Alexander Rybak

**Alexander Igoryevich Rybak** (*Alyaksandr Iharavich Rybak*; born 13 May 1986) is a Belarusian-born Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pianist, actor. Representing Norway in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia, Rybak won the contest with 387 points—the highest tally any country has achieved in the history of Eurovision under the old voting system—with "Fairytale", a song he wrote and composed. His debut album, *Fairytales*, charted in the top 20 in nine European countries, including a No. 1 position in Norway and Russia. Rybak made a return to Eurovision in 2012 and 2016, playing the violin during both interval acts.

## Early life

Rybak was born in Minsk, Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. He became a student at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo at the age of 10. As a result of his success in the Eurovision Song Contest, he took a break from his bachelor's degree studies at the institute, but in 2011, he returned to his studies and in June 2012, he graduated from Barratt Due Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music in violin performance.

## Career

In 2004, Rybak was awarded the Anders Jahre Culture Prize presented to him by Viktoriya Rybak at the annual culture festival in Madrid, Spain. In 2005, he entered the Norwegian version of Idol, *Idol: Jakten på en superstjerne*, reaching the semifinal. In 2006, Rybak won *Kjempesjansen* (“The Great Opportunity”), a talent competition hosted by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), with his own song, "Foolin". Rybak has collaborated with artists such as a-ha's lead singer Morten Harket and Arve Tellefsen. In 2007, Rybak played the fiddler in Oslo Nye Teater's production of *Fiddler on the Roof* and won the Hedda Award for this role.

### Eurovision 2009

Rybak won the 54th Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia, with a record 387 points, singing "Fairytale", a song inspired by Norwegian folk music. The song was composed and written by Rybak and was performed with the modern folk dance company Frikar. The song received good reviews with a score of 6 out of 6 in the Norwegian newspaper *Dagbladet*, and, in an *ESCtoday* poll, he scored 71.3%, making him the favourite to get into the final.

In the 2009 Norwegian national heats, Rybak achieved a clean sweep, gaining the top score from all nine voting districts and ending with a combined televote and jury score of 747,888, while the runner up, Tone Damli Aaberge, received a combined score of only 121,856 (out of a total population of less than 5 million)

The song then competed in the second semi-final and won the place in the Eurovision final.

Rybak later won the Eurovision final with a landslide victory, receiving votes from all the participating countries (except Norway, which was not allowed to vote for itself). Rybak finished with a total of 387 points, breaking the previous record of 292 points scored by Lordi in 2006 and scoring 169 points more than the runner-up, Iceland.

### After Eurovision, film and the first album

Rybak's first album, *Fairytales*, was released after his Eurovision win. Rybak also co-stars as Levi in the film *Yohan* directed by Grete Salomonsen, which was released in March 2010. Rybak also went on a tour in Norway with former Norwegian Eurovision winner. Elisabeth Andreassen, something that had been decided before his Eurovision win and participation. He and Frikar also toured Norway and Europe in 2009.
In a December 2009 performance of his hit "Fairytale" at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, held at the Oslo Spektrum, Rybak shared the stage with nine other acts. Too EMI Norway has just released a film entitled Fairytale, the movie, directed by acclaimed Norwegian director, Rune Langlo, documenting the journey of Alexander Rybak since claiming the top prize for Norway in Moscow.

In 2009, he recorded the theme song, called "I Don't Believe in Miracles/Superhero", for the Russian action movie *Black Lightning* produced by Timur Bekmambetov.

## Discography

* *Fairytales* (2009)
* *No Boundaries* (2010)
* *Visa vid vindens ängar* (2011)
* *Christmas Tales* (2012)