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.
Samen
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ik was onzeker in 't begin,
ik slikte elke mening in,
ik had geen enkel zelfbewustzijn of vertrouwen.
Dus zei ik 'ja' als dacht ik 'nee'.
Ik wilde vastheid voor ons twee,
maar wist niet eens hoe 'k van mijzelf moest leren houen
jij vond voor altijd veel te lang,
je had geen zin om je aan iemand al te binden.
Dus zei jij 'nee', al dacht je 'ja',
je was allergisch voor daarna,
en dacht alleen geluk en zaligheid te vinden.
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
samen, we zijn weer samen,
we waren veel te lang en veel te veel alleen.
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
daar kan geen mens nu meer met een goed fatsoen omheen.
Dus dat werd haat, dus dat werd nijd,
en de nuances raakten kwijt,
we konden 't wezenlijke niet meer onderscheiden.
D'r is toen veel te veel gebeurd,
al wat we hadden werd verscheurd,
en uit een beetje meer bedreven
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
samen, we zijn weer samen,
we waren veel te lang en veel te veel alleen.
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
daar kan geen mens nu meer met een goed fatsoen omheen.
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
samen, we zijn weer samen,
we waren veel te lang en veel te veel alleen.
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
daar kan geen mens nu meer met een goed fatsoen omheen.
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
samen, we zijn weer samen,
we waren veel te lang en veel te veel alleen.
Samen, we zijn weer samen,
daar kan geen mens nu meer met een goed fatsoen omheen.
The lyrics of Paul de Leeuw's "Samen" describe the challenges of a relationship where both partners struggle with their own insecurities and fears. The singer speaks from his own perspective, admitting that in the beginning of the relationship, he was very unsure of himself, and would agree with his partner's opinions even when he didn't really believe in them himself. He wanted stability and security, but couldn't even figure out how to love himself. Meanwhile, his partner was afraid of commitment, and would say no even when he meant yes. He was scared of what might happen after the happy ending, and believed that he could only find happiness and contentment on his own.
The second half of the song describes how their relationship fell apart and they grew apart. They became resentful towards each other and lost sight of what was truly important, and as a result, their love was torn apart. However, in the end, they realize that they were much happier together than they were alone, and they find their way back to each other. The repetition of the word "samen" (which means "together" in Dutch) emphasizes the strength and importance of their unity.
Line by Line Meaning
Samen, samen.
Together, together.
Ik was onzeker in 't begin, ik slikte elke mening in, ik had geen enkel zelfbewustzijn of vertrouwen. Dus zei ik 'ja' als dacht ik 'nee'. Ik wilde vastheid voor ons twee, maar wist niet eens hoe 'k van mijzelf moest leren houen
I was insecure in the beginning, I suppressed every opinion, I had no self-awareness or confidence. So I said 'yes' even though I thought 'no'. I wanted stability for both of us, but I didn't know how to love myself.
Jij was onrustig, jij was bang, jij vond voor altijd veel te lang, je had geen zin om je aan iemand al te binden. Dus zei jij 'nee', al dacht je 'ja', je was allergisch voor daarna, en dacht alleen geluk en zaligheid te vinden.
You were restless, you were afraid, you thought forever was too long, you didn't feel like committing to anyone. So you said 'no' even though you thought 'yes', you were allergic to the future, and thought happiness and bliss could only be found alone.
Samen, we zijn weer samen, samen, we zijn weer samen, we waren veel te lang en veel te veel alleen. Samen, we zijn weer samen, daar kan geen mens nu meer met een goed fatsoen omheen.
Together, we are together again, we were alone for far too long. Together, we are together again, no one can deny it anymore.
Dus dat werd haat, dus dat werd nijd, en de nuances raakten kwijt, we konden 't wezenlijke niet meer onderscheiden. D'r is toen veel te veel gebeurd, al wat we hadden werd verscheurd, en uit een beetje meer bedreven
So it turned into hate, it turned into envy, and we lost sight of the subtleties, we couldn't distinguish what was essential anymore. Too much happened then, all we had was torn apart, and a little more was done.
Contributed by Nora P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Andre Dongelmans
Jep!! ik hoorde gewoon bij de show. Gelukkig was het heel geloofwaardig :)
Turtlehaze_ NL
Hoezo liet je je hiervoor lenen? Heb je hier spijt van ?
Anno 21 kan niets meer namelijk
MrExplorer2012
https://d.tube/#!/v/transformati22/QmdU1ukJ5rq4BghtQ8Kkiqz4VugTabCvXgMokC12Aa5PnL
Hans van der Vleugel
Samen zijn...... heerlijk verwoord door Paul...
Voor iedereen die er voor me is!
kreuk050
Geweldig doet paul dat toch weer.
Appel1989
Jah mensen... blijf vooral geloven dat het echt een willekeurig persoon is^^ Ze hebben allemaal daar een Slip met Symphonica erop onder een boxer :P Maar blijft geniaal ><
Sacha's Channel
Meesterlijk!
mijntje198522
dit hebben ze gewoon geoefend hoor
veldert
Hij heeft laatst in voetbalvrouwen gespeeld, Hij was de lover van Melanie.
fcdenhaag2006
respect voor die jongen (andre)