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.
In Vuur En Vlam
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dat mijn liefde wat bekoelt is
En dat je beter weg kunt gaan
Maar als je dan zou zeggen
Dat het niet zo bedoeld is
Dan zou mijn hart direct weer sneller slaan
Ik zou je willen vragen
Of je altijd hier zult blijven
Maar misschien dat juist die vraag ons
Verder uit elkaar zal drijven
En heb ik achteraf dan toch weer spijt
Refr.:
In vuur en vlam voor jou
Mijn hele leven
De enige van wie ik hou
Die kan ik alles toch vergeven
Ik zou wel willen schreeuwen
Dat ik de pijn niet kan verdragen
Ik kan het niet meer accepteren
Maar je zult waarschijnlijk zeggen
Dat ik niet zo door moet zagen
En dat ik niet moet fantaseren
Ik zou wel willen weten
Of je tegen mij blijft liegen
Ik heb je zolang alles willen geven
Maar je zult blijven verbloemen
En je zult blijven bedriegen
Je leidt een dubbel leven
Refr.
Zal ik je ooit kunnen zeggen
Dat het vuur in mij al heel lang op de waakvlam staat
The lyrics of Paul de Leeuw's song "In Vuur En Vlam" speak to the complexities of love and the emotional turmoil that can come with it. The singer expresses his desire to communicate his true feelings to his lover - that his love is cooling and she may be better off leaving - but the thought that she might not have meant to hurt him makes his heart race. He openly wonders if his lover will stay with him forever, but questions whether asking that question could push them further apart. The chorus repeats the phrase "In vuur en vlam voor jou" which translates to "In fire and flames for you" and represents the passionate love he has for her.
The second verse amplifies the emotional toll that the singer is going through. He admits that he can't handle the pain of loving someone who might not feel the same way about him. He sounds warning bells to his lover that he cannot accept this anymore, but he acknowledges that his thoughts may just be fantasies. He wants to know if his lover is lying to him and hiding something, but he recognizes that she will continue to deceive him and lead a double life.
Overall, the song speaks poignantly to the universal experience of love, and the complicated relationship dynamics that come with it. The singer's emotions swing widely from love to pain to anger to hopelessness, and the song captures this in a raw and honest way.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik zou je willen zeggen
I would like to tell you
Dat mijn liefde wat bekoelt is
That my love has cooled down
En dat je beter weg kunt gaan
And that you should leave
Maar als je dan zou zeggen
But if you were to say
Dat het niet zo bedoeld is
That it wasn't meant that way
Dan zou mijn hart direct weer sneller slaan
Then my heart would immediately start beating faster
Ik zou je willen vragen
I would like to ask you
Of je altijd hier zult blijven
If you will always stay here
Nooit meer die onzekerheid
Never again that uncertainty
Maar misschien dat juist die vraag ons
But maybe that question will
Verder uit elkaar zal drijven
Drive us further apart
En heb ik achteraf dan toch weer spijt
And then I will regret it afterwards
Refr.:
refrain:
In vuur en vlam voor jou
In fire and flames for you
Mijn hele leven
My whole life
De enige van wie ik hou
The only one I love
Die kan ik alles toch vergeven
I can forgive you everything
Ik zou wel willen schreeuwen
I would like to scream
Dat ik de pijn niet kan verdragen
That I can't bear the pain
Ik kan het niet meer accepteren
I can't accept it anymore
Maar je zult waarschijnlijk zeggen
But you will probably say
Dat ik niet zo door moet zagen
That I shouldn't nag so much
En dat ik niet moet fantaseren
And that I shouldn't fantasize
Ik zou wel willen weten
I would like to know
Of je tegen mij blijft liegen
If you keep lying to me
Ik heb je zolang alles willen geven
I have wanted to give you everything for so long
Maar je zult blijven verbloemen
But you will keep hiding things
En je zult blijven bedriegen
And you will keep deceiving me
Je leidt een dubbel leven
You lead a double life
Refr.
refrain:
Zal ik je ooit kunnen zeggen
Will I ever be able to tell you
Dat het vuur in mij al heel lang op de waakvlam staat
That the fire in me has been simmering for a long time
Writer(s): HENK CHRISTIAAN HENDRIK TEMMING, ANA PAULA DA SILVA PATRICIO GOMES
Contributed by Sadie T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mykeymay
Mooi liedje...goede sound...TOP!