2009: Alexander Rybak - Fairytale

Alexander Rybak was born on the 13th of May, 1986 in Minsk, Belarus. He came to Norway at the age of five, with his parents Natalia and Igor when his father defected to the west. Both of his parents are classically trained in the piano and violin, so Alexander’s future was pretty much mapped out from an early age.

He began to study both violin and piano at the age of five, and enrolled at the prestigious Barratt Due Insitute of Music in Oslo at the tender age of ten. Whilst studying at Barratt Due, he attempted to make a name for himself in 2005, when he entered himself for the Norwegian Idol series, making it to the semi finals. A year later, he won the NRK talent show called Kjempesjansen. In 2007, he starred as the fiddler in the adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof at Oslo Nye Teater, for which he won the Hedda Award.

Since winning the Eurovision Song Contest, Alexander has taken a break from his bachelor’s degree studies to concentrate on his music career. Since his breakthrough in 2009, he has released two albums – Fairytales in 2009, and No Boundaries in 2010. Fairytales was a huge success around Europe, making #1 in Norway and Russia, #2 in Sweden, #4 in Finland, #7 in Poland, #13 in Belgium, #15 in Denmark, #16 in Germany and #29 in the Netherlands. No Boundaries failed to acheive similar status, selling considerably less, making only #7 on the Norwegian charts, #8 in Sweden, #12 in Poland and #32 in Finland. The talented young singer has also released five singles thus far, two of which made #1 in Norway – Fairytale and Funny Little World

Alexander has also enjoyed a brief foray into the world of film following his success, playing the role of travellever Levi in the film Yohan, released in 2010.

Participant Profile

In the final

In the semi final