Since 2019 Saint Nicolas has a new horse: Oh-zo-snel, named after the sentence "On his horse, oh so fast" from the song "Hoor De Wind Waait Door De Bomen". This horse replaces 'Amerigo', which was named after Amerigo Vespucci.
The character Hoofdpiet as portrayed since 2018 (played by Niels van der Laan) seems to be a tribute to the character Chefpiet. The character Chefpiet debuted in 1997 and was seen on multiple television channels, he is played by actor Don van Dijke.
Celebration of the Saint Nick tradition has been under pressure of law breaking activists in the Netherlands, sometimes forcing companies and sponsors to navigate the fine line between traditions that are dear to the whole nation and false accusations of racism. Sinterklaasjournaal is regarded as guiding in this debate, and some local events follow the course laid out by Sinterklaasjournaal. A clear example is the emergence of the 'roetveegpiet' (soot swipe pete), a broadening in the way 'Black Pete' has makeup applied, clarifying that it is the sooth of the chimney that renders Black Pete black, rather than some could assume it as natural skin color. This invention has also been adopted outside Sinterklaasjournaal.
A survey by the television programs 'Hart van Nederland' and 'Shownieuws' has shown that 95 percent of the Netherlands favors Black Pete in it's traditional style. This makes it very strange that the channel NTR has changed it's interpretation of this character from a face completely covered in soot into a face covered in some soot swipes. The channel NTR also keeps changing the lyrics to traditional songs. Viewers have already complained about these things but the channel has refused to go back to the traditional settings.
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