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Alexander Rybak

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Alexander Rybak

Alexander Rybak (Belarusian: Аляксандр Ігаравіч Рыбак, Russian: Александр Игоревич Рыбак, born 13 May 1986 in Minsk, Belarus) is a Norwegian[1] singer-composer, violinist, pianist, writer, and actor of Belarusian descent. 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 within the top 20 in 9 European countries, including a #1 position in Norway and Russia.

Early life

Rybak was born 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] At the age of five, Rybak began to play the piano.[2] His parents are Natallia Valiantsinauna Rybak, a classical pianist, and Igor Aliaksandravich Rybak, a well-known classical violinist who performs alongside Pinchas Zukerman.[3] Alexander Rybak stated "I always liked to entertain and somehow that is my vocation".[4] He and his family currently live in the borough of Nesodden in Oslo, Norway.

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.[5][6] In 2004, Rybak was awarded the Anders Jahre Culture Prize.[7] In 2005, he entered the Norwegian version of Idol, 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'".[4] 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.[4]

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",[8] a song inspired by Norwegian folk music. The song was composed and written by Rybak[9] 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[4] and in an ESCtoday poll he scored 71.3%, making him the favourite to get into the final.[10]

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.[11]

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.

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 is to be released in 2010.[12] 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 has also toured Norway, and Europe in 2009. On December 2009 performance of his hit Fairytale at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, held at the Oslo Spektrum. Rybak shared the stage with other nine acts.[13] 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.[14]

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.[15]

2nd album (2010–present)

On the 30th January 2010 performed his new single "Europe Skies" in national final, Euroviisut 2010, to select the 2010 Finnish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Same song that performed with Fairytale in final national tour through to Slovenia, Russia, United Kingdom, Sweden and Bosnia & Herzegovina.[16] On the 12th March 2010 Alexander Rybak performed his Eurovision 2009 winning song "Fairytale" on UK TV Show Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. On April 2010 release a new song featuring Opptur called "Fela Igjen"[17]

Discography

Albums

Year Album Peak chart positions Certifications[18]
NOR SWE GER DUT SWI AUT IRE FIN DEN EU
2009 Fairytales[19]
  • 1st studio album
  • Release Date: 29 May 2009
  • Labels: EMI, Universal
  • Genre: Pop
 1 2 16 29 65 46 91 4 15 18
2010 No Boundaries[21]
  • 2nd studio album
  • Release Date: 14 June 2010
  • Labels: Universal
  • Genre: Pop
 — — — — — — — — — —

Singles

Year Single Chart positions[22] Album
NOR UK IRE RUS FIN GRE SWE DEN DUT EU
2009 "Fairytale"[23] 1 10 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 Fairytales
"Funny Little World"[24] 1 — — — — — 4 — — —
"Roll With the Wind"[25] 10 — — — — — — — — —
2010 "Oah"[26] — — — — — — — — — — No Boundaries
Other singles
2009 "I Don't Believe in Miracles / Superhero"[27][28] — — — 18 — — — — — — Black Lightning Soundtrack
2010 "Fela Igjen" (feat. Opptur)[29] — — — — — — — — — — Non-Album single

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
2009 Fairytale - The Movie Documentary about Alexander Rybak after his ESC-Victory
2010 How to Train Your Dragon Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third Rybak lends his voice to the Norwegian and the Russian dubbed version of this computer-animated film[30]
2010 Yohan: The Child Wanderer Levi

References

  1. ^ Hansen, Kjeld-Willy (2009-05-09). "Rybaks ukjente fortid i Larvik" (in Norwegian). Østlands-Posten. Retrieved 2009-07-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b Horne, Birte Njøsen (07 Oct 2006). "Alexander Rybak" (in Norwegian). nrk.no. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Biography: April 2009 Alexander Rybak, EMI Music, Germany
  4. ^ 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. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  5. ^ "Alexander Rybak Main Stage". The Norwegian Opera and Ballet. Archived from the original on May 21, 2009. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  6. ^ Pedersen, Pål Fredrik (May 14, 2009). "Rybak ble stor stjerne" (in Norwegian). Norway: TV 2 (Norway). Archived from the original on 21 May 2009. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  7. ^ "Anders Jahres kulturpris 2004 til Ingvar Ambjørnsen og Geir Kjetsaa" (in Norwegian). ajhs.no. 30 June 04. Retrieved 2009-02-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Klier, Marcus (21 Feb 2009). "Norway: Alexander Rybak to Eurovision". ESCtoday. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  9. ^ Schacht, Andreas (7 Feb 2009). "Norway: Alexander Rybak and Ovi to final!". eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  10. ^ Klier, Marcus (7 Feb 2009). "Third semi final results Norway: Another two acts chosen for the national final". escfans.com. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  11. ^ "www.esctoday.com/news/read/13325".
  12. ^ "Alexander til filmen" (in Norwegian). yohan.no. 28 July. Retrieved 2009-02-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/14608
  14. ^ http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/14571
  15. ^ "They said it would kill my career" Rybak: "I listened only to myself", esctoday.com, January 2, 2010
  16. ^ http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/15059
  17. ^ http://twitter.com/AlexanderRybak/statuses/12785381066
  18. ^ Certification award levels IFPI. Retrieved August, 2009.
  19. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Fairytales - Music Charts". aCharts. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  20. ^ http://www.sverigetopplistan.se/
  21. ^ Alexander Rybak - Official homepage
  22. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Music Charts". aCharts. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  23. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Fairytale - Music Charts". aCharts. 2009-02-01. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  24. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Funny Little World - Music Charts". aCharts. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  25. ^ "Alexander Rybak - Roll With The Wind - Music Charts". aCharts. 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  26. ^ Alexander Rybak - Official homepage
  27. ^ Alexander Rybak – Ya ne veryu v chudesa, Alexander Rybak - Official homepage, January 12, 2010
  28. ^ http://tophit.ru/cgi-bin/trackinfo.cgi?id=22254
  29. ^ Alexander Rybak - Official homepage
  30. ^ Rybak dubber "Dragetreneren" (Norwegian), NRK, January 14, 2010

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Alexander Rybak.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Rybak.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest
2009 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest
2009 		Succeeded by

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