Dynamic Duo Laps Up Attention

They chewed up the competition and crisscrossed the continent, doing the Indonesian audience back home proud. Despite their newly acquired heavyweight celebrity status, Marsio and Mardy Juwono also enjoy the lighter side of life, Tyler Branaman writes.

It’s Thursday night at a Central Jakarta restaurant, and a crowd of people are laughing and listening intently to their guests-of-honor, a pair of unlikely TV stars. They are the Juwono brothers Marsio, 34, and Mardy, 36, known to fans as M&Ms, the sole Indonesian team from the first Amazing Race Asia.

They came in fourth, beating eight other teams to the finish line. Not bad for a couple of out-of-shape guys who people predicted would succumb early in the backbreaking contest.

Mardy, the oldest of three siblings and a contractor, suggested they try their luck in the first season of the popular show. He chose his younger brother, a photographer, to be his teammate because he was sure Marsio “could withstand the pressure and hardship of the race”.

So they set out to do a playful audition tape on a beach, sent it in and the rest  is history.

They were chosen, they think, partly because the producers wanted to have a mixture of relationships in the race, and also because of their considerable size. Compared to the other contestants, they were significantly larger, and this was an interesting angle (or story arc in “reality speak”). It is commonly known in reality TV world that the story arc is built and enhanced on how the show is edited.

In their case, it seems the producers tried to portray them as the lovable and “heavy” underdogs. And, boy, did the editors love to show a lot of the brothers, especially Marsio, eating or talking about food in almost every episode (the irony was that an eating challenge in Dubai was their downfall)

“Everybody eats on the show, yet they only show Marsio eating!” Mardy said.

Of course, the arc worked. Fans of the show have commented on the brothers’ love of food in internet forums, with many finding it endearing. This, along with their sense of humor and good rapport with each other and the other teams, has created quite a following.

They have a huge fan base in at least three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. On the AXN internet forum, they garner more posts than any other team, even more than the winners of the race itself. There have been three informal gatherings in Jakarta to watch and discuss the show with the brothers.

Their Filipino fans have created a fan club and a PhotoStory as a tribute to the brothers, basically a collage of the brothers’ pictures to the soundtrack of Jack Johnson’s Better Together (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8551608390861149257&hl=en). If that was not enough, a Hong Kong fan set up a blog.

“We have been recognized at malls. I was recognized in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, at airports, on planes.” marvels Marsio.

Soufie, a fan from Jakarta, loves the brothers not just because they are from Indonesia, but because they are smart and good role models for future racers because they never resorted to vicious scheming. And, yes, she loved their plump physiques.

Although they are longtime fans of the original American series, the grueling physical and mental aspects of the race still came as a surprise to Marsio. They had no time to prepare physically, since they only had two weeks from the time they found out they were chosen for the show to the actual shooting itself. Carrying a 10 – 11 kg bag while running was not as easy as it looked on TV!

“I’m actually surprised we lasted that long in the race!” laughs Mardy. “I also found out that my brother actually had the stamina to run. I thought he was more of a short-distance runner.”

Their strategy was pretty basic: Work with the other teams and make sure to always have at least one team behind them. Although they were shown having an alliance with Andrew and Syeon, the couple from Malaysia, Mardy’s favorite team was Sandy and Francesca, the Hong Kong runners-up, while Marsio’s was Ernie and Jeena, the husband and wife team from the Philippines.

They maintain that they mostly got along fine with the other teams, and that the others considered them to be smart. The race definitely tested their minds and strength, but Marsio was pleasantly surprised by his brother’s endurance during the race’s demanding physical challenges and difficulties.

Despite everything, they enjoyed the race and would definitely take up an invitation for any future Amazing Race Asia All Star.

“I’ll prepare more, physically and mentally, especially for the eating challenges,”said Mardy. “I’ll buff up!”gamely added Marsio, prompting Mardy to retort: “You promise? Write that down in the magazine.”

Now, if they could change one thing about the race?

Marsio would have Leg 12 – their elimination leg – held anywhere but Dubai. Mardy wished they would have more screen time. Presumably with less eating footage.

Rating the Race
“Ernie & Jeena are really energetic and funny. They relaxed us.”
“We got along fine with the others but there was this one team that was rude and cocky.” (guess who?)
“If we told anybody the outcome of the race, we would have been slapped with a $5 million fine.”
“Marsio is very good at navigating.”
“Between us and the third team on Leg 12, there was only a half hour difference.”
Marsio’s favorite spots on the race were Sydney and Dubai, while Mardy chose Queensland.
The highlight of the race for Mardy was doing the skyjump, and the sling for Marsio.

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