Alexander Rybak

Alexander Rybak (Belarusian: Аляксандр Ігаравіч Рыбак, Russian: Александр Игоревич Рыбак,
born 13 May 1986 in Minsk, Belarus) is a Norwegian 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.

Personal 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. At the age of five, Rybak
began to play the piano. His parents are Natallia Valiantsinauna Rybak, a classical pianist, and
Igor Aliaksandravich Rybak, a well-known classical violinist who performs alongside Pinchas
Zukerman.Alexander Rybak stated "I always liked to entertain and somehow that is my
vocation". He bought a new apartment and he lives in Aker Brygge(Oslo,Norway)

Anger issue

In 2010 several incidents of uncontrolled anger caused commentators to question whether Rybak
has a temper control problem. During the trials for the ESC 2010 finals in Oslo Rybak became so
infuriated when a sound technician wasn't doing what he wanted that he smashed his hand,
breaking his fist. Also during trials for Swedish television in June 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."

Career

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. In 2004, Rybak was awarded the Anders Jahre Culture Prize. 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'". 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.

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 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
Dagbladetand in an ESCtoday poll he scored 71.3%, making him the favourite to get into the
final.

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.

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'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. 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. 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.[

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. 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"