The Media Oeuvre Award will be presented to Martijn Krabbé this year. The presenter is receiving the award for his contribution to the Dutch media world. Krabbé is “unparalleled in the Netherlands as a showman,” the jury says.
The news that the oeuvre prize would go to the 57-year-old Krabbé was announced on Tuesday evening by RTL Boulevard. The jury praises his timing, use of voice, feeling for language, composure and improvisational skills. “His mere presence was enough to raise a major live show like The Voice of Holland to the highest level.”
In January, Krabbé announced that he has metastatic lung cancer and will no longer recover from it. The jury emphasizes that this is not the decisive reason for awarding him the prize, but does mention the disease in the jury report. “There is no doubt that Martijn Krabbé’s illness affects us. A father of four growing children, in the prime of his life – it can’t be, it shouldn’t be, but life simply doesn’t care.”
“The fact that a shockwave went through the Netherlands in January when it became known how ill he is, also says everything about Martijn the presenter. Someone who has been on screen for more than thirty years and enters your living room more often than many friends and family.”
Krabbé has presented many programs in a career spanning more than thirty years. In addition to The Voice of Holland, he has also appeared in Kopen Zonder Kijken, Popformule, Uitstel van Executie and Postcode Loterij Recordshow, among others. Due to his illness, he is currently no longer active as a presenter. However, he still provides voice-overs for programs.
‘Countless hours of wonderful TV’
The jury states that Krabbé “has provided countless hours of wonderful TV”. In doing so, he has touched viewers and built a warm relationship with them. “He made them feel that they are not alone. Even more unique is his ability to forge a bond with the viewer right through the TV screen. With a mischievous look, a joke, always provided with a pleasant dose of self-mockery and self-deprecation.”
Krabbé is “extremely honored” with the oeuvre prize. “A few things have happened this year,” says the presenter. “So to win an award like that… I don’t think there’s really a question of winning, because the reason isn’t really that nice. That doesn’t mean that you experience these kinds of things along the way, so you have to be grateful for that.”