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.
Onder De Appelboom
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Voor de tijd van het jaar, de tuinbank stond klaar onder de appelboom
Ik ging zitten en zat te kijken hoe de buurman
In zijn tuin Nog aan het spitten was
De nacht kwam uit de aarde, een blauwer wordend licht hingin de appelboom
Toen werd het langzaam weer te mooi om waar te zijn
De dingen van de dag, verdwenen voor de geur van hooi
Er mag weer speelgoed in het gras en ver weg in het huis
En later hoorde ik de vleugels van ganzen in de hemel
Hoorde ik hoe stil en leeg het aan het worden was
Gelukkig zat er iemand naast me om precies te zijn
Jij was het die naast me kwam zitten onder de appelboom
Zeldzaam zacht en dichtbij voor onze leeftijd
The song Onder De Appelboom (Under the Apple Tree) by Paul de Leeuw talks about a peaceful evening at home. The singer, after coming home around eight in the evening, sits on the garden bench, which is placed conveniently under the apple tree. From there, he observes his neighbor still doing some gardening work. As the night descends, a blue light hangs in the apple tree giving everything a surrealistic and magical feel.
The peacefulness of the moment slowly overtakes the singer, and he forgets about the worries of the day, as the smell of hay fills the air. He also realizes how happy the children in the house are, as their laughter could be heard from where he sat. Suddenly, the distant honking of geese in the sky reminds the singer how the day is slowly fading to its end but finds solace in the fact that he isn't alone; his companion joins him under the apple tree. The song ends with the singer acknowledging how close and comfortable the company of the other person is, making the moment even more beautiful.
Line by Line Meaning
Ik kwam thuis, het was een uur of acht En zeldzaam zacht
I arrived home, at around eight o'clock, and it was unusually calm and peaceful, especially considering the time of year.
Voor de tijd van het jaar, de tuinbank stond klaar onder de appelboom
Given it was the current season, it was unexpected to find the garden bench under the apple tree ready for sitting.
Ik ging zitten en zat te kijken hoe de buurman In zijn tuin Nog aan het spitten was
I sat down and observed my neighbor, who was still digging in his garden.
De nacht kwam uit de aarde, een blauwer wordend licht hingin de appelboom
As the night emerged, a deepening shade of blue enveloped the apple tree.
Toen werd het langzaam weer te mooi om waar te zijn De dingen van de dag, verdwenen voor de geur van hooi
Gradually, everything became unbelievably beautiful, obscuring the events of the day with the aroma of hay.
Er mag weer speelgoed in het gras en ver weg in het huis Lachten de kinderen in het bad tot waar ik zat tot onder de appelboom
Now the toys could come out and be scattered in the grass while the children in the bathtub joyfully laughed, audible from where I sat until beneath the apple tree.
En later hoorde ik de vleugels van ganzen in de hemel Hoorde ik hoe stil en leeg het aan het worden was
Later on, I heard the beating of wings from geese flying in the sky, while noticing how the surrounding area was becoming more and more silent and empty.
Gelukkig zat er iemand naast me om precies te zijn Jij was het die naast me kwam zitten onder de appelboom
Thankfully, someone sat next to me, and it happened to be you who sat down beside me under the apple tree.
Zeldzaam zacht en dichtbij voor onze leeftijd
It was exceptionally gentle and near, given our age.
Contributed by Savannah Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
henk geerlings
Een prachtige ode aan R & H. Bedankt Paul.
Marijn Woudstra
Gedicht van Rutger Kopland
coen de jonge
Muziek van Harry Bannink, dat is meer dan de l helft van het lied...