
The Toppers: Exit Gerard Joling!
10 November 2008 at 18:17 CETThis 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..
"We want to prevent further damage, and fulfill our commitments, so it was hard to face the events that took place over the weekend," a spokesperson of Gordon and Rene Froger said. "We have spoken about a colleague who could potentially take over Gerard's place in the group," the singers announced.
In 2009, The Toppers will celebrate their fifth anniversary will a series of concerts. Although Gerard Joling expressed his wish to take part in those concerts, his colleagues seem to be eager to find someone to fully replace him.
Gerard Joling meanwhile left the country to take a break from the media hype around the 'crisis'.
The singer represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with Shangri-La.
Gerard Dielessen, Director of broadcaster NOS, said: "It depends on who the new group member will be... Then we will decided if we want to continue with The Toppers, or start looking for a new contestant for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest."