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Alexander Rybak - A musical missionary

Alexander Rybaks phenomenal journey began at the tender age of five. His little family of three had moved from Belarus and settled at Nesodden, a short ferry trip from Norway's capital Oslo. Natasja and Igor, his parents were both professional trained musicians, and giving their son lessons on violin and playing the piano was the most natural thing to do. Alexander practiced like a top athlete, his endurance being quite rare in a society preoccupied with other leisure activities and sports. Soon it became imminent that he had to choose between his two instruments and he decided to stick with the violin (he still plays the piano, but just as a hobby). Alexander continued to practice as well as playing concerts with his family and other musical friends. At a very young age he debuted in front of crowds and many noticed Alexanders talent. He enrolled at The Barrat Due Academy when he was 10 and all of a sudden he met youngsters with the same passion for music and he soon realized he was not the odd one out.

From the very beginning Alexander studied the great masters, but was also preoccupied with thinking «outside the box». Early on he started playing jazz and popular standards as well as pop hits. He had composed music since he was a kid because his father Igor thought him that one could earn money from it. His violin also took him to places like Russia, The United States and China, being a member of different orchestras. Being born competitive, Alexander soon joined Pop Idol Norway, but it proved not to be the place to showcase his unique talent. A year later he joined another talent competition «Kjempesjansen» with a broader approach to music and use of instruments. With his own composition “Foolin'” Alexander won the hearts of the spectators in Norway. Before the victory, a director at one of Oslo's biggest stages cast Alexander in “Fiddler on The Roof” he got rave reviews and even won the highest acclamation a stage actor can get in Norway, the Hedda Award. In between all his engagements Alexander also found time to travel like the fiddlers did back in the day, and played for food and lodging in some of the valleys and islands of Norway. On one of this trips he came up with an idea to a song called “Fairytale” and when the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation rang him up one day late 2008, he had a plan. This was just the beginning...

Alexander Rybak went on to win the 54th Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia in may 2009 with a landslide victory. He finished with a grand total of 387 points, breaking the previous record of 292 points scored by Lordi in 2006 and scoring 169 points more than runner up Iceland. Alexander sang "Fairytale", the song he wrote walking in the mountains on the Norwegian west coast, a song inspired by Norwegian folk music. He performed together with the modern folk dance company Frikar Dance Company.

“Fairytale”, became a major hit in Europe and was 1 on most European iTunes charts the following week. It also reached top 3 on the European chart, 1 in Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Russia and 2 in Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands and Alexander's performance from the Eurovision Song Contest had more than 10mill hits on YouTube within a few weeks.

Alexander Rybak released his debut album “Fairytales” shortly after, and by August 2009 the album has been released in more than 25 European countries including Scandinavia, Russia/CIS, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, France and Greece. “Fairytales” has sold approximately 120.000 copies in Norway, reaching 300.000 of total sales in Europe. The album has been top 3 since it was released in Norway, peaking at 1 for a number of weeks, reaching triple platinum within two months. It has also sold to Gold in Sweden and Double Platinum in Russia, where Alexander in mid-August 2009 was 1 on the Russian Billboard charts.

The second single from “Fairytales”, “Funny Little World”, entered the Norwegian charts at 2 only beaten by Fairytale at 1. This is the first time in history that a Norwegian artist has had the two top chart positions in Norway.

This summer Alexander has toured Norway, playing more than 40 shows for more than 200.000 people, He has also done major TVshows in Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway being exposed for millions of European viewers.

From October to December 2009 Alexander Rybak will tour Europe playing venues at 1000-4000 capacity.

For more information see www.alexanderrybak.com

Fairytale Official ESC 2009 Video