“He loved games,” Ten Brink tells ANNP. “During the first broadcast, he spent evenings training with the candidates, because he wanted them to be well prepared and not make mistakes during the broadcast.” The presenter of the program since then remembers the first recordings as if they were yesterday. “It was unique that we did a test using a computer. The first day of registration didn’t work right away, because that computer crashed.”
When Ten Brink stopped after two seasons language, producer IDTV and VARA were unable to find a good successor. “François had no experience as a presenter, but he knew the game like no other,” says Ten Brink. “He had a good sense of humour, he knew how to play people well and his appearance was sympathetic in front of the camera. His unusual appearance greatly helped with this,” referring to the clasps that Bulangi often wore.
In the end, Bolangi provided the popular game for nearly ten years. He made thousands of broadcasts. “As far as I’m concerned, there is only one truth” Mr. Lingo, and this is François,” assures Ten Brink. “I played the game for two years, once a week. He’s been doing this five times a week for ten years. If you don’t deserve that title by then, you won’t earn it again.”
