Indonesia has many talented singers from various provinces, including West Papua. However, there are not many singers from West Papua who have succeeded. But, Nowela is an exception. Having experienced many ups and downs in her career, she proved her consistency as a talented singer who can bring pride to her homeland.
Nowela Elizabeth Mikhelia Aupray is a singer who was born on December 19, 1987, in Wamena, West Papua. She started getting public attention after winning the Indonesian Idol Season 8 in 2014 and has released some singles and albums. Recently, she released a new single called ‘Runnin,” where she collaborated with Epo D’fenomeno from Papua.
If you want to know more about her, here are four facts about Nowela’s life.
Singer of West Papuan and Batak Descent
Nowela is a West Papuan descendants singer that she inherited from her father. She also has a Batak descendant from his mother’s side who has the clan “Sinaga.” Even though she was born in West Papua, she spent most of her childhood in Salatiga, Central Java.
While living there, she studied at SD Lab Salatiga and SLTP Stella Salatiga. After that, she continued her study at SMA Negeri 1 Sidoarjo and graudated at 2005. She studied at the University of Airlangga, Surabaya, but didn’t finish it. After that, she moved to Purwokerto, Central Java, and worked cafe singer for six years before she passed auditioned for Indonesian Idol Season 8.
Became Bullying Victim Throughout Her Childhood
Growing up, Nowela experienced some bullying due to her different physical looks. As she told Kompas, while she was living at Salatiga, she used to be called “black” and “curly” due to her physical looks that were different from her school’s friends. This bullying made her very insecure about herself.
Not only that, but Nowela also has experienced an education gap between West Papua and Java. She told that when she lived in Wamena, she used to get the first rank in school. But, after she moved to Salatiga, her rank fell to 23rd rank. With this “achievement” and the bullying she had already received, she thought she was a “less-smart” girl, worsening her insecurity.
Even though, Nowela slowly got her spirit and started to achieve her dream as a professional singer by participating in Indonesian Idol Season 8. With her “Uranium” voice, she finally won as the first winner. After becoming a successful singer, she reflected on these experiences through her new single ‘Runnin”. She hopes this song can inspire people to keep running and achieving their dreams, despite the stigma and negative thoughts from themselves or others.
“Disappeared” After Becoming the Winner of the Indonesian Idol
The title of winner of Indonesia idol season 8 already was in her hand, so everything should come easy on her after that. She still struggles to prove herself as a well-deserved recognition singer like others. After Indonesian idol, she released some singles like “Membawa Cinta,” “Kehabisan Kata,” and others in the hope of getting more successful. But unfortunately, the result didn’t come out well as she expected.
None of the singles became hits and even her job as a singer, both on-air and off-air, decreased. These situations frustrated her and made her decide to “disappear” for a while. In these “disappeared” times, Nowela confessed she always felt jealous of other singers over their successful songs. Fortunately, she joined a spiritual community where she always got full support whenever she needed it. Slowly, she got her strength back and started pursuing his career again, which finally brought success.
Participated at Opening PON XX Papua
Nowela got a chance to sing at the opening PON (National Sports Week) XX Papua on October 2, 2021, at Lukas Enembe Main Stadion. As Papuan, She felt proud and honorable to participate in this international event that was only held once in four years. Together with other well-known Papuan singers like Edo Kondologit and Michale Jakarimilena, she sang the song “Aku Papua.” This performance got huge appreciation from the audience, who also shed their tears.
Previously, Nowela and two other Papuan singers, Epo D’fenomeno and Funky Papua, also participated in the song project called “The Spirit of Papua” by Allfy Rev. In this project, Nowela sang two Papuans Songs, Sajojo and Apuse. Not only that, but she also appeared in the music video where she opened it by reading a poem in Papua’s language The beauty of Papua as well as the well-matched song has impressed many viewers and made it to more than one million viewers on Youtube
That are all four facts about Nowela’s life. With her achievements and contributions, she has already succeeded bring pride to West Papua and showing that West Papuans’ talent is well-deserved recognition from Indonesia’s government and citizens. Nowela is a real example that everyone, apart from their homeland, ethnicity, or race, is deserved to get success as long as they are trying hard to achieve it.
