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.
Waarom huil je nou?
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lekker uitzicht heb je hier
Leuk die bomen en die bankjes aan de plas
En op het zuiden zo te zien
Leuke buurt ook lijkt me zo
Lekker rustig en toch alles bij de hand
En op het zuiden zo te zien
En goed bereikbaar met de trein
En V&D en Albert Heyn haast naast de deur
Je zult hier wel gelukkig zijn
Je ziet er stukken beter uit
Nee dank je wel, voor sherry is het nog te vroeg
Ja koffie wel, maar niet te zoet
Die kast staat leuk daar in de hoek
Die blauwe vloerbedekking ook, geraffineerd
En al je plant doen het goed
Ze krijgen hier meer zonneschijn
Dan toen bij ons in het raamkozijn
Je woont hier echt ontzettend fijn, naar mijn gevoel
Je zult hier wel gelukkig zijn
Eh waarom huil je nou?
Je was toch blij omdat ik komen zou
Je zei nog dat je weer eens praten wou, niet kwaad meer was
Je kon het allemaal weer an
Nou waarom huil je dan
We maakten samen er toch ook niks van
Denk je dat ik je uit mijn leven ban
Hier kijk nou eens, ik nam nog bloemen voor je mee
Nou waarom huil je dan, he?
In Paul de Leeuw's song "Waarom huil je nou?" ("Why are you crying now?"), the singer attempts to comfort someone who is seemingly upset, possibly with the aftermath of a relationship. The lyrics describe the person's new living space in positive terms, highlighting its amenities and neighborhood charm. The singer compliments the person's appearance and notes the successful growth of their plants in the new home. However, despite the initial attempts to uplift the person's mood, the chorus repeatedly asks why the person is crying, as if they cannot understand why the person is upset in such an idyllic environment. The singer offers flowers as a gesture of goodwill, but the reason for the person's tears remains unclear.
The song can be interpreted as an exploration of the disconnect between external circumstances and internal emotions. The singer assumes that the person should be happy in their new home, based on its positive attributes, but does not consider the possibility that the person may be struggling with inner turmoil that is not immediately evident. This theme is captured in the repeated question of "Waarom huil je nou?" ("Why are you crying now?"), which highlights the singer's confusion and frustration in not being able to understand the person's emotional state. The lyrics suggest that appearances can be deceiving, and that true feelings are often more complex than they may seem on the surface.
Line by Line Meaning
Waarom huil je nou?
Why are you crying now?
Lekker uitzicht heb je hier
You have a nice view here
Leuk die bomen en die bankjes aan de plas
Those trees and benches by the lake are nice
En op het zuiden zo te zien
And facing south, as it looks
Leuke buurt ook lijkt me zo
The neighborhood seems nice too
Lekker rustig en toch alles bij de hand
Quiet yet everything is close by
De afstand is in wezen klein
The distance is actually small
En goed bereikbaar met de trein
And easily accessible by train
En V&D en Albert Heyn haast naast de deur
And V&D and Albert Heyn are right next door
Je zult hier wel gelukkig zijn
You will surely be happy here
Je ziet er stukken beter uit
You look much better
Nee dank je wel, voor sherry is het nog te vroeg
No thank you, it's still too early for sherry
Ja koffie wel, maar niet te zoet
Yes to coffee, but not too sweet
Die kast staat leuk daar in de hoek
That cabinet looks nice in the corner
Die blauwe vloerbedekking ook, geraffineerd
The blue carpet is sophisticated
En al je plant doen het goed
And all your plants are doing well
Ze krijgen hier meer zonneschijn
They get more sunshine here
Dan toen bij ons in het raamkozijn
Than they did in our windowsill
Je woont hier echt ontzettend fijn, naar mijn gevoel
You really live here wonderfully, in my opinion
Je zult hier wel gelukkig zijn
You will surely be happy here
Eh waarom huil je nou?
Uh why are you crying now?
Je was toch blij omdat ik komen zou
You were happy that I was coming
Je zei nog dat je weer eens praten wou, niet kwaad meer was
You even said you wanted to talk again, and weren't mad anymore
Je kon het allemaal weer an
You could handle it all again
Nou waarom huil je dan
So why are you crying?
We maakten samen er toch ook niks van
We didn't make anything of it together either
Denk je dat ik je uit mijn leven ban
Do you think I'm banning you from my life?
Hier kijk nou eens, ik nam nog bloemen voor je mee
Look, I even brought flowers for you
Nou waarom huil je dan, he?
So why are you crying then, huh?
Contributed by Kaylee I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Schnitzel Jansen
Helaas, slap aftreksel van het prachtige orgineel