"When she speaks, there's a southern sun hanging in the radio," says Geertje Slangen, VRT language coordinator and jury chair. Who can argue with that? The jury puts it further like this: "She has the unique talent to build a genuine conversation without being grandiose. With her clear language, she creates no distance but closeness. When she speaks, there's a southern sun hanging in the radio."
All lovers of classical music know Katelijne Boon and that is not only from her programme 'De Liefhebber' on Klara. They know her through her warm voice that almost compels you to listen with pleasure, you might even say she speaks music and there's always that virtuosity in her use of language. We don't compare her with the late news anchor Martine Tanghe, nor with the great classical music lover, the late football commentator Jan Wouters.
At Klassiek Centraal we also know Katelijne as presenter of five Golden Label Awards ceremonies. Do it, extract the essence from a slew of reviews of awarded CDs and musicians, and convey it concisely in one minute. Katelijne did it as if it were routine.
This prize does not laurel her knowledge of classical music nor her soprano voice which she also lets resound as a singer. The Marine Tanghe language prize, awarded by the VRT, honours "a language enricher who is active in spoken media and stands out for excellent and attractive handling of the Dutch language". Newly appointed Minister of Culture Caroline Gennez presented the prize at DeSingel (Antwerpen) during the language festival as the culmination of the Week of Dutch. Other nominees were Gilles De Coster, Faroek Özgünes and Lia van Bekhoven.
"It gives a kind of pressure that from now on I will only have to speak beautiful Dutch," says Katelijne Boon.