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A former Jakarta resident was named the winner of an international contest for new stars in Latvia over the weekend, marking a major start in his bid to go international.

Musician and singer Sandhy Sondoro, largely unknown in Indonesia because he lives in Germany, was voted the overall best newcomer at the 8th New Wave International Contest of Young Pop Singers held in Jurmala, Latvia, from July 28 to Aug. 2.

The contest, reputed as the most glamorous and prestigious in Eastern Europe, also featured performances by international artists Al Jearou, Simply Red, Roxette and Eric Clapton. Indonesian international singer Anggun also performed during the event.

The contest was over the course of three days. The singers, mostly from Scandinavian countries and also from Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine and Indonesia, each had to sing one song on each day.

All performed live before panels of at least seven judges, with the final scores tallied during the last day.

Kevi Lane, a business liaison manager for Sandhy, said the 28-year-old architect was already leading the score from the first day of the contest.

“He was quite a standout compared to the others,” Kevin said.

“There were only a few times when he had to share the scores, but we believed that he could manage to win.”

Kevi said Sandhy’s song on the final day, “End of The Rainbow,” is now highly likely to become his first worldwide single.

During the competition, Sandhy also sang “Malam Biru” (“Blue Night”), a song that he wrote, and Michael Bolton’s “When A Man Loves A Woman,” which drew a standing ovation from the audience and earned him a near-perfect score.

However, despite his shining stage performances during the competition, Sandhy’s name is hardly recognized in his own country.

Eric Qomarul, Sandhy’s manager, said in Jakarta, on Sunday night: “I suppose that’s partly because he has been staying in Berlin [Germany] for almost 20 years, but also because his music is soul blues, with the mix of John Buckley, Dean Harper, even a little bit of John Mayer.”

He said Sandhy had visited Indonesia last month to do several performances to introduce himself.

Sandhy also has permanent residence in Germany as a musician, something that no Indonesian had ever achieved before.

He previously released one album, “Why Don’t We,” in December of 2007.