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.
Honderd Woorden
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Denk aan wat je voor je wegging zei
Ik hoor nog steeds die wonder mooie klank
Eenzaamheid wordt nu verleden tijd
We weten allebei dat liefde een gevoel is
Ze zeggen toch het is gewoon een spel
Maar jij weet hoe het moet
Want honderd woorden zijn toch nooit genoeg
Als jij hier zelf niet bent en op me wacht
Hoe kom ik door die lange donkere nacht
Het enige wat helpt is een besluit
Dan kan ik alles zeggen wat ik in me voel
Ik snap nauwelijks nog zelf wat ik echt bedoel
Ik ben in alle staten
Ik zing in plaats van praten
Want morgen zul je het horen
Ik ben opnieuw geboren
Ik wil dat mensen weten dat ik van jou hou
Ze mogen niet vergeten dat ik van jou hou
Van jou hou
The opening lines of Paul de Leeuw's song, "Honderd Woorden," present an image of loneliness and longing. The singer is sitting alone on a couch, thinking about what the person they love said before they left. The memory of the beautiful sound of their voice stays with the singer, offering a glimmer of hope that their loneliness will soon end. However, the singer becomes reflective and acknowledges that love is a feeling, and though others may downplay it as a game, the singer knows that love can be intense and overwhelming at times. With the person they love not present, the singer wonders how they will survive the long, dark night ahead. The only thing that might bring comfort is making a decision about their feelings and how to communicate them.
The lines "But jij weet hoe het moet, en dat maakt alles wel een beetje eng voor mij" suggest a lack of self-confidence on the part of the singer. They feel that the person they love knows better than they do about love and expressing emotions. The second verse is more positive as the singer declares that they are in all states and ready to share their feelings, whether it be through singing or speaking. They want the world, notably the person they love, to know how strong their feelings are and that they will never forget them.
Overall, the song reflects the struggle and vulnerability of expressing love and emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
Zit hier heel alleen op de bank
I am sitting here all alone on the couch
Denk aan wat je voor je wegging zei
I am thinking about what you said before you left
Ik hoor nog steeds die wonder mooie klank
I still hear that wonderful sound
Eenzaamheid wordt nu verleden tijd
Loneliness is now a thing of the past
We weten allebei dat liefde een gevoel is
We both know that love is a feeling
Ze zeggen toch het is gewoon een spel
They say it's just a game
Maar jij weet hoe het moet
But you know how to do it
En dat maakt alles wel een beetje eng voor mij
And that makes it all a little scary for me
Want honderd woorden zijn toch nooit genoeg
Because a hundred words are never enough
Als jij hier zelf niet bent en op me wacht
If you are not here waiting for me
Hoe kom ik door die lange donkere nacht
How will I get through that long dark night
Het enige wat helpt is een besluit
The only thing that helps is a decision
Dan kan ik alles zeggen wat ik in me voel
Then I can say everything I feel inside
Ik snap nauwelijks nog zelf wat ik echt bedoel
I hardly even understand what I really mean
Ik ben in alle staten
I am in all kinds of emotional states
Ik zing in plaats van praten
I sing instead of speaking
Want morgen zul je het horen
Because you will hear it tomorrow
Ik ben opnieuw geboren
I am born again
Ik wil dat mensen weten dat ik van jou hou
I want people to know that I love you
Ze mogen niet vergeten dat ik van jou hou
They should not forget that I love you
Van jou hou
I love you
Contributed by Skyler T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.