Gordon Heuckeroth
Encyclopedia
Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth (born 6 July 1968, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

) 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.

Early life

Cornelis Willem Heuckeroth was born on 6 July 1968 in the north-area
Amsterdam-Noord
Amsterdam-Noord is an autonomous stadsdeel of Amsterdam. The area is located north of the IJ, the body of water which separates it from central Amsterdam and the rest of the city.-Transport:...

 of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. 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
Soundmixshow
Soundmixshow is the original Dutch version of Stars In Their Eyes; it was hosted by Henny Huisman, as a live-vocals version of the increasingly obsolete Playback Show...

 and came in ninth in the National Songfestival contest
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990
The Netherlands was represented by Maywood, with the song '"Ik wil alles met je delen", at the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Zagreb on 5 May. Two semi-finals were held in February, followed by the final on 10 March.-Semi-finals:...

 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. Gordon again participated in the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest
Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003
The Netherlands was represented by Esther Hart, with the song '"One More Night", at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in Riga, Latvia on 24 May...

 in 2003, finishing second after Esther Hart
Esther Hart
Esther Hart is a Dutch singer. She entered BBC TV's A Song for Europe contest in 2003 with the song "Wait For Moment". She withdrew from that contest as participating for two countries would not have been acceptable for both BBC and NOS...

.

Gordon was very successful with Gerard Joling
Gerard Joling
Gerard Jan Joling is a Dutch singer and television presenter. Known for his high tenor voice, he rose to fame in the late 80's and released a string of singles including "Ticket to the Tropics", "Love is in your Eyes", and his biggest hit, "No more boleros", a song that reached the top 10 in...

 and Rene Froger
René Froger
René Froger is a Dutch singer.He was born and spent his first years in the Jordaan, a neighbourhood in Amsterdam. His father, Bolle Jan, had a cafe that Froger started performing in. He began with Ted de Braak and Mini en Maxi and in 1987 he released his first single, Love Leave Me...

 in a series of concerts under the name De Toppers
De Toppers
- History :The group was formed in 2005 by Dutch singers Gordon, René Froger and Gerard Joling. In 2008, Joling was replaced by Jeroen van der Boom....

. 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
Amsterdam ArenA
Amsterdam Arena is a stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is the largest stadium in the nation and it was built from 1993 to 1996 at a cost of €140 million, and was officially opened on 14 August 1996. It has been used for association football, American football, concerts, and other events...

, 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
C1000
C1000 is a Dutch supermarket chain. Founded in 1981, as of the end of 2011 the chain had 419 stores and employed 32,000 people. Its market share was 13.2% and growing....

, a Dutch supermarket.

In 2008, Gerard Joling left De Toppers and was replaced by Jeroen van der Boom
Jeroen van der Boom
Jeroen van der Boom is a Dutch singer who rose to fame in 2007 with his #1 hit single Jij bent zo.-Biography:...

. De Toppers represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest and was hosted by Russia after their win in 2008. It took place between 12 and 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia....

 in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, 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
Radio 538
Radio 538 is a Dutch commercial radio station aimed at young people. It has a broad format which includes Top 40, dance, R&B and recent hits...

 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 (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
Gerard Joling
Gerard Jan Joling is a Dutch singer and television presenter. Known for his high tenor voice, he rose to fame in the late 80's and released a string of singles including "Ticket to the Tropics", "Love is in your Eyes", and his biggest hit, "No more boleros", a song that reached the top 10 in...

 he did the show Joling & Gordon over de vloer, 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
Thuis
Thuis is a Belgian television soap opera, which airs on één , which is in the hands of VRT, the national broadcasting channel of the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium....

and in Vijf tegen Vijf
Vijf tegen Vijf
Vijf tegen Vijf was a Dutch game show based on the original American format of Family Feud.In the game, two teams consisting of five contestants play against each other and have to answer questions based on surveys taken by random people from Holland...

. Thuis was a based on The View, but was stopped after only two months, due to bad viewer rankings.

In autumn 2007 Gordon started with his own show on the Dutch TV channel RTL 4
RTL 4
RTL 4 is a commercial television station in the Netherlands. It is the most-watched commercial station in the country, popular especially with those aged between 20 and 49. The station has three sister tv channels: RTL 5, RTL 7 and RTL 8...

 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
John Ewbank
John Ewbank is a British-Dutch composer, lyricist and record producer.He wrote/produced a record number of eighteen #1 Dutch Top 40 hit singles, of which fourteen were for Marco Borsato, for whom he has been producing and writing since 1994. They sold over four million albums together in the Benelux...

, Jerney Kaagman
Jerney Kaagman
Christina Henriette Kaagman is a Dutch singer best known as the lead singer for the progressive rock group Earth and Fire...

 and Eric van Thijn. He now also has his own radio show, Gordon on air! which started on 3 November 2007 on Radio538.

He will be hosting the New Year's Eve show for RTL4, the Oudejaarsloterij Singing Bee.

Gordon has an estimated fortune of € 8 million.

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)

External links

Gordon, official website

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