Just a bit about Nick and Simon at Jinek

There they were. After quite a bit of speculation (Nick would no longer tolerate Simon's ‘side activities’, there would be a fight, something about man caves) Nick and Simon (now so well-known that even my mother knows who Nick and who Simon is) sat down at the table with Jinek.

The conversation was saved until the end of the broadcast. Because that's just what you do as a program maker: you serve the best at the end, but also because it would be inappropriate to discuss such tragedies (the truck that drove into a group of people in Oud-Beijerland) and the big question of how we are going to give all those homeless and asylum-seeking people a safe place. No matter how the news of De Breuk spread through many app groups, it is a pencil mark next to these issues. Six dead was changed to seven during the broadcast. Eva asked how that was. Because a woman was eight months pregnant, her deceased child should be considered a full life and counted. I saw that Eva was a bit shaken and suddenly thought of the Instagram post from that morning in which she waved goodbye to her little Pax as he went to kindergarten for the first time.

She involved Simon in the conversation, as they too had experienced a great disaster in a small community. They also sent messages. Are you okay? Where are you? It was a beautiful moment.

Then, after the second commercial break, there they were. The rest of the table cleared away and only Nick, Simon, and Eva. Simon, the top button of his shirt fastened so high that I wondered if it hurt, kicked off. He wanted to take the floor because he was the one who had caused this. I tremble a little, he had said. From Nick's gaze, I couldn't tell whether he was angry, sad, or compassionate. Or maybe all three.

A few years ago it had started. Just during a vacation. The idea that there might not be a Nick and Simon. And then there was corona. For many artists, the hardest imaginable time because what they loved to do was taken away from them. When asked if he missed it, he responded politely with an ‘enormous’, but the heart was light. Too light perhaps. And again that thought was there.
He decided to share it. With Nick. Who responded understandingly and thought about what they could do to find his joy again. It was probably a phase. Simon thought so too. So they continued. But when their team started making post-Covid plans for the coming years, Simon's throat tightened. And it wasn't because of that tight top button.

So there they were. And again a conversation. Nick had responded wisely and sincerely. Like a coach, Simon said. Suddenly I saw sadness in Nick, who until then had said nothing. And then he spoke. With understanding, full of friendship and honesty. He hadn't been finished yet, but you can't force it.

Eva made the connection to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Without each other, there was only one great: Paul Simon. Which of the two would be Paul Simon and which would be Art Garfunkel? Simon took the floor. He had already known such great successes. He didn't necessarily need to be on that highest stage anymore. He would always remain a musician, but please let Nick be the Paul Simon.

Their favorite moments, finally. Simon chose Symfonica in Rosso and Nick the moment when Simon watched and listened to a video message from Paul Simon. A clip in which you see Simon, with glasses, shirt, and messy hair, listening with an open mouth to Paul Simon saying that they have beautiful voices together.

That Nick then chose exactly that clip in which Simon shone so brightly. It is a separation from which many can learn.