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.
De Bruid
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Die me gisteren gewoon als vrouw begroetten
Toen ik haar in mijn stamcafe ontmoette
Zag zij er niet anders dan anders uit
Of misschien toch, ze had iets in haar ogen
Ze leek betoverd of liever nog bevlogen
Haar vrije leven verdiende een fraai besluit
Daarom heb ik geslapen met de bruid
Ik heb vannacht geslapen met de bruid
En ik zit hier katerig asan een kop koffie
In mijn doordeweekse allerdaagse kloffie
En zij ziet er waarschijnlijk prachtig uit
Wie weer heft zij d'r echtgenoot gewroken
Wou ze nog een keer voor haar zelf koken
Wou ze nog een keer proeven van verboden fruit
Vannacht heb ik geslapen met de bruid
Waarschijnlijk zegt ze nu volmondig ja
Op de vraag die de ambtenaar gesteld heeft
Ik vraag me af of ze het haar man verteld heeft
Wat ben ik blij dat ik niet in zijn schoenen sta
Vannacht stonden haar nagels in mijn rug
En fluisterde ze zoete zachte woorden
Ik luisterde en wist niet wat ik hoorde
Toen ze zei: ik kan niet meer terug
De nacht was vol met liefde juichend luid
En ik voel nu ook geen enkele deceptie
Ik ga vanmiddag gewoon naar de receptie
Met een cadeautje voor de bruidegom en bruid
En ik zal ze heel beleefd feliciteren
Maar wie weet zal zij mij commanderen
Om te schreeuwen duidelijk en luid
Ik heb vannacht geslapen met de bruid
En de scene die daar dan van zal komen
Daarover zit ze nu al stil te dromen
Daarom stuur ik, denk ik, maar een telegram
En wordt dronken in mijn kroeg in Amsterdam
The lyrics of Paul de Leeuw's "De Bruid" talk about sleeping with the bride on the night before her wedding. The singer met her in a bar and noticed a particular spark in her eyes. They ended up spending the night together. As the singer is now sitting in his everyday clothes nursing a hangover, he wonders what will happen now that the bride has married someone else. He imagines her saying "yes" to the official's question about marrying her husband, and wonders whether she will tell him about her infidelity. Despite everything, the singer feels no regret about the decision he made.
The lyrics describe the aftermath of what was presumably a one-night stand. The singer is grappling with the consequences of his actions, wondering what the bride's new husband will think, especially if he finds out. The tone of the song is one of reflection and nostalgia, with a hint of mischievousness. The lines "En zij ziet er waarschijnlijk prachtig uit" (And she probably looks beautiful) and "Daarom stuur ik, denk ik, maar een telegram / En wordt dronken in mijn kroeg in Amsterdam" (That's why I'll probably send a telegram / And get drunk in my bar in Amsterdam) suggest a sense of nonchalance or even disregard for the seriousness of the situation.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik heb vannacht geslapen met de bruid
I slept last night with the bride
Die me gisteren gewoon als vrouw begroetten
Who greeted me normally as a woman yesterday
Toen ik haar in mijn stamcafe ontmoette
When I met her at my regular bar
Zag zij er niet anders dan anders uit
She looked the same as usual
Of misschien toch, ze had iets in haar ogen
Or maybe not, she had something in her eyes
Ze leek betoverd of liever nog bevlogen
She seemed enchanted or rather inspired
Haar vrije leven verdiende een fraai besluit
Her free life deserved a beautiful ending
Daarom heb ik geslapen met de bruid
That's why I slept with the bride
En ik zit hier katerig asan een kop koffie
And I'm sitting here hungover with a cup of coffee
In mijn doordeweekse allerdaagse kloffie
In my regular everyday clothes
En zij ziet er waarschijnlijk prachtig uit
And she probably looks beautiful
Wie weer heft zij d'r echtgenoot gewroken
Who knows if she has avenged her husband
Wou ze nog een keer voor haar zelf koken
Maybe she wanted to cook for herself again
Wou ze nog een keer proeven van verboden fruit
Maybe she wanted to taste forbidden fruit again
Vannacht heb ik geslapen met de bruid
Last night I slept with the bride
Waarschijnlijk zegt ze nu volmondig ja
She probably says yes now wholeheartedly
Op de vraag die de ambtenaar gesteld heeft
To the question asked by the official
Ik vraag me af of ze het haar man verteld heeft
I wonder if she told her husband
Wat ben ik blij dat ik niet in zijn schoenen sta
I'm glad I'm not in his shoes
Vannacht stonden haar nagels in mijn rug
Last night her nails were in my back
En fluisterde ze zoete zachte woorden
And she whispered sweet soft words
Ik luisterde en wist niet wat ik hoorde
I listened and didn't know what I heard
Toen ze zei: ik kan niet meer terug
When she said: I can't go back anymore
De nacht was vol met liefde juichend luid
The night was filled with loud cheering love
En ik voel nu ook geen enkele deceptie
And I don't feel any disappointment now
Ik ga vanmiddag gewoon naar de receptie
I'm just going to the reception this afternoon
Met een cadeautje voor de bruidegom en bruid
With a present for the groom and bride
En ik zal ze heel beleefd feliciteren
And I'll congratulate them very politely
Maar wie weet zal zij mij commanderen
But who knows, she might command me
Om te schreeuwen duidelijk en luid
To shout loud and clear
En de scene die daar dan van zal komen
And the scene that will come from that
Daarover zit ze nu al stil te dromen
She's already dreaming silently about that
Daarom stuur ik, denk ik, maar een telegram
That's why I think I'll send a telegram
En wordt dronken in mijn kroeg in Amsterdam
And get drunk in my bar in Amsterdam
Contributed by Molly V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.