Anggun

Anggun Cipta Sasmi (; born 29 April 1974), better known as Anggun C. Sasmi or more often mononymously as Anggun, is an Indonesian-born French singer-songwriter and television personality. Born in Jakarta, she began performing at the age of seven and recorded a children's album two years later. With the help of Indonesian producer Ian Antono, Anggun released her first rock-influenced studio album, '' Dunia Aku Punya'' in 1986. She became further well known with the single " Mimpi" (1989), which was listed as one of the 150 Greatest Indonesian Songs of All Time by ''Rolling Stone''. She followed it with a series of singles and three more studio albums, which established her as one of the most prominent Indonesian female rock stars of the early 1990s.

Anggun left Indonesia in 1994 to pursue an international career. After two years struggling in London and Paris, she met French producer Erick Benzi, who produced her first international album, '' Snow on the Sahara'' (1997). Released in 33 countries, it became the best-selling album by an Asian artist outside Asia. Since then, Anggun has released another six studio albums as well as a soundtrack album to the Danish film '' Open Hearts'' (2002). Her singles, " Snow on the Sahara", " What We Remember", and " The Good Is Back", entered the ''Billboard'' charts in the United States, while " In Your Mind", "Saviour" and " I'll Be Alright" charted on the ''Billboard'' European Hot 100 Singles. She represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with the song " Echo (You and I)". Anggun also ventured into television, becoming the judge for the pancontinental '' Asia's Got Talent'', the French version of '' Masked Singer'', as well as the Indonesian versions of '' The X Factor'', ''Got Talent'', and '' The Voice''.

Anggun is one of the Asian artists with the highest album sales outside Asia, with her releases being certified gold and platinum in some European countries. She is the first Indonesian artist to have success in European and American record charts. She has received a number of accolades for her achievements, including the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the Government of France, the World Music Award for World's Best-Selling Indonesian Artist, and the Asian Television Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Television Performing Arts. She also became the first Indonesian woman to be immortalized in wax by Madame Tussauds. Aside from her musical career, Anggun has been appointed as the global ambassador of the United Nations twice, first for the International Year of Microcredit in 2005 and then for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2009 onwards.

Life and career

1974–1993: Early life and career in Indonesia

Anggun was born and raised in Jakarta. She is the second child and first daughter of Darto Singo, a Javanese writer, and Dien Herdina, a housewife from the Yogyakartan royal family. Her full name means "grace born of a dream" in Balinese. Despite being a Muslim, Anggun was sent to a Catholic school to receive a better elementary education. At the age of seven, Anggun began receiving highly disciplined instruction in singing from her father. She trained daily, learning various vocal techniques. To help further develop her career, her mother began serving as her manager, accepting singing offers and handling business concerns. At the age of eleven, Anggun began to write her own songs and recorded her first children's album.

As a preteen, Anggun was influenced by Western rock music artists. At the age of fourteen, she released her first official studio album, '' Dunia Aku Punya'' (1986). The album was produced by Ian Antono, an Indonesian rock musician. However, the album failed to establish her popularity. Three years later, Anggun achieved some fame after the release of the single " Mimpi"; the song was later ranked by the ''Rolling Stone Indonesia'' magazine as one of the 150 Greatest Indonesian Songs of All Time. Anggun's fame continued to increase with the release of subsequent singles, most notably " Tua Tua Keladi" (1990), which became her most popular hit in Indonesia. After a string of successful singles, Anggun released the studio albums '' Anak Putih Abu Abu'' (1991) and '' Nocturno'' (1992). The former earned her the Most Popular Indonesian Artist 1990–1991 award.

In 1992, Anggun began a relationship with Michel Georgea, a French engineer, whom she had met the year before in Kalimantan while touring. The couple married, despite a rumoured objection by Anggun's family, reportedly because they felt Anggun was too young . Georgea later became Anggun's manager. The following year, Anggun became the youngest Indonesian singer to found her own record company, Bali Cipta Records, and took complete creative control over her work. She produced her final Indonesian studio album, '' Anggun C. Sasmi... Lah!!!'' (1993), which yielded the number-one single "Kembalilah Kasih (Kita Harus Bicara)". By age nineteen, Anggun had sold over four million albums in Indonesia. She began to feel dissatisfied with her success in her country and began considering an international music career. Anggun later recalled: " y the timeI was 20, I'd made five albums. I'd built my own record company. I'd produced my last album and produced some Indonesian acts as well. And I said to myself: 'I'm tired! I cannot achieve more than I already have. There's no challenge anymore'."

1994–1996: Beginnings in Europe

In 1994, Anggun released '' Yang Hilang'', a greatest hits album of her Indonesian hits. She later sold her record company to fund her move to Europe, and moved to London for about a year. In a 2006 interview with ''Trax'' magazine, Anggun admitted to experiencing "culture shock" and having some serious financial problems while trying to start her new life in Europe, saying "I thought the money that I got by selling my record company was enough o sustain life in London but I began to lose money, little by little. I had to spend so much on taking cabs and eating! So I ended up taking buses everywhere and going to clubs to introduce myself as a singer." She also admitted that she "had to convert from being a shy, introverted, 'real' Javanese woman to being an unabashed, fearless, 'fake' Javanese woman."

She began writing songs and recording demos, but after a few months, all the demos she had sent to record companies around the UK were returned with negative replies. She began thinking about moving to another country, and initially considered moving to the Netherlands, but later decided on France. In 1996, her international career began to advance; she was introduced to producer Erick Benzi, who had previously worked with Celine Dion, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Johnny Hallyday, by one of music legends in France named Florent Pagny. Later, Anggun learned from Florent Pagny about how a French artist act on stage and communicate with audiences by accompanying him on his concerts and shows. Instantly, he became Anggun's mentor. Impressed by Anggun's talent, Benzi immediately offered her a recording deal. Later that year, Anggun was signed to Columbia France and Sony Music Entertainment. After a brief French course at Alliance Française, Anggun began working on her debut album with Benzi, alongside Jacques Veneruso, Gildas Arzel and Nikki Matheson. She learned French language by enjoying the French culture in terms of music, movie, literature, etc. One of her favorite TV series which helped Anggun to understand French was ''Hélène et les Garçons''.

1997–1999: ''Snow on the Sahara'' and international success

Erick Benzi wrote her a first song, " La Rose des vents", then an album called '' Anggun'' whose flagship title, ''La Neige au Sahara'', was chosen as the first single. This launched his career and allowed him to become known to the general public. The album was first released in Japan in 1997 by Columbia, a subsidiary of Sony Music. This version includes nineteen songs, three of which are in French. It was published in France in 1998 with sixteen songs including fifteen in French. Finally in 1999, it was released in the United States under the title Snow on the Sahara with only eleven songs, all in English. The album is marketed in 35 countries and Anggun ensures the promotion (United States, Indonesia, Italy, etc.) for three years. She is accompanied by a group of French musicians composed of Patrick Buchmann (drums, percussion, vocals), Nicolas-Yvan Mingot (guitar), Yannick Hardouin (bass) and Patrice Clémentin (keyboards). Worldwide sales of the record exceed 900,000 copies and it is certified as a "double gold record".

Following in June 1997, Anggun released her first French-language album, entitled '' Au nom de la lune''. The album was a huge artistic departure from Anggun's earlier rock style, experimenting with world music and more adult contemporary sounds. Anggun described the album as "a concentration of all the musical influences of my life. I want to introduce Indonesia, but in a progressive way, in a lyric, in a sound, and mainly through me." The album's first single, "La neige au Sahara", quickly became a hit in France, peaking at number 1 on the French Airplay Chart and number 16 on the French Singles Chart. It became the most played single in France of 1997, with a total of 7,900 radio airplays, and was certified gold for shipment of 250,000 copies. Two more commercial singles, "La rose des vents" and "Au nom de la lune", were released to modest chart success. The album peaked at number 34 on the French Albums Chart and sold over 150,000 copies in France and Belgium. Anggun received a nomination for the La révélation de l'année award (''Revelation of the Year/Best New Artist'') in Victoires de la Musique (a Grammy Award-equivalent in the French music scene). She attended and performed her song on French TV show, ''Tapis rouge'', and Céline Dion also attended as guest. They met each other in person for the first time and they sang Aretha Franklin's hits, Chain of Fools and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman together alongside other guest stars.

The English version of the album, '' Snow on the Sahara'', was released internationally in 33 countries throughout Asia, Europe, and America between late 1997 and early 1999. The album contained the songs on ''Au nom de la lune'', adapted to English by songwriter Nikki Matheson, and a cover version of the David Bowie hit "Life on Mars?". For the Southeast Asian market, Anggun included an Indonesian song, "Kembali", which became a huge hit in the region. American music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic called the album "a promising debut effort" because "she illustrates enough full-formed talent on the disc". According to Erlewine, Anggun "tackles polished ballads, Latin-pop and dance-pop on ''Snow on the Sahara'', demonstrating that she can sing all the styles quite well." The album's first single, " Snow on the Sahara" was a commercial success, reaching number one in Italy, Spain and several countries in Asia, and the top five on the UK Club Chart. The song was also used as the soundtrack for an international marketing campaign launched by the Swiss watchmaker Swatch. ''Snow on the Sahara'' has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and received the Diamond Export Sales Award.

In North America, ''Snow on the Sahara'' was released in May 1998 by Epic Records. Anggun went on an extensive tour for nine months in the United States to promote the album, including as a supporting act for several artists such as The Corrs and Toni Braxton, as well as participating at the Lilith Fair (performing with Sarah McLachlan and Erykah Badu on stage). She also appeared on American television programs such as ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'', '' Sessions at West 54th'', '' Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular'', and received a CNN WorldBeat interview; she was also given coverage in printed media like ''Rolling Stone'' and ''Billboard''. However, ''Snow on the Sahara'' was not much of a commercial success in the United States. The album peaked at number 23 on the ''Billboard'' Heatseekers Albums Chart and shipped 200,000 units. The single reached number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play and number 22 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Top 40. Sarah Brightman did a cover version of "Snow on the Sahara" song on her '' The Harem World Tour: Live from Las Vegas'' album in 2004. Also in 2008, Italian singer Ilaria Porceddu covered that song on her debut album called '' Suono naturale''. The album track "On the Breath of an Angel" was later used as the soundtrack of American television series ''Passions'' and television film '' The Princess and the Marine'', both of which aired on NBC.

2000–2003: ''Chrysalis'', ''Open Hearts'', and collaborations

In 1999, Anggun ended her seven-year marriage to Michel Georgea; this inspired her to record another studio album. Her second French album, '' Désirs contraires'', was released in September 1999. It was an artistic departure from ''Au nom de la lune'', experimenting with electropop and ambient elements as well as R&B music. The album was again produced by Erick Benzi, but it featured some of Anggun's compositions. ''Désirs contraires'' failed to repeat the success of the previous album. It peaked at number 48 on the French Albums Chart and sold about 30,000 copies in France. Only two singles were released off the album: the tropical-sounding " Un geste d'amour" and the R&B-influenced " Derrière la porte". Both singles failed to achieve commercial success, although "Un geste d'amour" reached number 62 on the French Singles Chart.
It was the English version of the album that enjoyed more success. ''Chrysalis'' was released at the same time as ''Désirs contraires'' and represented a huge artistic growth for Anggun, who had co-written the entire album. Distributed simultaneously in 15 countries, the album was never released in the United States due to the lackluster sales of her first album. The album spawned the hit single " Still Reminds Me", which received high airplay across Asia and Europe. It became her third number-one hit in Indonesia since her international career and her third top 20 single in Italy (peaking at number 17). It also reached the top five on the ''Music & Media'' European Border Breakers Chart. She released a single especially for the Indonesian and Malaysian market, "Yang 'Ku Tunggu" (the Indonesian version of "Un geste d'amour"), which became another number-one hit for Anggun in the region.

In 2000, Anggun presented her second album, still under the aegis of Erick Benzi, Desires Contraires. The record received little promotion and went relatively unnoticed in France. It has exported well, especially to Indonesia (platinum record) and Italy (gold record). The album was released under the name Chrysalis in fifteen Asian countries simultaneously, including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. The song ''Tu nages'' on the track list of Désirs Contraires was also performed by Céline Dion on her album ''Une fille et quatre types'' in 2003. She joined Earth Day concert called ''Echoes From Earth''. François Moity and Nicolas Yvan-Mingot compiled, rearranged, and recorded every soundtracks that played at the concert into an album. Anggun was the lead vocal on "Over The Hill Of Secrets" and "Songe D'Argile". She then made a mini-tour of ten dates inaugurated at La Cigale on February 1, 2001, her first French stage. She announced her departure from her first label in January 2003, then moved to Montreal, Canada, to meet up with her then fiancé. She toured Indonesia and chose to accompany her the young Julian Cely, who had become her musical godson. At the end of 2000 Anggun received an invitation from the Vatican, asking her to appear at a special Christmas concert alongside Bryan Adams and Dionne Warwick. For the event, she gave her renditions of " Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as well as "Still Reminds Me". Her performance was also included on the ''Noël au Vatican'' disc compilation. The following month, she started a tour across Asia and Europe, including her first-ever concert in France at Le Bataclan on 1 February 2001. The tour ended on 30 April 2001 at Kallang Theatre, Singapore. In 2002, Anggun received the Women Inspire Award from Singapore's Beacon of Light award ceremony for "her achievements as a role model for many young women in Asia." On 2 April 2002, she held her Russia concert at State Concert Hall of the Tchaikovsky. The next year, she was honored with Cosmopolitan Indonesias Fun Fearless Female of the Year Award. Anggun had an interview with VOGUE Deutsch, Germany edition of VOGUE for a rubric called ''Vogue Trifft''.

During this period, Anggun also did a string of collaborations, soundtrack projects, and charity albums. These included a mixed French-English song with DJ Cam entitled "Summer in Paris" (which later became a club hit in Europe and Asia for both artists) on his 2001 album, ''Soulshine''; an Indonesian-English song with Deep Forest entitled "Deep Blue Sea" on their 2002 album, '' Music Detected''; and three collaborations in 2003, including with Italian rock singers Piero Pelù, Serge Lama and Tri Yann. Her duet with Piero Pelù on an Italian-English song entitled " Amore immaginato" became a hit in Italy, spending over two months at the top of Italian Airplay Chart, and sung it at Italian Music Awards in 2003. Anggun also collaborated with Bryan Adams in writing a song entitled "Walking Away" which remains unreleased for unknown reason. The same year, her song ''On the Breath of an Angel'', composed by her with Jacques Veneruso, Nikki Matheson was interpreted and adapted in Vietnamese by Mỹ Tâm in 2001. This title is engraved on the first album of the latter ''Mãi Yêu''. In 2002, Anggun performed ''Open Hearts'', the soundtrack of the film ''Open Hearts'' by Susanne Bier, released in 2003 in Scandinavian theaters. Previously, she has appeared in other soundtracks, ''Anastasia'' with Gildas Arzel in 1997, '' Gloups! je suis un poisson'' and ''Anja & Victor'' in 2001. Later on, her songs have chosen to be the soundtrack of '' Transporter 2 (Cesse la rain)'' in 2005 and the documentary series '' Genesis II et l'homme créa la nature'' by Frédéric Lepage which was broadcast in 2004 on France 5. Anggun participated in two Scandinavian movies: contributing the song "Rain (Here Without You)" for ''Anja & Viktor'' in 2001, and the entire soundtrack album for '' Open Hearts'' in 2002. For ''Open Hearts'', Anggun worked with two Danish producers, Jesper Winge Leisner and Niels Brinck. "Open Your Heart" was released as a commercial single from the soundtrack album and charted at number 51 on the Norwegian Singles Chart. It also earned Anggun a nomination for Best Original Song at the Danish Film Academy's Robert Awards in 2003. "Counting Down" was also released as a single and became a top-ten airplay hit in Indonesia. Anggun's work with Sony Music ended in 2003 due to the company's structural change after a merger with BMG Music. She composed a theme song, called "Human", for Abel Ferry's short movie ''Le bon, la brute et les zombies''. She later moved to Montreal, Canada where she met Olivier Maury, a law school graduate, who became Anggun's manager. In 2004, Anggun and Maury were married in a private ceremony in Bali.

2004–2006: ''Luminescence''

In 2004, Anggun returned to Paris and landed a new record deal with Heben Music, a French independent label. She began working on her next album with several producers, including Jean-Pierre Taieb and Frederic Jaffre. Anggun, who composed mainly in English, enlisted the help of several well-known French songwriters, such as Jean Fauque, Lionel Florence, Tété and Evelyn Kral to adapt her English songs into French. At the same year, she co-wrote a song with Ocean Drive's frontman, Gilles Luka, titled "I Believe (That I See Love in You)" for the winner of Eurovision Song Contest 2003 Sertab Erener's album called '' No Boundaries''. In late 2004, Anggun released her first solo French single in nearly four years, "Être une femme", a song about woman empowerment and rights. The single was available in two versions: one solo version for commercial release and a duet with Diam's for radio release. It became Anggun's second top-20 hit in France, peaking at number 16 on the French Singles Chart. It also became Anggun's first French single to chart on the Swiss Singles Chart, peaking at number 58. Released in February 2005, Anggun's third French album, ''Luminescence'', entered the French Albums Chart at number 30 and was later certified gold for selling 100,000 copies. The second single, " Cesse la pluie" also became a hit, peaking at number 10 in Belgium, 22 in France and 65 in Switzerland. According to Francophonie Diffusion, "Être une femme" and "Cesse la pluie" were the second and the fifth most-played French singles of 2005 worldwide, respectively. In 2005, Anggun also took part in the compilation album ''Ma quando dici amore'', released by the Italian singer Ron. Anggun and Ron performed in the Italian-English song "Catch You (Il coraggio di chiedere aiuto)".

The English version of ''Luminescence''—sharing the same title with its French counterpart—was released in Europe under Sony BMG and in Asia under Universal Music. "Undress Me" was chosen as the first single from the English version. Although it was not accompanied by a music video, it debuted at number 13 in Italy, becoming her fifth top 20 single there. It also provided Anggun with her first hit in the Middle East & Balkans, where the song topped the charts in Lebanon and Turkey. " In Your Mind" was released as the second single and it became a huge hit in Asia. "In Your Mind" got positive acclaimed in Mediterranean countries and Eastern Europe, including Armenia. The third single, "Saviour", was used as the soundtrack for the U.S. box office number-one film '' Transporter 2''. Russian electronic music space composer Andrey Klimkovsky reviewed her album and he quoted in his blog that the album was successful and "Saviour" become huge hit in Russia.

Anggun was awarded with the prestigious distinction Chevalier des Arts et Lettres (''Knight of Arts and Letters'') by the French Minister of Culture for her worldwide achievements and her support of French culture. She was appointed as the ambassadress for a Swiss watch brand, Audemars Piguet. Anggun did a duet with Julio Iglesias on a reworked version of " All of You" in Bahasa version for his album '' Romantic Classics'' (2006). From 9 to 18 March 2006, she participated in a large-scale concert of " The Night of the Proms" co-starring various artists and classical musicians. She sang her song, "Cesse la pluie", did a trio number on " Hot Stuff" with Tina Arena and Jenifer, and joined as choirs on "Hey Jude". On 25 May 2006, Anggun performed on her sold-out solo concert at the Jakarta Convention Center, entitled ''Konser Untuk Negeri''. She later on toured to few cities in Indonesia, such as Medan and Bandung. In July 2006, she served as the opening act for French-rock legend Johnny Hallyday.

In August 2006, Anggun released the special edition of both the French and English versions of ''Luminescence'' with three new songs. She made a large jump on the French Albums Chart from number 119 to number 16 (a total of 103 positions) with the re-release, making ''Luminescence'' her best-charting album in France. " Juste avant toi", the new single from the special edition, became Anggun's fourth Top 40 hit, peaking at number 28 on the French Singles Chart. Meanwhile, its English version, " I'll Be Alright", became her most popular hit in with over 43,000 airplay from more than 350 Russophone radios across the region. ''Luminescence'' was re-issued in February 2007 and peaked at number three on the French Back Catalogue Chart. In September 2006, Anggun performed with her song, " Cesse la pluie" at Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix in Sopot, Poland.

In December 2006, Anggun received the special recognition Best International Artist at Anugerah Musik Indonesia, the most prestigious music award ceremony in Indonesia. The award was given for her role in introducing Indonesian music to the international recording industry. Subsequently, Anggun released her ''Best-Of'' album in Indonesia and Malaysia, which compiled singles during the first decade of her international career, including three re-recorded versions of her early Indonesian hits. The new version of "Mimpi" was released as a radio single and became a huge hit in Indonesia in late 2006 to early 2007. Anggun later released ''Best-Of'' for Italian market with different track listing and "I'll Be Alright" as its lead single. She was also featured on German band Reamonn's single "Tonight". In the end of 2006, She released her music video for the last single in her album, called "A Crime" for English version and "Garde-moi" for French version. "Garde-moi" is co-written by David Hallyday and joined Anggun to be featuring artist in this particular song. This single reached number 3 in Ukrainian Pop Single Charts. In December 2006, she has been invited to perform this song at an ice skating competition, called ''Les étoiles de la glace'', in Switzerland. She sang "Garde-moi" on the ice rink and was accompanied by two professional ice skaters who performed spectacular ice dancing in the background.

2007–2010: ''Elevation''

Anggun did a performance ''Over The Hill Of Secrets'' and ''Panorama'' on music by François Moity and Nicolas Yvan-Mingot for the Gaz de France advertisement. Anggun was awarded ''Le grand cœur de l'année'' (The Great Heart of the Year) by French television network Filles TV for her contribution to social and environmental events. In February 2007, Anggun was invited as the guest star on one episode of the fourth season of '' Star Academy Arab World'' in Lebanon. She returned to another episode of the show's fifth season in the following year. She did a duet with Italian singer Roby Facchinetti and his son, Francesco Facchinetti in a song, titled '' Vivere Normale''. Then, she has been invited to sing it in Italian music festival, called 57th Sanremo Music Festival (''Festival di Sanremo''). In March 2007, she did a number performance with Nicole Croisille and sang Croisille's hit "Une femme avec toi" on Symphonic Show for Sidaction. In December 2007, she received her second invitation from the Vatican to perform in the Christmas concert in Verona, Italy, along with Michael Bolton. She covered Bruce Springsteen's " Streets of Philadelphia" with Corsican group I Muvrini for their album ''I Muvrini et les 500 choristes'' (2007). She was also featured on the remix version of DJ Laurent Wolf's number-one hit " No Stress" for the deluxe edition of his album '' Wash My World''. Anggun and Wolf performed the song at the 2008 World Music Awards in Monaco. Anggun performed at Make A Wish Foundation Charity Concert in Belgium to help children with life-threatening medical conditions. Maurane did a duet number on her song, "Ça casse", with Anggun.

In late 2008, Anggun released her fourth international studio album, ''Elevation'', which shares the same title in both English and French. A departure from the style of her previous efforts, the album experimented with urban music and hip hop. ''Elevation'' was produced by hip hop producer pair Tefa & Masta who produced and managed many artists, such as Diam's, Kery James, etc. This album features collaboration with rappers Pras Michel from the Fugees, Sinik, and Big Ali. "Crazy" was released as the lead single from the album, with its French and Indonesian versions, "Si tu l'avoues" and "Jadi Milikmu", serving as the first single in the respective territories. Canadian cinematographer Ivan Grbovic was the director for its music videos. This song is charted at number 6 on Francophonie Diffusion Chart. Another single from this album, called "My Man" or in the French version, "Si je t'emmène" topped to number 11 on the same chart. This song featured rappers Pras Michel from the Fugees. The music video for its versions was directed by Jean-Baptiste Erreca. Anggun, with this album, had made her music travel to Russia with positive reactions there. In Russia, ''Elevation'' was released with an additional song, "О нас с тобой (O Nas S Toboyu)", which was recorded as a duet with Russian singer Max Lorens. Later on, she remake the song to English version, called "No Song", and Indonesian version, called "Berganti Hati". For "Berganti Hati", she got helped by Indonesian renowned director and artistic arranger Jay Subiyakto to make the music video. Prior to its official release, the album had already been certified double platinum, making it the fastest-selling album of her career in Indonesia. In France, the album debuted at number 36 on the French Albums Chart. Later on, one of her song in this album, called "Stronger" which collaborated with Big Ali, get chosen to be Anlene's advertisement soundtrack for Southeast Asia territory. For the Asian Edition album, she included a song which written by Morgan Visconti and Rosi Golan, "Shine". Then, Pantene used this song to be the soundtrack of its short movie commercial. On 6 December 2008, Anggun joined the panel of jury for Miss France 2009 election. Other celebrities alongside her were singer, actress and AIDS activist Line Renaud as president of the jury, film director Patrice Leconte, Miss France 2007 Rachel Legrain-Trapani, Belgian actor-comedian Benoît Poelvoorde, journalist Henri-Jean Servat and fashion designer Kenzo Takada. Chloé Mortaud was elected to be ''Miss France 2009'' who become a finalist on Miss World 2009.

Anggun's four-year ambassadress contract with Audemars Piguet was subsequently extended. She was also chosen by international hair care brand, Pantene, and New Zealand-based dairy product, Anlene, as their ambassador. In 2009, Italian singer Mina did a cover from one of Anggun's song, " A Rose in the Wind", in her album
''Riassunti d'amore - Mina Cover''. Anggun made a promo tour called ''Anggun Elevation Acoustic Showcase'' and served only 200 guest seats on 24 & 27 March 2009 at Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur. She also made concerts in Indonesia and toured five big cities, including Bandung, Yogyakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya and Medan. In August 2009, she was invited as musical guest to perform her song "Saviour" at '' New Wave 2009'' in Jūrmala, Latvia where she met her Indonesian singer colleague Sandhy Sondoro competing at that show. On 16 October 2009, she attended FAO World Food Day event, called ''All is Possible'', at '' 4th International Rome Film Festival''.

In early 2010, Anggun recorded a duet with Portuguese singer Mickael Carreira on the song "''Chama por me (Call My Name)''", as well as performing at his concert in Lisbon, Portugal on 26 February 2010. She collaborated with German electronica musician Schiller, co-writing and contributing lead vocals to two tracks, "Always You" and "Blind", for his album '' Atemlos'' (2010). Anggun was also featured on Schiller's concert series, Atemlos Tour, in 14 cities in Germany during May 2010. Anggun did a cameo for 2010 French drama film '' Ces amours-là'' directed by Claude Lelouch.

2011–2013: ''Echoes'', Eurovision, and ''The X Factor''

Anggun's fifth international studio album—''Echoes'' for the English version and ''Échos'' for the French version—saw her collaboration with composers Gioacchino Maurici, Pierre Jaconelli, Jean-Pierre Pilot, and William Rousseau. It became her first self-produced international album and was released under her own record label, April Earth. The English version was first released in Indonesia in May 2011. It topped the Indonesian Albums Chart and was certified platinum in the first week. It eventually became the best-selling pop album of 2011, with quadruple platinum certification. On this stage, Anggun had won 56 platinum records in 26 countries, from " Snow on the Sahara" to " Echo (You and I)". " Only Love" and its Indonesian version "Hanyalah Cinta" were released as the lead singles and became number-one radio hits. The French version was released in November 2011 and reached number 48 on the French Albums Chart. "Je partirai", the first single for the French version, reached number five in Belgium. Anggun held her second major concert at the Jakarta Convention Center, ''Konser Kilau Anggun'', on 27 November 2011. She later appeared for the third time at the Christmas concert in the Vatican. This time, she performed " Only Love" and " Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", the latter in a duet with Ronan Keating.

Anggun was chosen by France Télévisions to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. She co-wrote the entry, " Echo (You and I)", with William Rousseau and Jean-Pierre Pilot. Anggun held an extensive tour to more than 15 countries in Europe to promote the song. For the promotional intentions, Keo, Claudia Faniello, Niels Brinck, and Varga Viktor are featuring in this song for special edition albums, each for Romania, Malta, Denmark, and Hungary. She performed the song at the Eurovision grand final in Baku, Azerbaijan on 26 May 2012, wearing a shiny metallic dress sponsored by designer Jean Paul Gaultier. The song finished in 22nd place with 21 points. Anggun later told the press that she had originally hoped to reach a place within the top 10 and was deeply disappointed with the final result.

In March 2012, Anggun released the international edition of ''Echoes'' with "Echo (You and I)" as the lead single. A special edition of ''Échos'' was also released in France, featuring three additional tracks. Following the completion of the Eurovision, she continued the promotion of the album.

Anggun embarked on a concert tour in several cities across France, Switzerland and New Caledonia, including her sold-out concert in Le Trianon, Paris, on 13 June 2012. Anggun joined United Nations campaign, Earth Day: Save the Forest in Italy. On Valentine's Day of that year, she appeared as the guest artist at Lara Fabian's concert special on MTV Lebanon, where they sang the duet " Tu es mon autre". Anggun also toured 10 cities in Germany with Schiller in late 2012. Anggun performed at '' Les Fous Chantants festival'' in Alès, France. In this event, she was accompanied by 1,000 choirs. Theme event for the event was the most beautiful songs of the films (''plus belles chansons de films''). Anggun sang three soundtracks, " GoldenEye" from 1995 James Bond series, " Calling You" from 1987 film '' Bagdad Cafe'' and, with Patrick Fiori, "La Chanson d'Hélène" from 1970 film ''The Things of Life'' ('' Les Choses de la vie''). At the end of 2012, she was appointed by Director & Chief Commercial Officer of Indosat, Erik Meijer, to be the brand ambassador of Indosat Mentari Paket Smartphone (Indosat Mentari Smartphone Package).

In 2013, Anggun served as the international judge for the first season of the Indonesian version of '' The X Factor'', which reportedly made her the highest-paid judge in Indonesian television history. It became the year's highest-rated talent show in Indonesia. Anggun's involvement was also lauded by public and critics, with ''Bintang Indonesia'' praising her for "setting high standard or a judgeon talent shows." She subsequently joined the judging panel of the television special '' X Factor Around the World'', alongside Paula Abdul, Louis Walsh, Daniel Bedingfield, and Ahmad Dhani, on 24 August 2013. She participated on the concept album entitled ''Thérèse – Vivre d'amour

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