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.
Vrij
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'k heb geen boodschap meer aan jouw
ons leven samen is voorbij
ik voel me vrij als nooit tevoren
ik bind me niet meer zo gauw
't is nu de tijd voor mij
waarom heeft dit zo lang geduurd
op al die mooie dingen
sinds jij mij hebt weggestuurd
sta ik in 't volle licht
niemand kan mij nog dwingen
vrij om te gaan en staan waar ik zelf wil
laat de vrijheid binnenstromen
vrij om te kiezen ik proef nu het verschil
en het beste moet nog komen
ik neem een kans en ga ervoor
en zie wel wat gebeurd
alles ligt nog open
ik ben weer op het juiste spoor
mijn leven krijgt meer kleur
't had niet beter kunnen lopen
waarom heeft dit zo lang geduurd
ik heb weer helder zicht
op al die mooie dingen
sinds jij mij hebt weggestuurd
sta ik in het volle licht
niemand kan mij nog dwingen
vrij om te gaan en staan waar ik zelf wil
laat de vrijheid binnenstromen
vrij om te kiezen ik proef nu het verschil
en het beste moet nog komen
vrij om te gaan en staan waar ik zelf wil
laat de vrijheid binnenstromen
vrij om te kiezen ik proef nu het verschil
en het beste moet nog komen
vrij om te gaan en staan waar ik zelf wil
laat de vrijheid binnenstromen
vrij om te kiezen ik proef nu het verschil
en het beste moet nog komen
In this song, Paul de Leeuw is addressing someone who he used to be with, telling them to move aside and let him go. He no longer cares about the person or the life they shared together because to him, it's over. He feels free like never before and will no longer be tied down as easily. This is now his time to live independently and take control of his life. He wonders why he stayed so long and can now clearly see all the beautiful things life has to offer since being pushed away by his former partner. No one will be able to control him anymore and he is truly free to do as he pleases. He hopes to take chances and see where life takes him, excited for the future.
The song "Vrij" was released by Dutch artist Paul de Leeuw in 1992 as part of his album "Ik wil niet dat je liegt." It became a popular hit in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Line by Line Meaning
ga aan de kant en laat me door
Move aside and let me pass
'k heb geen boodschap meer aan jouw
I have no message for you anymore
ons leven samen is voorbij
Our life together is over
ik voel me vrij als nooit tevoren
I feel free like never before
ik bind me niet meer zo gauw
I don't commit myself so quickly anymore
't is nu de tijd voor mij
Now is the time for me
waarom heeft dit zo lang geduurd
Why did this take so long
ik heb weer helder zicht
I have clear vision again
op al die mooie dingen
On all those beautiful things
sinds jij mij hebt weggestuurd
Since you sent me away
sta ik in 't volle licht
I stand in the full light
niemand kan mij nog dwingen
No one can force me anymore
vrij om te gaan en staan waar ik zelf wil
Free to go and stand wherever I want
laat de vrijheid binnenstromen
Let freedom flow in
vrij om te kiezen ik proef nu het verschil
Free to choose, I now taste the difference
en het beste moet nog komen
And the best is yet to come
ik neem een kans en ga ervoor
I take a chance and go for it
en zie wel wat gebeurd
And see what happens
alles ligt nog open
Everything is still possible
ik ben weer op het juiste spoor
I am back on the right track
mijn leven krijgt meer kleur
My life gets more colorful
't had niet beter kunnen lopen
It couldn't have gone any better
Contributed by Lauren P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.