De Leeuw gained national fame in the late eighties and early nineties with television shows for the public broadcasting company VARA. Though satire was only a part of these shows and much of its humour was essentially harmless he came into publicity with satire about Dutch show business personalities who were often ridiculed.
Besides, many obscure musical acts were featured in his shows, many of which managed to gain national fame after they had been in De Leeuw's programme (e.g. Twarres and AIDS suffering singer Rene Klijn). VARA has since continued his shows apart from a few interruptions, often with considerable success.
In the early nineties, Paul de Leeuw also had some shows celebrating the new year. In the 1993-1994 show he ridiculed the new commercial television channel RTL 5 by announcing another new channel, "RTL 6" (RTL six, beter dan niks (at least better than nothing)). This led to a trial by the RTL company, who demanded that De Leeuw withdraw his joke.
He and his partner, Stephan Nuger, have adopted two children: son Kas (adopted in October 2001) and son Tobey (adopted in December 2002).
Paul de Leeuw has had many hit singles in The Netherlands. He is most famous for: Vlieg met me mee (#2), Ik wil niet dat je liegt / Waarheen, waarvoor (#1), and 'k Heb je lief (#3). Since the beginning of his television and singing career he released albums and singles, always becoming a big success.
In 2006, he recorded the song "Mijn Houten Hart" (My Wooden Heart) with Raffaela, which was later released as a single and peaked at #18 in the Dutch Singles Top 100, becoming one of his smallest hits.
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 incident
De Leeuw is, despite being famous for a long time in the Netherlands, best-known internationally for presenting the results of the Dutch televote in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. De Leeuw was supposed to present the televote by simply thanking the presenters, performers and fans, before giving the result but instead the openly gay De Leeuw gave his mobile number to the male presenter Sakis Rouvas live on-air, and made other comments which somewhat lengthened the Dutch results.
De Leeuw also made a reference to gay culture when he remarked that Rouvas and his female co-presenter Maria Menounos reminded him of Will & Grace. As the results were live and required for the contest to continue, De Leeuw could not be cut off until he finished giving the voting results.
De Leeuw's actions resulted in negative comments from the commentators, with the BBC's Terry Wogan calling the act "pathetic" and asking "Who selected this eejit?" during the United Kingdom coverage of the contest. Other commentators, like the Portuguese Eladio Climaco, didn't translate properly the gay remarks and said he was saying that they really look like Greeks. Parts of the dialogue were also shown on the German comedy show TV total.
The dialogue between De Leeuw and Rouvas
Rouvas: Hello Netherlands! Paul...
De Leeuw: Hello Greece, kalisperma everybody! [note that sperma means sperm in many languages, at least both in Dutch and Greek]
Rouvas: Kalispera Paul. [kalispera means 'Good evening', which was supposed to be said]
De Leeuw: You look like Will... [stops, likely due to the cheering of the crowd behind him] You look like Will & Grace, you two. So here are the votes, the Dutch votes. Let's come. [In an extremely high tempo] One, Ukreene (sic), two, Russia, Germany, three, Ireland, four, Greece, five, Lithuania, six, Finland, seven points! [resumes normal tempo]] Now the eight points. Are you ready Chaci, tzatziki, cichaci?
Rouvas: Yes, haha.
De Leeuw: Are you ready? Eight points... I like your blouse... The eight points are for Bosnia-Hoshegovina (sic). Yeah.
Rouvas: Bosnie-Herzegovine, huit points.
De Leeuw: Yes, I say. And the ten points, Zhacki, Zhicka, Chucka, are from (sic) Armenia!
Rouvas: Armenie, dix points.
De Leeuw: Ok, and Chacki, do you have my mobile number now or after twelve points?
Rouvas: Give it to me now. I bet it's 69 69 69. [In Greece, mobile numbers always begin with 69, but the rest of the 69's are a sexual innuendo, since Rouvas did not seem to like Paul's lines.]
De Leeuw: Ok, 00... [interrupted by Rouvas' remark] no no no no no... I'm not the French guy! [Probably refers that Rouvas was once interviewed for a French magazine, in which the interviewer assumed that Rouvas was gay and directed his questions accordingly.] Its 00 31 6 24 74 44 32 10 dial 1. Twelve points goes to, I'm very proud to say, Turkey! Twelve points.
Rouvas: Turquie, douze points.
Als ik je verliezen moet
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wil ik kiezen hoe dat gaat
't Moet toch ook te doen zijn
Zonder hulp en zonder haat
Dus ga niet zitten drinken
En schrijf liever ook geen brief
Ik wou het zo graag aardig doen
En niet zo agressief
Daar pieker ik niet over
Dus daar kom je mooi van af
Het heeft geen zin te zeuren
Over wie zijn schuld het is
Het is eigenlijk zo dat ik je
Nu al heel erg vreselijk mis
Ik heb een paar suggesties
Hoe het makkelijk anders kan
Ik heb al zitten broeden
Op mijn overlevingsplan
We gaan bijvoorbeeld zeilen
Op de Kaag of IJsselmeer
Of op de pont van Vlissingen
Een paar keer heen en weer
Desnoods gaan we op een middag
Even naarde Efteling
Of anders naar de duinen
Voor een lange wandeling
Ik wil ook wel naar het apenhuis
Daar stinkt het zo vertrouwd
En daar mag je me zeggen
Dat je niet meer van me houdt
Een mens lijdt vaak het meeste
Door het lijden dat hij vreest
Dus jij helpt mij en ik help jou
Want het is zo leuk geweest
Ik wil alleen omzeilen
Dat verdriet van extra pijn
Met liefde scheiden is niet gek
Dat moet toch mogelijk zijn
The song "Als ik je verliezen moet" (If I have to lose you) by Paul De Leeuw is a ballad about a man who is trying to navigate the painful process of ending a relationship without resorting to any animosity or aggression. The lyrics convey the sentiment that losing a loved one is always difficult, but there are ways to avoid causing unnecessary pain and additional suffering. The singer makes suggestions about how to do this, such as going on a sailing trip, visiting the zoo, or taking long walks.
The song starts with the singer expressing a wish to choose how the relationship ends, without any help or hatred. He advises his partner not to resort to drinking or writing hostile letters. He rejects the idea of relationship therapy, saying he doesn't want to go through that. Rather, he wants to end the relationship with dignity, without blaming anyone or hurting each other further. The singer then suggests different activities they could do together, like sailing, visiting the zoo, or taking walks, to make the separation easier. He acknowledges how much he will miss his partner and how sad it makes him feel, but he wants to avoid causing more pain.
Line by Line Meaning
Als ik je verliezen moet
In the event that I lose you
Wil ik kiezen hoe dat gaat
I want to have some say in how it happens
't Moet toch ook te doen zijn
It must at least be possible
Zonder hulp en zonder haat
Without help or animosity
Dus ga niet zitten drinken
So don't just sit there and drink
En schrijf liever ook geen brief
And don't bother writing a letter
Ik wou het zo graag aardig doen
I really wanted to be kind about it
En niet zo agressief
And not come across as hostile
Relatietherapie, vindt ik zo'n moderne straf
I see couple's therapy as a modern form of punishment
Daar pieker ik niet over
I'm not even considering it
Dus daar kom je mooi van af
So you're off the hook with that one
Het heeft geen zin te zeuren
There's no point in arguing
Over wie zijn schuld het is
About whose fault it is
Het is eigenlijk zo dat ik je
In reality, I already
Nu al heel erg vreselijk mis
Miss you terribly
Ik heb een paar suggesties
I do have a few ideas
Hoe het makkelijk anders kan
On how to do things differently
Ik heb al zitten broeden
I've been pondering
Op mijn overlevingsplan
On my survival plan
We gaan bijvoorbeeld zeilen
For instance, we could go sailing
Op de Kaag of IJsselmeer
In Kaag or IJsselmeer
Of op de pont van Vlissingen
Or on Vlissingen's Ferry
Een paar keer heen en weer
Going back and forth a few times
Desnoods gaan we op een middag
If necessary, we could go on an afternoon
Even naarde Efteling
To Efteling, for example
Of anders naar de duinen
Or perhaps to the dunes
Voor een lange wandeling
For a long walk
Ik wil ook wel naar het apenhuis
I wouldn't mind going to the monkey house
Daar stinkt het zo vertrouwd
It smells so familiar there
En daar mag je me zeggen
And that's where you can tell me
Dat je niet meer van me houdt
That you don't love me anymore
Een mens lijdt vaak het meeste
People often suffer the most
Door het lijden dat hij vreest
From the suffering they anticipate
Dus jij helpt mij en ik help jou
So you help me and I'll help you
Want het is zo leuk geweest
Because it was so much fun while it lasted
Ik wil alleen omzeilen
I just want to avoid
Dat verdriet van extra pijn
That added pain from the sorrow
Met liefde scheiden is niet gek
Separating with love isn't crazy
Dat moet toch mogelijk zijn
It must be possible
Contributed by Alaina G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.