- Gordon Heuckeroth
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Gordon
Gordon singing in 2007Background information Birth name Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth Also known as Gordon Born 6 July 1968 Origin Amsterdam, Netherlands Genres R&B, Pop music Occupations Singer, TV personality Years active 1991–present Labels CNR, EMI Associated acts De Toppers, Los Angeles The Voices Website www.gordon.nl Cornelis Willem (Gordon) Heuckeroth (born 6 July 1968, Amsterdam) is a Dutch performer and radio and television personality, better known by his nickname Gordon. As a singer, he had his greatest hit with the single Kon ik maar even bij je zijn (If I could be with you for just a while), which was a number one hit in The Netherlands in 1991.[1]
Contents
Early life
Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth was born on 6 July 1968 in the north-area of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Before he became a professional performer, Gordon worked as a salesman on the streetmarket.
Career as a singer
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 came in ninth in the National Songfestival contest finals, with only one point more than Georgie Davis, who was tenth and last.
In 1991 Gordon broke through with his third single. At first he sang only Dutch positive songs like Ik hou van jou (I love you) and Omdat ik zo van je hou (Because I love you so much), but later in the '90s his repertoire shifted to Dutch R&B.[citation needed] Gordon again participated in the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, finishing second after Esther Hart.
Gordon was very successful with Gerard Joling and Rene Froger in a series of concerts under the name De Toppers. What began as a guest performance of Joling and Gordon in a Rene Froger concert, turned into a successful series of concerts by these three singers. In 2005 the first two concerts were held at the Amsterdam Arena, with three more following in 2006. Tickets were sold out. In 2007 six more concerts were held, four of which had tickets completely covered by C1000,[2] a Dutch supermarket.
In 2008, Gerard Joling left De Toppers and was replaced by Jeroen van der Boom. De Toppers represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia, but never made it to the final because they got little support and finished only seventeenth in their semifinal. In 2009, Gordon also left De Toppers. However, a few weeks later, Gordon rejoined De Toppers along with other founding member of De Toppers, Gerard Joling.
Career on radio and television
Gordon is, besides being a singer and performer, also a radio and television personality – and openly gay. After a few stand ins on the Dutch radio station Radio 538 he got his own show on the station. Later he moved to the radio station Noordzee FM. On television, Gordon was the host of shows like Gordon's Late Nicht Show[3] (in this context nicht means queer) and Gordon's Life Style. Starting in August 2005, Gordon appeared on the television channel Tien, a channel set up by John de Mol. Together with his colleague Gerard Joling he did the show Joling & Gordon over de vloer,[4] where the two singers visited several very different locations, such as a pig farm, for three days. They were confronted with totally different lifestyles, and were asked to join in and work there for a couple of days. This show was mostly characterized by the laughter on just about anything by Gordon and Joling. The show was very popular, and scored high rankings. Gordon also appeared in the show Thuis and in Vijf tegen Vijf. Thuis was a based on The View, but was stopped after only two months, due to bad viewer rankings.[5]
In autumn 2007 Gordon started with his own show on the Dutch TV channel RTL 4 called Gillend naar huis (Screaming back home), in which he joins Dutch families during their foreign holidays. Gordon (over-)acts as the spoiled brat he loves to be, having trouble adapting to the lifestyle of the people he meets. The idea behind the show is that he is glad to get back home after all. He also joined the jury of Idols Netherlands in 2007, together with John Ewbank, Jerney Kaagman and Eric van Thijn. He now also has his own radio show, Gordon on air! which started on 3 November 2007 on Radio538.[6]
He will be hosting the New Year's Eve show for RTL4, the Oudejaarsloterij Singing Bee.[7]
Gordon has an estimated fortune of € 8 million.[8]
Discography
Albums:
- Kon Ik Maar Even Bij Je Zijn (1992)
- Alles Wat Ik Ben (1993)
- Now Is The Time (1994)
- Kon Ik Maar Even Bij Je Zijn (2 CD; 1995)
- Je Bent Wie Je Bent Schatje (1995)
- De Tijd Van Mijn Leven (1996)
- Omdat Ik Zo Van Je Hou (1996)
- Nu Het Zover Is (1997)
- Met Hart En Ziel (1999)
- Gordon & Replay (2002)
- Gordon & Friends (2003)
- Zoveel: Het Beste Van Gordon (2006)
- 24 Uur Mannen Liefde (2006)
References
- ^ "Hit Parade". http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Gordon&titel=Kon+ik+maar+even+bij+je+zijn&cat=s. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ^ Press release of C1000 about the buying of the tickets for four concerts
- ^ "Gordon's Late Nicht Show". http://www.jaydude.nl/content/logos/television/pages/gordonslatenichtshow.html. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ^ "NL Wikipedia". http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joling_%26_Gordon_Over_De_Vloer. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ^ Talpa takes Thuis down – article on the news website of RTL (Dutch)
- ^ Gordon on air! on the website of Radio538 (Dutch) – Retrieved on 2007-12-31
- ^ Gordon brings karaoke show on New Years eve
- ^ report on the list of the richest Dutch gays in the Netherlands on gay.nl, retrieved 2007-12-31
External links
- (Dutch) Gordon, official website
Categories:- 1968 births
- Living people
- Dutch male singers
- Dutch television presenters
- Dutch radio personalities
- People from Amsterdam
- Idol series judges
- Dutch Eurovision Song Contest entrants
- Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2009
- The X Factor judges
- LGBT people from the Netherlands
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