by: Jenneke JR.

I hadn’t seen Bobbie Eakes and Jeff Trachta in a year so it was great to have the opportunity to travel to Hilversum this time to be a part of the audience together with 59 other fans of the 5 o’clock show on October 5, 1995.

We all had to be there at 14:15 at the latest and I left home early in the morning because I had to travel more then 2 hours by train and I had no idea how long it would take to travel by bus in Hilversum itself. Oh boy, I was glad I made that decision. The train itself arrived on time in Utrecht and catching the train to Hilversum wasn’t a problem either, but the bus….that’s another story. Because I had never been in Hilversum before I asked the driver or he could tell me where I had to leave the bus for the RTL 4 buildings. He said that wouldn’t be a problem, but obvious he forgot me during the trip. After a while I got suspicious, because I saw the same buildings again when I looked out of the window of the bus and indeed….there was the train station of Hilversum again and you can imagine that I couldn’t believe my eyes when I realized that.

There was no other option then to take another bus and keeping my fingers crossed that this time I would reach the RTL4 buildings. In this bus I met some other fans of Bobbie and Jeff and we chatted during our travel. Then, in the middle of nowhere, we left the bus and asked for the right direction in a tankstation and wonder: we indeed reached the RTL 4 buildings this time. Some other fans, who came by car, where there already.

It was great, especially because I finally met one of my penfriends there who came over from Denmark just for this show and the upcoming concerts. She was not alone, because another fan from Bobbie and Jeff traveled with her. She came from Canada! Both of them had met Jeff several times during the trips they made to America and they showed me the pictures they took during these meetings. Of course, we all chatted a little more before we entered the studio. They wanted to tape an interview with Darlene Conley first. That interview had been broadcasted the next day so we walked from the canteen to the studio and watched the taping of the interview. Then we walked back to the canteen again for a drink and we waited there till Bobbie and Jeff arrived. The door of the canteen was locked during their arrival. Very frustrated so the only thing we could do was run to the window to catch a gimp of Bobbie and Jeff outside the building.

Then the rehearsals in the studio started, but unfortunately we weren’t permitted to attend them. It became hotter and hotter in the canteen. If you have ever been together with 59 other people in a small room you know what I mean, so they decided to open the door again and most of us walked outside the building to sit in the sun with a drink.

Around a quarter to five we all walked back to the studio. Guest was for example, Joop Braakhekke (a famous Dutch restaurant owner in Holland and a funny person) and our own RTL 4 weatherman. Then it was finally time for Myrna Goossens (the hostess of the show) to introduce Bobbie and Jeff. She asked them some questions before they performed their new CD single "Once In A Lifetime Love". Unfortunately we all had to sit in our seats till the show was over so we had no chance to give Bobbie and Jeff all the presents we took with us, but we could leave them in a box. It was so great to watch them performing again.

Around half past 8 I arrived back home and of course then I watched the videotape of the show. My mother told me that she had seen me in close up several times during the show. This time it wasn’t that strange anymore to see myself on TV, I guess I get use to it!

Only a couple of days later, on Sunday, I finally got the chance to go to a concert of Bobbie and Jeff. They performed in Ahoy, Rotterdam.

First I traveled by bus to the train station of Den Haag where I took the train to Rotterdam and from there I took the Metro. This time I traveled without any problems. The weather was still very hot for the time of year and I sat outside Ahoy for a while before I entered. Because I heard (from last year’s concerts) that they would do a check on photocameras, I didn’t take mine with me. Grrr, I was really mad when I realized that they didn’t check on cameras that much this year. Great!

After a duo (I guess their names were Ben and Tamarra) and Maurice Kroon the concert started. First we saw Darlene Conley with her song "Batch a me" and then Bobbie and Jeff sang some songs. They also made a commercial and video clip that evening for the song "Once In A Lifetime Love". During the break it was possible to but the CD "Duets 2" and some other B&B items and get something to drink.

In the second part of the concert Bobbie and Jeff also sang some solo songs and Darlene Conley performed as Marlene Detrich in a real negligee!

Last year, they broadcasted the B&B concert after a couple of months by RTL 4 and they even used one of the concerts for some episodes of the series "The Bold and the Beautiful". This time there were rumors that RTL 4 would broadcast this year concert(s) as well, but unfortunately we never heard something about that anymore.

To be honest, how much I loved this year concert, I liked the one of 1994 even more. The whole ambition of the 1994 concert was much more impressive as this year. I guess, CBS also paid for last year’s concerts as well but anyway I wouldn’t have missed this year concert in a million year.

Unfortunately, that was the last time (so far) I saw Bobbie and Jeff here in Holland. I really look forward to another opportunity to see them and to speak to them again in the future.

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