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Destination Lisbon (#38): Meet Alexander Rybak from Norway

23 April 2018 at 09:00 CEST
Alexander Rybak represents Norway at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest Julia Marie Naglestad
In the 38th part of 'Destination Lisbon', our feature counting down to the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, we get to know Alexander Rybak who will represent Norway with the song 'That’s How You Write A Song'.

In February, Alexander Rybak won Melodi Grand Prix (MGP), the Norwegian national selection for the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest. The winner was decided by a combination of jury and public votes. Read more..    

Alexander was born in Minsk, Belarus on the 13th of May, 1986. In the early nineties his family moved to Norway's capital Oslo. As a young kid Alexander learned to play the violin.

In 2006, Alexander made fame in Norway by winning the talent competition Kjempesjansen (The Big Break) with his own jazz-inspired composition Foolin'.

Alexander Rybak became a household name across Europe after winning the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest for Norway with the song Fairytale. With a total of 387 points, his victory marked the highest recorded score in the history of the contest at the time. Fairytale went on to top the charts around Europe and the follow-up album Fairytales was released in 25 countries. 

Since his Eurovision victory, Alexander has been touring both at home and abroad, and has been involved in a series of different music projects.

He made a brief appearance in the Grand Final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest participating as part of the interval act in Stockholm.

Last year Alexander made a tribute cover video to honour the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest winning song Amar Pelos Dois by Salvador Sobral. 

Ahead of his journey to Lisbon, Alexander visited Scandinavian talkshow Skavlan together with Swedish contestant Benjamin Ingrosso, where they performed a mashup of their Eurovision songs:

Recently, Alexander performed at Virtuos, the Norwegian national selection for Eurovision Young Musicians. Being a classically trained musician himself he was proud to perform on the show, as he expressed on Instagram: "As a violinist with classical background, I am very proud to perform at the Norwegian national final of Eurovision for young musicians! Whether it’s pop, jazz, rock or classical, we are all a Big Music Family and I’m happy to celebrate all the incredible Norwegian talents."

Less than a decade after his Eurovision victory Alexander is making his way back to the contest : "It’s truly an honor to compete for Norway once again! I’ve been working with this song for a long time, and I am grateful to be able to get the message out to all the Eurovision Song Contest fans!”

The violin plays yet another big part in his Eurovision entry, and this is what you can see in the video below as well, in which he pays tribute to some of this year's Eurovision entries:

Let's get social! 

You can follow Alexander Rybak on the following social media platforms:  

Don't forget to check out his website and official YouTube channel!

Alexander Rybak will preform his song That’s How You Write A Song in the second Semi-Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest on the 10th of May.

What do you think of Alexander Rybak's That’s How You Write A Song? Leave your review in the comments below!