Fifteen years later he returned: Adji. And how. Ariane Van Bavel (44) dusted off his orange outfit to be a real hit at the party. The song “That's Not My Problem” was released on Friday, including a video. “The goal? Well, a full GelreDome is no longer necessary!”
Arjan says the idea came up very carefully a few months ago. “A dear friend of mine said I should do something on TikTok as Adje. He thought people would find it funny. A bit of nostalgia. I basically thought: There are only young people out there. They don't know me at all.” “.
However, he decided to try it once. “This video was instantly viewed about 900,000 times. I was really surprised. Very funny.” Shortly after, he received a phone call from producer Edwin van Hovelack and singer René Karst, known for his hit song Liever te dik in de cist. “They had a nice idea for a song,” he says, laughing. “And I thought again: Who is waiting for that idea? Anyway, I listened to it again.”
Let's go back to 2005. Because it's been a long time since the general public got to know Adje through his performance in Mooi! De Leeuw Again, the program that was very popular at the time was written by Paul de Leeuw. “I didn't really understand why people thought Adjei was real at the time. Even Paul fell for him. That same evening he called me and said: 'You cheated on me, didn't you?' The next day we had a cup of coffee.”
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From that moment on, Adje became a permanent part of the show. “We decided to keep going as long as it was fun. It ended up being more than five and a half years. Highlights? I remember one time I had to bungee jump, but I didn't dare at all. 'It was so sad that they joined VARA,' people thought. They lost about 600 members that evening. Then they formed a communication team to convince everyone that it had already been played out.”
Another moment that Aryan will never forget is his performance at the GelreDome. “It was during the Paul Symphonica concerts in Roseau. I was there for eight evenings in front of 40,000 people. That was very special.”
“Every day since then I am still recognized as Adjei.”
But that is not necessarily his goal now that he has breathed new life into Adjei. on the contrary. “No, he's very funny. Two weeks ago we recorded the video. And immediately all kinds of people came who completely agreed with that character.” It took some time to get used to. “You know, Adje was always in the background of my life. I'm still recognized for that every day. We laughed a lot then. That's just part of me.”
Paul also listened to his new song. “People often think we're close friends. That's not so bad. But we always know where to find each other, for example when Paul has a new programme. I sent him the clip this afternoon. I've already gotten a like from him.”
Below is the new issue of Adje.
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