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.
Mijn Hoofd Weer Op Je Schouder
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Het sprak vanzelf
Jij en ik
En zo moest het altijd blijven
Ons geluk
Kon niet stuk
En de zon
Die zou voor ons eeuwig schijnen
Wou je weg
't Ging zu vlug
En wat bleef dat was een droom
Zo gaat het vaak
Om je heen
Heel onverwacht
Ziet de een het niet meer zitten
De ander blijft
Het huis is leeg
's Avonds laat
Vertelt de kamer zijn
Van hoe het was
Wat ie zei
Maar wat bleef
Dat was die droom
Refr.:
Mijn hoofd weer op je schouder
Je handen spelen met m'n haar
We zijn dan wel wat ouder
Maar toch weer even bij elkaar
M'n hoofd weer op je schouder
Je handen spelen met m'n haar
We zijn dan wel wat ouder
Maar toch weer even bij elkaar
Het geluk
Is net een bloem
Pul hem af
Hoopt dat ie zal blijven bloeien
Je neemt 'm mee
In je hand
Veel te vast
Want je wilt 'm niet verliezen
Maar na een dag
In een vaas
Valt ie uit
En wat blijft, dat is die droom
Die lege plek
In je huis
In je hart
Denkt dat ie niet terug zal komen
En je zegt
Slijt wel weg
Gaat voorbij
En je probeert het te vergeten
's Avonds laat
Telefoon
Ja met mij
Ik kom terug
Voor onze droom
Refr.(2x)
The lyrics to Paul de Leeuw's song "Mijn Hoofd Weer Op Je Schouder" speak of a love that was thought to be unbreakable but ultimately proved to be fragile as one partner suddenly decides to leave. The first verse talks about how beautiful it all seemed, how they believed that their love was unshakeable, and how the sun would forever shine on them. However, this dream was shattered when one person wanted to leave, and all that remains is just their dream. The second verse speaks of how this kind of thing happens a lot, and how one person can suddenly lose faith in the relationship while the other still wants it to work, leaving behind loneliness and emptiness. The chorus then describes the desire to go back in time to when they were together, with the singer putting their head on their former partner's shoulder while they play with their hair. Despite growing older, they still want to relive that moment together.
Overall, this song is a sobering reflection on the fragility of love and how easily it can be broken. It speaks of the deep longing for a love that - while gone - was very real to these people. It reminds us that while love can be beautiful, it can also be fleeting, and that sometimes we have to let go of our dreams and move on.
Line by Line Meaning
Het leek zo mooi
Everything seemed perfect
Het sprak vanzelf
It was just so natural
Jij en ik
You and I
En zo moest het altijd blijven
And that's how it was meant to be forever
Ons geluk
Our happiness
Kon niet stuk
Seemed unbreakable
En de zon
The sun
Die zou voor ons eeuwig schijnen
Would shine eternally for us
Maar ineens
But suddenly
Wou je weg
You wanted to leave
't Ging zu vlug
It happened too fast
En wat bleef dat was een droom
All that was left was a dream
Zo gaat het vaak
This often happens
Om je heen
Around you
Heel onverwacht
Very unexpectedly
Ziet de een het niet meer zitten
One person gives up
De ander blijft
The other one stays
Het huis is leeg
The house is empty
's Avonds laat
Late at night
Vertelt de kamer zijn
The room tells its story
Van hoe het was
Of how things used to be
Wat ie zei
What was said
Maar wat bleef
But what remained
Dat was die droom
Was just that dream
Refr.:
Chorus:
Mijn hoofd weer op je schouder
My head on your shoulder again
Je handen spelen met m'n haar
Your hands playing with my hair
We zijn dan wel wat ouder
We may be older now
Maar toch weer even bij elkaar
But we’re together again, if only for a while
Het geluk
Happiness
Is net een bloem
Is just like a flower
Pul hem af
You pick it
Hoopt dat ie zal blijven bloeien
Hoping it will keep blooming
Je neemt 'm mee
You take it with you
In je hand
In your hand
Veel te vast
Too tightly
Want je wilt 'm niet verliezen
Because you don't want to lose it
Maar na een dag
But after a day
In een vaas
In a vase
Valt ie uit
It wilts
En wat blijft, dat is die droom
All that's left is that dream
Die lege plek
That empty space
In je huis
In your home
In je hart
In your heart
Denkt dat ie niet terug zal komen
Thinking it won't come back
En je zegt
And you say
Slijt wel weg
It'll fade away
Gaat voorbij
It’ll pass
En je probeert het te vergeten
And you try to forget it
's Avonds laat
Late at night
Telefoon
Phone
Ja met mij
Yes, it's me
Ik kom terug
I'm coming back
Voor onze droom
For our dream
Refr.(2x)
Chorus (2x)
Contributed by Bentley D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.