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.
Liefdesbriefjes
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Op tafel waarin je mij schreef
Hoeveel je werkelijk van me hield
En waar je die avond bleef
Ach de tijd van liefdesbriefjes is nu jammerlijk voorbij
Ze worden nog wel geschreven door jou
Alleen niet voor mij
Dat jij de ware voor mij was
En jij vond mij vaak het einde
Maar ik wist: we begonnen pas
's morgens vroeg was jij verdwenen
Waarnaar toe ik had geen idee
Er lag een briefje op de tafel
Naast een halflauw kopje thee
Ik mis je kleine liefdesbriefjes
Op tafel waarin je mij schreef
Hoeveel je werkelijk van me hield
En waar je die avond bleef
Ach de tijd van liefdesbriefjes is nu jammerlijk voorbij
Ze worden nog wel geschreven door jou
Alleen niet voor mij
En ik weet, ik gaf je alles
Ook als jij er niet om vroeg
Maar mijn liefde was oneindig
Soms voor jou meer dan genoeg
's Morgens vroeg toen jij weer opstond
Mijn eigen held voor dag en dauw
Was de thee niet ingeschonken
En toen dacht ik nog wat flauw
Ik zie dat kleine memobriefje
Op tafel waarin je mij schreef
Dat je eigenlijk niet van mij hield
Dat je ook niet langer bleef
Het was misschien voor ons het beste
En al is het dan voorbij
Als je ooit iets liefs geschreven hebt
Stuur het dan gerust een keer naar mij
The lyrics of Paul de Leeuw's "Liefdesbriefjes" song express a deep sense of longing for the romantic gestures of the past. The song begins with the singer reminiscing about the days when their lover would leave little love notes on the table, expressing their love and sharing details about their whereabouts. However, these gestures have now come to an end, as the lover still writes love notes but no longer sends them to the singer.
The song then goes on to describe the singer's thoughts about their past relationship with their lover. They recall moments when they thought their lover was the one for them, and how their lover would often leave before the singer woke up, leaving only a note and a half-empty cup of tea. The singer misses these small displays of affection that now seem to be a thing of the past.
The final part of the song is a plea to their former lover to send them a love note if they ever wrote one again. The song explores the idea that even though relationships might end, the memories and affection shared between two people can still be treasured.
Overall, "Liefdesbriefjes" is a heartfelt song that tugs at our emotions with its bittersweet lyrics and nostalgic tone.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik mis je kleine liefdesbriefjes
I miss the small, affectionate letters you used to leave for me
Op tafel waarin je mij schreef
On the table where you wrote to me
Hoeveel je werkelijk van me hield
Expressing how much you truly loved me
En waar je die avond bleef
And where you spent the evening
Ach de tijd van liefdesbriefjes is nu jammerlijk voorbij
Unfortunately, the time of love letters has passed
Ze worden nog wel geschreven door jou
You still write them, though
Alleen niet voor mij
Just not for me
Als ik denk aan die momenten
As I think back on those moments
Dat jij de ware voor mij was
When you were the one for me
En jij vond mij vaak het einde
And you often thought that I was wonderful
Maar ik wist: we begonnen pas
But I knew that we were just beginning
's morgens vroeg was jij verdwenen
You were gone early in the morning
Waarnaar toe ik had geen idee
I had no idea where you went
Er lag een briefje op de tafel
There was a note on the table
Naast een halflauw kopje thee
Next to a lukewarm cup of tea
En ik weet, ik gaf je alles
And I know that I gave you everything
Ook als jij er niet om vroeg
Even when you didn't ask for it
Maar mijn liefde was oneindig
Because my love was infinite
Soms voor jou meer dan genoeg
Sometimes more than enough for you
's Morgens vroeg toen jij weer opstond
Early in the morning when you got up again
Mijn eigen held voor dag en dauw
My own hero at daybreak
Was de thee niet ingeschonken
The tea was not poured
En toen dacht ik nog wat flauw
And then I thought something silly
Ik zie dat kleine memobriefje
I see that small memo note
Op tafel waarin je mij schreef
On the table where you wrote to me
Dat je eigenlijk niet van mij hield
That you didn't really love me
Dat je ook niet langer bleef
That you also didn't stay any longer
Het was misschien voor ons het beste
Maybe it was for the best for us
En al is het dan voorbij
And even though it's over now
Als je ooit iets liefs geschreven hebt
If you've ever written anything sweet
Stuur het dan gerust een keer naar mij
Feel free to send it to me sometime
Contributed by Elena C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@darrenoflynn8803
I Lived in Breda 20 years ago, and heard this album after a few months, still love it
@MrTweepie1
Wat is dit wederom een fantastich mooi liedhe weer paul.
Net als vleugels van mijn vlucht ( wat je zo mooi voor mij en sglvia hebt gezobgen) gaat dit ook onder mijn huid zitten.