Corry Konings and Dries Roelvink have spoken kind words about Chiel Montagne on Thursday. The former presenter passed away on Thursday at the age of eighty from the lung disease COPD.
According to the 73-year-old Konings, Montagne was “a wonderful person.” She and her music group Corry en de Rekels, and later solo, were regularly guests on Montagne’s program Op volle toeren.
“He had a fantastic program,” Konings says in conversation with RTL Boulevard. “It was so crazy that busloads of people went there. All those people sitting in the stands. It was always a happening.”
Konings says that she owes her fame in part to the program. “He loved the Dutch song. He really believed in it.” Op volle toeren, which was initially called Op losse groeven, was on television for about twenty years.
‘He has meant an incredible amount to Dutch music’
Roelvink also looks back on Montagne with great respect. The singer appeared in the last episode of Op volle toeren. Montagne also played a cameo role in Roelvink’s film I Love Dries.
According to Roelvink, Montagne’s programs “meant an incredible amount” to Dutch music. “That is indescribable,” the singer tells press agency ANP. The presenter helped Roelvink’s career by inviting him after hearing a Dutch cover of a Tom Jones song.
“Dries, if you ever release music yourself, it would be nice if you came to Op volle toeren again,” Montagne is said to have told Roelvink. “And eventually I ended up in the very last broadcast of a program that had been running for at least twenty years. As a kid, I was already watching it.”
According to AVROTROS, Montagne, whose real name was Bert van Rheenen, was an “icon” and with Op volle toeren “the embodiment of the Dutch song.” “With his characteristic mustache and his love for music, he was one of the most important faces of the TROS for a long time,” the broadcaster writes. “We owe Chiel a great deal of gratitude and remember him with great respect.”
