Alexander Rybak Biography

Name : Alexander Rybak

Born :13 May 1986 (age 25) Minsk, Byelorussian SSR

Genres : Pop, folk, classical, Baroque pop

Occupations :Singer, actor, songwriter, composer, pianist

Instruments : Vocals, violin, piano

Alexander Rybak was born on May 13, 1986 in Minsk, Belarus. His parents moved to Norway when he was 4. His father was a violinist & his mother was a pianist. He started to compose his songs & learnt singing.

Alexander Rybak’s 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 professionally trained musicians and teaching their son the violin and piano was the most natural thing in the world. Alexander practiced like a top athlete, his endurance being quite rare in a society preoccupied with other leisure activities and sports. Soon it became apparent that he had to choose between his two instruments and he decided to go 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 on the stage and many noticed Alexander’s talents. He enrolled at The Barrat Due Academy when he was 10 and suddenly he met other young people with the same passion for music and realized that 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». He began playing jazz and popular standards as well as pop hits. He had composed music since he was a young boy because his father Igor had taught him that one day he could earn money from it. His violin took him to many far flung places including Russia, The United States and China, while he was a member of different orchestras. Born with a competitive streak, Alexander soon joined Pop Idol Norway, but it proved an unsuitable platform for 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 Norwegian nation.

Having already taken part in Norwegian Pop Idol in 2005, Alexander took part in the second edition of the talent search Kjempesjansen, a Norwegian TV show that is looking for young talents in music and dance, in 2006. He could win this show with his own composition Foolin’. He later won the Anders Jahres award and became a conductor for Norway’s most famous orchestra of young musicians. In 2007, he starred as fiddler in the Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick musical Fiddler on the roof in Oslo.

In 2009, Alexander took part in MGP 2009, the Norwegian national final for the Eurovision Song Contest. He qualified from the semi final and could win the national final by a landslide. At that time, Fairytale was already the number one in the Norwegian charts and it was therefore the first MGP entry ever to top the charts before the final was held. To date, the single has sold to multiple platinum and after its victory in Moscow, it became a hit all over Europe. He gained the top score of all 9 voting districts, ending with a combined televote and jury score of 747888. The runner up received a combined score of 121856.