Alexander Rybak

by AndyChong  |  April 15, 2011 [Edit]

Alexander Igoroyevich Rybak or Alyaksandr Igaravich Rybak (Belarusian: Аляксандр Ігаравіч Рыбак, born 13 May 1986 in Byelorussian SSR) is a Norwegian[1] singer-composer, violinist, pianist, writer, and actor of Belarusian parentage. 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.

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 5 years old, he and his family moved to Norway. Rybak was baptized and raised in the Orthodox religion. At the age of five, Rybak began to play the piano and the violin. 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).