who eschew the sexy image for a more wholesome look.

'Performers like Dewi Persik, whose shows are nothing more than a strip tease, bring criticism to dangdut,' she said.

Dewi defended her provocative image during her concerts.

She said: 'When I am performing, I give it my all.

'Sometimes I am so into it that I forget myself. My top coming down...is not intentional.'

Her public image, though, has caused her marriage to a male dangdut singer, Saiful Jamil, to break up.

Indonesian news portal Detik.com reported that the couple were married in June 2005 but split up in August 2006.

Saiful had told the Indonesian media that he had wanted her to be more like Malaysian pop star Siti Nurhaliza - who managed to combine being a model Malay-Muslim woman with her pop stardom without causing too much controversy.

When asked about her husband's comments, Dewi heaved a big sigh and said: 'I don't know why he said that.

'I had always been honest with him about the way I am when we got married and he wanted me to be somebody else.'

As for the controversy, it has brought her more fame than ever before, even though she claims it is publicity she can do without.

'I know people don't like me for what I do, but this is my job.

'These critics can say I am immoral or pornographic, but I know and God knows that I am a good Muslim woman,' she said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Apr 21, 2008.