Nice Gordon, Dear Angela

It all started with Angela de Jong, my reason to pick up the Algemeen Dagblad in love again. When I grab the newspapers (there are three) from the mailbox in the morning, Angela is the first one I read. Because she dares. She says what she thinks and she doesn't care what others think about it. Enter: the perfect reviewer. How she sat there firmly and stoically next to Peter R. (why always that R.?) de Vries when he defended Twan Huys and RTL Late Night and Angela, well, Angela not. She was right because Twan is a good journalist, but the jacket that fits him as a talk show host, that jacket still needs to be shopped, I might say. And Peter R. (yes, now I'm doing it too) could be so nasal and condescending, not a gland in Angela's armpit that got restless from it.

Because Angela suddenly gets pushed a bit into the corner of the frustrated dullard, I want to take a little detour and tell you that Angela has completed two university studies and also won De Slimste Mens as the second woman. Moreover, she has lost twenty kilos and I must confess that the adjective ‘pretty’ came to mind when I saw her sitting at Jinek on Friday. Anyway. Back to the core.

Angela has an opinion. Every day. Most of the time I agree with her. About the celebrated Judas for example. I almost didn't dare to say what I thought until I read Angela's commentary. The TV canteen. I also briefly covered my mouth and suppressed an ohoo when I read her contribution today. That you dare to say that Wendy her peak is over, I find, to say the least, daring. Also because I completely disagree with that. And also not with the fact that Gordon has had his best time. Give me his jokes and my day is good. And Wendy is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest presenters we have. That a program scores less, I don't think is her failure. But anyway, that's my opinion.

What I do share with Angela is that the big move from one channel to another is no guarantee of success. John de Mol indeed did that earlier with the channel TV10 and Sport 7 and that unfortunately didn't quite work out. John wants to bring back the old Tros feeling, so in that light, established names don't seem like such a crazy choice to me. But that the viewer is not for sale, that is known. Something is happening in media land, John is sticking his neck out and that alone deserves applause, because he could also do something else. Counting millions for example.

My opinion. Angela has hers and what I find delightful about her is that she shares it. And she is moreover not too shy to come out with it. Most journalists dip their pen in acid at home, hit ‘send’ and then go anonymously onto the street. Not Angela. She straightens her back and goes live into the lion's den. I find that brave. Because there in those TV studios, especially with her writing frequency, you always run into someone you have said something less friendly about. I believe that has nothing to do with vanity, but with courage.

Dear Gordon, hoping you don't hate me, I still want to say something. You are just so fun because you always say it like it is. Hatsekiedee. No filters, or at least not many. If you like something, you say it. If you're angry, we can smell that from a hundred meters away. At the core, you might not differ that much from Angela. Because she also has an opinion and she is also sometimes just not politically correct.

Do you know what seems like a top format to me? Gordon and Angela. You are just the new Geer and Goor. And may I write a piece about it? I promise you already that it will be glowing.