Three weeks ago, the world shook to its foundations, after Nick & Simon announced they had ‘solo plans’. There is no question of a definitive split yet, but speculation about the how and why is of course in full swing. Now, of course, we feel way too good here for a game of gossip, but the Volendam stars don’t exactly make it easy for us. Because if you are a guest on a TV program together where you barely give each other a look, hardly talk to each other and also confirm that you never actually agree with each other, even a dead serious reviewer starts speculating.
The Possible Breach hung like a shadow over the final episode of music program I Want Your Song. And that’s a shame, because that is one of the best SBS 6 programs in ages. Although it seems like a flop with an average of 300,000 viewers, the format is sympathetic enough to earn more than that. Each episode, five singer-songwriters get the chance to pitch their self-written songs to a Dutch (top) artist, such as Gerard Joling, Sanne Hans or OG3NE. The presentation is – surprisingly enough – in the hands of rapper Snelle, who fills in his role in a pleasantly modest way.
Fortunately, the core of the program is much more about the participants than about the artists. These participants are often motivated amateur writers, who in their daily life are managers at an employment agency or who stand between the biscuit shelves of a supermarket as a team leader. With their songs they want to leave something beautiful behind for their children or escape from the daily office life.
At the end of each episode, the artists choose one of five songs, which they immediately release as a single. That selection process was not exactly easy for Nick & Simon. Simon was ‘really in the 50/50 seat’, while Nick’s gut feeling ‘swung between a believable radio song and a sing-along song’. Just before that, Simon gave a striking insight into his selection process: ‘I sometimes see songs as ladies.’ (Painfully long silence.) ‘Where the music stands for the outside, and the text for the inside. What you’ve made is a hot chick anyway, but she’s also super sweet.’ Snel was speechless for a moment, but luckily Jaap Kwakman, who flew in as an extra jury member, had a meticulous analysis ready: ‘Deep, man.’
At the end of the episode, Nick & Simon happily danced through an empty building to the winning song in their new video clip Live the day. The lyrics didn’t reveal anything personal, but the news of the Possible Fracture continued to gnaw. ‘Live your day, feel free Because when we’re together it seems like the world revolves around us Look at me, I’ve got so much to tell you But the silence is enough when we’re together.‘
After the broadcast of I Want Your Song even that silence no longer seemed enough.