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.
Zeg Het Mij
Paul de Leeuw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
aarzel niet en praat,
zeg om wie het gaat,
voor wie je mij verlaat.
Zeg het mij,
't wordt me te benauwd,
zeg van wie je houdt,
je je hart hebt toevertrouwd....
Wie breekt onze sterke band,
dooft het vuur dat zachtjes brandt.
Rook is weg,
nu nog het mistgordijn,
zeg me,
wie die iemand toch kan zijn....
Wie brak jouw donkere lucht,
en straalt aan jouw blauwe hemel?
Zeg het mij,
al vind ik 't niet fijn,
het moet zo zijn:
ik wen vast aan de pijn,
'k zal treuren als de treurwilg in de wei.
Maar kijk me aan, Wie is het?
Zeg het mij
The song "Zeg Het Mij" by Paul de Leeuw is a heart-wrenching plea for honesty from a vulnerable and devastated lover whose partner has decided to leave them. The song's title translates to "Tell Me" in English, and the lyrics implore the partner who is leaving to reveal the identity of the person they have fallen in love with. The singer is clearly in deep distress, asking "Who breaks our strong bond, extinguishes the fire that burns softly? Smoke is gone, now the mist lifts, tell me, who could that someone be?"
The song highlights the intense pain and confusion that comes from being blindsided by an unexpected break-up. The singer is devastated and unable to comprehend the situation, left alone to grieve and figure out how to move on. The lyrics are melancholic and emotive, with the singer imploring their partner to be upfront and honest about their new love interest while acknowledging that it will be incredibly painful to hear.
Overall, "Zeg Het Mij" is a powerful song that deals with the emotional turmoil of a break-up and the confusion that comes from being left in the dark. The lyrics evoke feelings of sadness, loss, and desperation, making it a song that many people can relate to.
Line by Line Meaning
Zeg het mij,
Please tell me
aarzel niet en praat,
Don't hesitate and speak
zeg om wie het gaat,
Say who it's about
voor wie je mij verlaat.
For whom are you leaving me?
Zeg het mij,
Tell me
't wordt me te benauwd,
It's becoming too suffocating for me
zeg van wie je houdt,
Say who you love
je je hart hebt toevertrouwd....
To whom you entrusted your heart
Wie breekt onze sterke band,
Who is breaking our strong bond
dooft het vuur dat zachtjes brandt.
Extinguishing the fire that's burning gently
Rook is weg,
The smoke is gone,
nu nog het mistgordijn,
Now only the mist remains,
zeg me,
Tell me
wie die iemand toch kan zijn....
Who could that someone possibly be…
Wie brak jouw donkere lucht,
Who broke through your dark sky
en straalt aan jouw blauwe hemel?
And shines in your blue sky?
Zeg het mij,
Tell me
al vind ik 't niet fijn,
Even though I don't like it,
het moet zo zijn:
It must be like that:
ik wen vast aan de pijn,
I will get used to the pain,
'k zal treuren als de treurwilg in de wei.
I will mourn like the weeping willow in the meadow.
Maar kijk me aan, Wie is het?
But look at me, who is it?
Contributed by London J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.