Chatting with Justin Timberlake is something you’ll never forget

Image: Nine IJf

Mandy Gruijters (41, married and mother of 1.5-year-old son Daaf) was in the girl band WOW! who scored hits in 1997 with Time after time and Summer.

“Singing is still an outlet for me. In daily life I don’t need to stand out, but on stage I do like attention. At the moment it’s a bit quieter with performances and I mainly sing as a hobby, but I have performed a lot in cover bands for years and I think it’s fantastic to make people happy with music.

Auditions

There was an advertisement in the hit newspaper that auditions were being held for a girl band. Although I had never had singing lessons, it seemed like something to me. I was left with four other girls. We scored a few hits and then the madness broke out.

“Backstage we ran into the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, bands we were fans of ourselves”

We got to go with WOW! performing in de Kuip and backstage ran into the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, bands we were a fan of ourselves. We were amazed. Chatting with Justin Timberlake is something you will never forget. Like seeing yourself on TMF or The Box, I was so proud.

We received plenty of fan mail and there was a long line at the Free Record Shop when we were signing our single. But we were also sometimes pelted with beer at a student party, which was less pleasant.

Also read – Music lessons for children: you want to know about it >

The flip side of showbiz

In the long run, the cake was gone. And then I immediately noticed the downside of showbiz: the moment you don’t have a hit for a while, you are forgotten again. As an overconfident youngster, I dropped out of school after high school because I thought I would become a famous singer. When that was disappointing, I started working as a dental assistant in addition to singing in cover bands. I also completed my degree in applied psychology.

Memories

I still keep in touch with the girls from the group through social media. Twelve years ago we last saw each other, unfortunately due to a sad occasion. Band member Joëlle had died in a plane crash, we met at her funeral.

“Later I will show my son on YouTube video clips of WOW! to show”

When we talk to each other it always feels familiar and the beautiful memories are no longer taken from us. I’ve saved a bag of fan mail, also I’ll be uploading video clips of WOW! to my son later on YouTube! to show. I wonder if he is musical. His father is a drummer, so who knows.”

This portrait is in Kek Mama 07-2022.

Receive Kek Mama every month with a discount and shipped for free to your doorstep! Subscribe now and pay only € 4.19 per edition.