Victor Vlam thinks that Gerard Joling is spoiling everything with his farewell concerts. “This is cheating! It’s a trick. Celine Dion also did it and it’s very irritating,” said the TV critic.
The announcement of Gerard Joling’s ‘last’ major solo concerts in Ahoy raises eyebrows. Critics think it’s a bit crazy, because he hasn’t given any major solo concerts in twenty years. How about saying goodbye then? In The Orange Summer he now gets TV critic Victor Vlam all over him. He is blunt about it: this is simply fraud.
Marketing trick
Victor is critical. “I think it’s a bit of a deception and a marketing ploy to say it’s a farewell concert, because it simply isn’t. He now says it’s a big solo concert farewell, but the last time he did that was in 2007, so it’s not saying goodbye if you haven’t done it in literally twenty years.”
“In addition, he continues to perform a hundred times a year in the country, you can still see him there, and he will also perform in large arenas with De Toppers. It is a marketing stunt to sell tickets. People think that is indeed a farewell, they then buy a ticket and then he will do the same in five years.”
Rutger in the breach
Table guest Rutger Castricum comes to the rescue for Gerard. “Isn’t he just a commercial guy? You pretend it’s a political cardinal sin. Isn’t he just making money?”
Victor: “But Rutger, you can’t expect people not to cheat things? This is cheating! It’s a trick. Celine Dion also did it and it’s very irritating. I just find it astonishing. You’re a journalist. You should speak out against people who are cheating!”
No injustice
Rutger thinks that Victor is making it all a bit too difficult. He understands that Geer is exaggerating things a bit to get ticket sales going. “This is not an injustice, man. This is about Gerard Joling!”
Victor concludes: “This is indeed an injustice.”