Roel van Velzen causes a lot of incomprehension with the fact that he refuses to respond to the poignant story of his former voice talent Joan Franka. “This is very strange.”
Joan Franka was sent to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, shortly after her participation in The Voice of Holland. There she performed with an Indian headdress on her head, which is still sometimes joked about. Now, more than ten years later, the singer in the RTL 4 show Better Than Ever revealed what went on behind the scenes.
Terrible story
Joan’s life was just hell at the time. Her story, about a disgusting manager who drove her to an eating disorder, has shocked many viewers. “What a terrible story from Joan Franka at Better Than Ever. Showbiz at its ugliest,” says RTL 4 star Renze Klamer, for example.
And Omroep MAX face Ron Vergouwen: “What an incredibly intense story from Joan Franka! The dark side of the music industry, the Eurovision Song Contest and unsavory managers. Brave that she finally dares to tell about it.”
Roel van Velzen is silent
Joan’s intense story was a topic in yesterday RTL Boulevard. There, reporter Aran tells Bade that no one wants to comment on her trauma. “It does bother me. We started calling today, also with Joan’s manager. All of them have not seen the episode. I had to send links to all of them: go and see it.”
And what did they say? “They have not responded. Neither does Roel van Velzen, who coached Joan Franka. And it stemmed from her Voice participation. It does bother me that no one says to her, ‘Sorry, we’re sorry you had such an experience.’”
Tina critical
Tina Nijkamp, the former broadcaster boss of SBS 6, finds it strange that such a Roel van Velzen simply does not want to say anything. After all, the viewers of The Voice were led to believe that he would guide Joan as a coach.
The TV expert says on her opinion channel: “So strange that Roel van Velzen did not want to respond in RTL Boulevard. Wasn’t he her coach? He had to guide and coach her then, didn’t he?”
Everyone is silent
Roel could show a little more involvement, thinks Tina. “Especially because the National Song Contest was also produced that year by ‘his’ Talpa from The Voice.”
She continues: “I’m also curious how Cornald Maas, Peter Kuipers and Daniël Dekker watched the broadcast. They were on the selection committee of the songs that year and therefore had a say in the decision.”