Chantal Janzen and Wendy van Dijk consider themselves the big stars of RTL 4 and SBS 6 respectively, but according to TV expert Bert van der Veer, the real stars of today are types like Raven van Dorst.
Bert van der Veer, former program director of RTL, thinks that in 2022 Dutch TV viewers would much rather watch less polished TV personalities. He points out that traditional stars such as Chantal Janzen and Wendy van Dijk actually add little to a program and are freely interchangeable.
Exchangeable Wendy
Bert himself would much rather see a Raven van Dorst than an exchangeable quizmaster. “Like Raven, there is no second. Numerous presenters are more or less interchangeable. Look at the talent shows: one time Chantal is there, then Wendy or Carlo. Doesn’t matter. That does not apply to Raven”, he explains in the VARAguide†
What are other examples of authentic TV personalities? “You can never have enough of types like Martien Meiland, Johan Derksen and Raven van Dorst. They’re personalities to use that awful word for once.”
One of us
Filemon Wesselink explains in the same article that Raven is so popular because, despite its eccentric character, it is close to people. “Popular people can get along right away with that, just as it was the case with Pim Fortuyn in a way. Raven’s likes are different, but they are one of us.”
Chantal and Wendy are less distinctive than someone like Raven, according to Bert. “Usually you don’t watch a quiz because it contains something like that, but because of the format. With Raven you think: what is he going to do next?”