Skip to main content

Jeroen van der Boom joins Toppers, NOS satisfied

11 November 2008 at 13:14 CET

This weekend, Toppers member Gordon blamed his colleague Gerard Joling for the bad physical condition of their manager. An angry Gerard Joling publically announced to quit the group, but later revised his statement and announced his wish to stay with the group for their upcoming concert tour only. Both singers publically blamed eachother in television interviews, igniting an unprecedented media hype. Read more about the fight between Gordon and Gerard Joling and the moment he was kicked out of the group.

"I am honored, and I am looking forward to become part of Holland's biggest party! I have a lot of respect for what Gerard Joling has achieved, but I will contribute to The Toppers my way," Van der Boom said. The 36-year old singer became famous after presenting various television programmes. Crispy detail... Van de Boom successfully imitated Gerard Joling's voice in a popular TV cartoon.

Rolf de Wit, Head of Communications at broadcaster NOS, said to Eurovision.tv: "We are satisfied with this solution, and we will continue as planned. Jeroen van der Boom has a lot of stage experience, and we are looking forward to turn Moscow upside-down with him."

Meanwhile, broadcaster TROS, responsible for the song selection event, announced that they will continue as planned. "We are extremely disappointed about the course of events that ultimately lead to Gerard Joling's withdrawal from the group, but at the same time we are confident about Jeroen van de Boom," a TROS spokesperson said.

The Nationaal Songfestival 2009 will take place on the 1st of February. Right after the event, and all the way up to May, TROS will broadcast a real-life soap around Gordon, Jeroen and Rene.

Gerard Joling was not available to comment on the situation. He left the country to "take a rest from the hype," his manager stated.