Alexander Rybak

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Alexander Rybak

Rybak after he had won Eurovision 2009
Background information
Born 13 May 1986 (1986-05-13) (age 25)
Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Genres Pop, folk, classical, Baroque pop
Occupations Singer, actor, songwriter, composer, pianist
Instruments Vocals, violin, piano
Years active 2009–present
Associated acts Eurovision Song Contest 2009, Frikar
Website www.alexanderrybak.com

Alexander Igoryevich Rybak (Russian: Алекса́ндр И́горевич Рыба́к) or in Belarusian Alyaksandr Igaravich Rybak (Аляксандр І́гаравіч Рыбак), born 13 May 1986 in Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union is a Norwegian[1] singer-composer, violinist, pianist, writer, and 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—with "Fairytale", a song he wrote and composed. His debut album, Fairytales, charted in the top 20 in nine European countries, including a #1 position in Norway and Russia.

Contents

[edit] Personal life

Rybak was born on May 13, 1986, in Minsk, Belarus—which at that time was the Belarusian SSR in the Soviet Union. When he was 4 years old, he and his family moved to Norway.[2] Rybak was baptized and raised in the Orthodox religion.[3] At the age of five, Rybak began to play the piano and the violin.[2] His parents are Natalia Valentinovna Rybak, a classical pianist, and Igor Alexandrovich Rybak, a well-known classical violinist who performs alongside Pinchas Zukerman.[4] He stated "I always liked to entertain and somehow that is my vocation".[5] Rybak bought a new apartment and lives now at Aker Brygge (Oslo, Norway).

[edit] Anger issue

In 2010, several incidents of uncontrolled anger caused commentators to question whether Rybak has an anger control problem. During the trials for the ESC 2010 finals in Bærum, Rybak became so infuriated when a sound technician was not doing what he wanted that he smashed his own hand, breaking his fingers. Also, during trials for Swedish television in June 2010, he smashed his violin on the floor. His appearance was then canceled. According to his manager, Kjell Arild Tiltnes, Rybak does not have an issue with aggression. Tiltnes stated that "as long as he abreacts on objects and on himself, I see no reason for this to be something that he needs help dealing with." Rybak said, "I never raised my voice before, and that's why I did what I did. I'm just a human being—and perhaps not the glossy image many believe. So it was good to get out frustrations so I could go on. It's only me that goes beyond the same."[6]

[edit] Career

Alexander at the ESC 2009

Rybak has been a student at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo since the age of 10. Due to his success in the Eurovision Song Contest, he is currently taking a break from his bachelor's degree studies at the Institute.[7][8] In 2004, Rybak was awarded the Anders Jahre Culture Prize.[9] 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".[5] Alexander Rybak has collaborated with artists such as a-ha's lead singer Morten Harket and Arve Tellefsen. As of 2007, Rybak has played the fiddler in Oslo Nye Teater's production of Fiddler on the Roof and won the Hedda Award for this role.[5]

[edit] Eurovision 2009

Main article: Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009

Rybak won the 54th Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia, with a record 387 points, singing "Fairytale",[10] a song inspired by Norwegian folk music. The song was composed and written by Rybak[11] and was performed together 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,[5] and, in an ESCtoday poll, he scored 71.3%, making him the favourite to get into the final.[12]

In the 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 121,856.[13]

The song competed in the second semi-final and won a 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.

[edit] After Eurovision, film and the first album

Rybak and a dancer from Frikar, at a concert in Norway, September 2009

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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16]

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.[17]-

[edit] 2010–present: 2nd album and Let's dance Sweden

On January 30, 2010, Rybak performed one of his new singles, "Europe Skies", in national final, Euroviisut 2010, to select the 2010 Finnish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. On March 12, 2010, Alexander Rybak performed his Eurovision 2009 winning song "Fairytale" on UK TV show Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. In April 2010, Rybak released a new song, featuring Opptur, called "Fela Igjen".[18] Alexander released his second album on June 14, 2010, called No Boundaries. It was not as successuful as his first album, so far it has peaked at number 7 in Norway, number 8 in Sweden and 32 in Finland. On January 7, 2011, Rybak was one of twelve contestant on the next Swedish season of the dancing show Let's dance (Swedish version of television franchise Strictly come dancing), in the show Rybak danced to win the competition against other Swedish celebrities.[19] Rybak made it to the Top 4 before being voted off on March 11, having received the lowest scores from both juries and the voting public.[20]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

Album Title Album details Peak chart positions[21]
NOR BEL DEN DUT FIN GER POL RUS SWE FRA
Fairytales[22]
  • 1st Studio Album
  • Release Date: 29 May 2009
  • Labels: EMI, Universal
  • Genre: Pop
 1 13 15 29 4 16 7 1 2 21
No Boundaries[23]
  • 2nd studio album
  • Release Date: 14 June 2010
  • Labels: Universal
  • Genre: Pop
 7 — — — 32 — 12 — 8 —
Visa vid vindens ängar[24]
  • 3rd studio album
  • Release Date: 15 June 2011
  • Labels: Universal
  • Genre: Pop
 7 — — — — — — — 40 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

[edit] Singles

Year Single Chart positions[25] Album
NOR UK IRE RUS FIN GRE SWE DEN DUT EU
2009 "Fairytale"[26] 1 10 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 Fairytales
"Funny Little World"[27] 1 — — — — — 4 — — —
"Roll With the Wind"[28] 10 — — — — — — — — —
2010 "Oah"[23] 23 — — — — — 56 — — — No Boundaries
"Europe's Skies"[29] — — — — — — — — — —
2011 "Resan till dig" — — — — — — — — — — Visa vid vindens ängar
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

[edit] Other songs

Year Single Chart positions Album
RUS
2009 "I Don't Believe in Miracles / Superhero"[30][31] 18 Black Lightning Soundtrack
2010 "Fela Igjen" (feat. Opptur)[23] Non-Album single
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

[edit] Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
2009 Fairytale - The Movie Documentary about Alexander Rybak after his ESC-Victory

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hansen, Kjeld-Willy (2009-05-09). "Rybaks ukjente fortid i Larvik" (in Norwegian). Østlands-Posten. http://www.op.no/kultur/article4317559.ece. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  2. ^ a b Horne, Birte Njøsen (7 October 2006). "Alexander Rybak" (in Norwegian). nrk.no. http://www.nrk.no/programmer/tv/kjempesjansen/1.1087124. 
  3. ^ "Alexander Rybak: "A — national mix"" (in Russian). www.chas-daily.com. http://www.chas-daily.com/win/2009/10/15/g_026.html?r=33. "А вы крещеный? Да. Я православный. Однако я больше верующий, чем религиозный. ("Have you been baptized? Yes. I'm Orthodox. However, I am more a believer than religious.")" 
  4. ^ Biography: April 2009 Alexander Rybak, EMI Music, Germany
  5. ^ a b c d Espen Hansen, Tom (9 Feb 2009). "'Being a big favourite makes me nervous' — esctoday.com met with Alexander Rybak". esctoday.com. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13180. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
  6. ^ Pettersen, Jonas (June 22, 2010). "Knuste fiolinen i raseri foran hundrevis av tilskuere" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/06/22/kjendis/alexander_rybak/melodi_grand_prix/tv4/12241621/. Retrieved June 22, 2010. Hildrum, Alf. "Rybak knuste fiolinen på scenen i raseri" (in Norwegian). http://www.tv2underholdning.no/gkn/rybak-knuste-fiolinen-paa-scenen-i-raseri-3234339.html. Retrieved July 23, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Alexander Rybak Main Stage". The Norwegian Opera and Ballet. Archived from the original on May 21, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5gwJcPhrL. Retrieved May 21, 2009. 
  8. ^ Pedersen, Pål Fredrik (May 14, 2009). "Rybak ble stor stjerne" (in Norwegian). Norway: TV 2 (Norway). Archived from the original on 21 May 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5gwJMm2N8. Retrieved May 21, 2009. 
  9. ^ "Anders Jahres kulturpris 2004 til Ingvar Ambjørnsen og Geir Kjetsaa" (in Norwegian). ajhs.no. 30 June 04. http://www.ajhs.no/scripts/ingress/read.pl?id=040630091306-683. Retrieved 2009-02-13. [dead link]
  10. ^ Klier, Marcus (21 Feb 2009). "Norway: Alexander Rybak to Eurovision". ESCtoday. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13325. Retrieved 2009-02-21. 
  11. ^ Schacht, Andreas (7 Feb 2009). "Norway: Alexander Rybak and Ovi to final!". eurovision.tv. http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=1891. Retrieved 2009-02-10. 
  12. ^ Klier, Marcus (7 Feb 2009). "Third semi final results Norway: Another two acts chosen for the national final". escfans.com. http://www.escfans.com/news/read/13167. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
  13. ^ Written by. "Eurovision Song Contest Germany 2011 | News - Norway: Alexander Rybak to Eurovision". Esctoday.com. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13325. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
  14. ^ "Alexander til filmen" (in Norwegian). yohan.no. 28 July. http://www.yohan.no/nyheter-/36-august/161-alexander-til-filmen. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
  15. ^ Written by. "Eurovision Song Contest Germany 2011 | News - Rybak stars at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert". Esctoday.com. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/14608. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
  16. ^ Written by. "Eurovision Song Contest Germany 2011 | News - Fairytale, the movie available on DVD". Esctoday.com. http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/14571. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
  17. ^ "They said it would kill my career" Rybak: "I listened only to myself", esctoday.com, January 2, 2010
  18. ^ "Twitter / Alexander Rybak: Ladies and gentlemen: Alex". Twitter.com. http://twitter.com/AlexanderRybak/statuses/12785381066. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 
  19. ^ http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/tv/dokusapa/letsdance/article8317424.ab
  20. ^ http://www.vg.no/rampelys/artikkel.php?artid=10099240
  21. ^ http://acharts.us/performer/alexander_rybak
  22. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Fairytales - Music Charts". aCharts. http://acharts.us/album/43925. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  23. ^ a b c Alexander Rybak - Official homepage
  24. ^ http://www.alexanderrybak.com/home/new-album-visa-vid-videns-angar/
  25. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Music Charts". aCharts. http://acharts.us/performer/alexander_rybak. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  26. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Fairytale - Music Charts". aCharts. 2009-02-01. http://acharts.us/song/41664. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  27. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Funny Little World - Music Charts". aCharts. http://acharts.us/song/43730. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  28. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Roll With The Wind - Music Charts". aCharts. 2009-01-06. http://acharts.us/song/43929. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
  29. ^ ""Europe’s Skies" – New single and music video". alexanderrybak.com. 2010-10-14. http://www.alexanderrybak.com/home/new-single-and-music-video-europes-skies/. Retrieved 2010-12-19. 
  30. ^ Alexander Rybak – Ya ne veryu v chudesa, Alexander Rybak - Official homepage, January 12, 2010
  31. ^ "Основные параметры ротации трека на радиостанциях, работающих в системе". Tophit.ru. 2009-12-29. http://tophit.ru/cgi-bin/trackinfo.cgi?id=22254. Retrieved 2010-09-18. 

[edit] External links

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Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Russia Dima Bilan
with "Believe"		 Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest
2009		 Succeeded by
Germany Lena Meyer-Landrut with "Satellite"
Preceded by
Maria Haukaas Storeng
with "Hold On Be Strong"		 Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
2009		 Succeeded by
Didrik Solli-Tangen
with "My Heart Is Yours"
Alexander Rybak
Albums
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