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.
Ik Mis Je
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En het gras in de tuin
Moet ik maaien
Ik ga binnenkort
De straat heus weer op
Nu zet ik je hoed
Op m'n kop
En snuif je jas op.
Jij bent er niet
Je komt nooit meer terug
In de spiegel zie ik
Een hoedje van verdriet
En ik heb het zo koud
Hoewel ik nog leef
Maar mijn ziel is van hout
Nat hout, dat niet brandt
Ik trek je jas aan.
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
Alle dagen weer
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
En het doet zo'n zeer.
Laat me nu denken, aan de jaren
Dat je ergens met me naar toe ging
Op zondag zaten we bij Hoppe
Of aan de Sloterplas
Als ik stil ben hoor ik je
Terwijl je lacht
In deze nacht
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
Alle dagen weer.
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
Ik mis je
En het doet zo'n zeer
The lyrics of "Ik Mis Je" by Paul de Leeuw are about the pain and loneliness one experiences after losing a loved one. In the first verse, Paul describes the empty space left by his loved one, expressed through the image of an empty chair in a quiet house. He also mentions the mundane task of mowing the lawn which he now has to do alone. The second half of the verse shows the depth of his grief as he reveals that he will soon have to leave the house and go out into the world again. In a symbolic act of longing, he puts on his loved one's hat and smells their coat, trying to feel close to them again.
In the chorus, Paul repeats the phrase "I miss you" several times, emphasizing the constant ache of his loss. He portrays the feeling of unending sorrow through the image of coldness, indicating that although his physical body is still functioning, his soul is numb and lifeless. In the second verse, he tries to relive the happy memories he shared with his loved one, thinking back to the times they spent together at places like Hoppe and the Sloterplas. But even as he remembers, he alludes to the fact that she is no longer there to share these moments with him. The song ends with a repetition of the chorus, emphasizing the overwhelming sadness of his longing.
Line by Line Meaning
Leeg is je stoel In het stille huis
Your chair is empty in the quiet house
En het gras in de tuin Moet ik maaien
I have to mow the lawn in the garden
Ik ga binnenkort De straat heus weer op
I'll be back on the street soon enough
Nu zet ik je hoed Op m'n kop
Now I put on your hat on my head
En snuif je jas op.
And inhale the scent of your coat.
Jij bent er niet Je komt nooit meer terug
You are not here, you will never return
In de spiegel zie ik Een hoedje van verdriet
I see a little hat of sorrow in the mirror
En ik heb het zo koud Hoewel ik nog leef
And I feel so cold even though I'm still alive
Maar mijn ziel is van hout Nat hout, dat niet brandt
But my soul is made of wood, wet wood that doesn't burn
Ik trek je jas aan.
I put on your coat
Ik mis je Ik mis je Ik mis je Alle dagen weer
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, every single day
Ik mis je Ik mis je Ik mis je En het doet zo'n zeer.
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, and it hurts so much
Laat me nu denken, aan de jaren Dat je ergens met me naar toe ging Op zondag zaten we bij Hoppe Of aan de Sloterplas
Let me think about the years when you went somewhere with me. On Sundays we sat at Hoppe or at Sloterplas
Als ik stil ben hoor ik je Terwijl je lacht In deze nacht
When I'm quiet, I hear you laughing in this night
Contributed by Parker V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.