In 2005 popular Dutch singers Gerard Joling (ESC 1998), Rene Froger and Gordon (Dutch NF 1990 and 2003) have decided to start joke concert act, titled De Toppers. It first appeared on stage during Froger's concerts in 2004 in the Amsterdam Arena, where Joling and Gordon had guest appearance. The act appeared to be a great success. In 2005, there were two (sold out) concerts, three concerts in 2006, six concerts in 2007, and three concerts in 2008. More than 850,000 people enjoyed these shows in The Amsterdam Arena and more than 1,500,000 CDs and DVDs sold (all charting in the top 3 in charts). Repertoire of the trio consists mainly of covers of classics from home and abroad, such as Andre Hazes, Golden Earring and ABBA. Sometimes, the full songs were sung and sometimes they were incorporated into medley's, usually with a theme, including an annual Eurovision Song Contest Medley.
Due to the contract obligations and internal clashes in the trio, for Eurovision project and 2009 concerts Gerard Joling will be replaced by Jeroen van der Boom. Cornelis Willem Gordon (Gordon) Heuckeroth was born in 1968 in the north of Amsterdam. Before he became a professional performer, Gordon worked as a salesman on the street market. At first it looked like it was not possible for him to have a career in music. He was turned down at the Soundmixshow and became ninth in the National Songfestival contest, with only one point more than George Davis, being tenth and last. But in 1991 Gordon broke through with his third single. After that, his successes were Kon ik maar even bij je zijn (1991), Omdat ik zo van je hou (1995), Never nooit meer (1999) and Can you feel it (2007). He has released 10 albums, last of which, A Song For You became Gold in 2008. Gordon participated in the Nationale Songfestival again in 2003 but finished second behind Esther Hart. Gordon is, besides singer and performer, also a radio and television personality. After a few stand in's on the Dutch radio channel Radio 538 he got his own show on the same channel. Later he moved to the radio station Noordzee FM. On television, Gordon was the host of shows like Gordons Late Nicht Show and Gordon's Life Style. Starting in August 2005, Gordon appeared on the television channel Tien. Together with his colleague Gerard Joling he did the show Joling & Gordon over de vloer. Gordon also appeared in the show Thuis and in 5 tegen 5. In the fall of 2007 Gordon started with his own show on the Dutch tv channel RTL 4 with Gillend naar huis. He also joined the jury of Idols Netherlands in 2007, together with John Ewbank, Jerney Kaagman and Eric van Thijn. He is now on his own radio show, Gordon on air! which started on November 3, 2007 on Radio538. In 2008 Gordon launched his new solo CD ‘A song for you’ with an ode to Donny Hathaway. In the meantime he also published his first book ‘Letterlijk leuk’, a collection of his columns which he wrote for a national newspaper and various magazines.Rene Froger was born on 5th of November, 1960. His father, Bolle Jan, had a cafe where Froger started performing. He began with Ted de Braak and Mini en Maxi and in 1987 he debuted with the single, Love Leave Me, but he was not very successful until his hit Winter in America was in Dutch Top 40, later his hit Alles kan een mens gelukkig maken, with Het Goede Doel was the number one of that list. His successful singles included Calling out your name, Why are you so beautiful and Here in my heart in 1993-1994, In dreams in 1996, Doe maar gewoon in 2007. He has released 19 albums, scoring 17 platinum (including 5 platinum awards for 1992 album Sweet hello's and sad goodbyes) and numerous gold awards. His regular concerts transformed into mega-events, like the ones in the Ahoy venue. Renе was the first Dutch artist to do three consecutive sold out shows in the Kuip stadium. After his four stadium concerts in the Amsterdam ArenA in 2004, Rene committed himself for a few years to the intimacy of theatre. In the meantime he worked on a new musical adventure and launched his first Dutch album in 2007. The first single, taken from this album, stormed the Dutch charts. In 2008 Rene and his family where the stars in the weekly television soap ‘Effe geen cent te makken’. The television show was seen by more than 1,400,000 people per show. Jeroen van der Boom was born in Nijmegen, 22 June 1972. During his time as a student, Jeroen van der Boom was already an artist performing with a band The Travellers. In 1996, he was employed by SBS 6 as the presenter of the TV programme Real TV. After that, he also worked for the music show 15 Miljoen Mensen, Barney's Dart Show (with Raymond van Barneveld), and Domino Day. In 2002, he founded his own production company: Rebel-TV & Events. He played in several theatre shows, including Barcelona and Novomundo. Van der Boom regularly gave concerts in the Netherlands, and was eventually given the opportunity to record an album. This album featured cover versions of (amongst others) Don't Stop Me Now (by Queen) and Wonderful Tonight (by Eric Clapton). In 2007, he recorded a cover of Tom Jones's song She's a Lady, and was a supporting act during Jones's concert in the Heineken Music Hall on 21 April 2007. On 18 June 2007, his single Jij bent zo (a cover of David Bisbal's Silencio) was released. It unexpectedly became a huge hit, and rose to the first place on Dutch charts. On November 12, 2007 a new single was released, Een wereld. In december, this song went to the nr. 1 position in the charts, and remained there for two weeks. Jeroen did two sold out shows in the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam. One show in November 2007 and one in October 2008. He also starred in Lionel Richies ‘Symphonica in Rosso’ in the Gelredome Venue in Arnhem.
At Eurovision trio will perform song "Shine" Ger van de Westelaken and produced by Bas van den Heuvel. Bas was one of the songwriters of Dutch 2008 entry, while Ger is pseudonym of Gordon. At the press-conference that followed the selection, Gordon told emotional story of song creation: "I have experienced a lot during last couple of monthes. First, Gerard left the band. Also, my health condition is in a bad shape, I was released from hospital only earlier this week. I wrote this song on a rainy October morning, trying to forget all difficulties. I hope this song will bring positivity and happiness to people". Band also informed that they will release winning song as single and plan to attend several foreign national selections as guests. "Trust us, we will catch eyes of everyone in Russia", added Gordon.
Song Download Link : http://rapidshare.com/files/211870408/2009_-_The_Netherlands_-_De_Toppers_-_Shine__New_Wave_Eurovision_2009_Mix_.mp3
Lyrics:
Shine, shine, shine
There are so many wars right now in this World
There are so many things not right
There are too many people hurt in this World
There are to many men that fight
Time is now to make the change
Time is on our side
Love will make us glow in the dark
So open up you heart!
Are you ready for a brand new start!
People let your light shine
Let the darkness fade away
Step into a brighter day
Don’t forget about our world today
let your light shine
Maybe the answer is just this simple song
Let everybody shine a long
To keep the World from going wrong!
let your light shine!!!
So many people whith good hearts in this world
So many they can make a change
So the only thing that we have to do
Is love the one we hate!
It will change all darkness into bright
It will touch everybodys light
The whole World will be lighted
And all people will be reunited!
People let your light shine
Let the darkness fade away
Step into a brighter day
Don’t forget about the role you must play!
let your light shine
Maybe the answer is just this simple song
Let everybody shine a long
To keep the world from going wrong!
let your light shine!!
As long as we believe in good in each men
As long as we believe in love
The light will guide and take us to
the World we all dream off!
Let your light shine!
People let your light shine
Maybe the answer is just this simple song
Let everybody shine a long
To keep the world from going wrong!
let your light shine, shine, shine, shine shine!!
No comments:
Post a Comment