Will the New European Pop Icon Invade the United States?
Alexander Rybak (Norway), all time, record breaking First Place winner of “Eurovision -2009” song contest arrives to New York for his only US appearance.
Alexander Rybak (born 1986) will be performing in New York Millennium Theater (1029 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235) on November 21, 2009. This will be his first trip to the United States since his triumphant victory in the most prominent and prestigious European song contest.The US tour is organized by NYC based Russian-American Consulting Corporation.
Alexander Rybak’s phenomenal journey began at the tender age of five. His modest family of three had moved from Belarus, USSR and settled near Norway’s capital Oslo. His parents were both professionally trained musicians, and gave their son violin and piano lessons. From the very beginning Alexander studied the great masters, but soon started composing music, playing jazz, popular standards as well as pop hits. His violin took him to places like Russia, Great Britain, United States and China as a member of different orchestras.
Being of competitive nature, Alexander soon joined Pop Idol Norway, but it did not prove to be the best place to showcase his unique talent. Not ready to give up, Alexander joined another talent competition with a broader approach to music and the use of instruments. Performing his own composition, “Foolin,’” Alexander Rybak won over the hearts of the spectators in Norway. Before this victory, a director at one of Oslo’s biggest stages cast Alexander in a musical/play “Fiddler on The Roof”. For his role, Alexander got rave reviews and even won the highest acclamation a stage actor can get in Norway, the Hedda Award.
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 held by Lordi in 2006 and scoring 169 points more than runner up, a representative of Iceland. Alexander sang “Fairytale”, the song he wrote while strolling through the glorious mountains on the Norwegian west coast and inspired by Norwegian folk music. He performed together with the modern dance company Frikar.
In no time, “Fairytale”, became a major hit in Europe and was number one on the majority of European iTunes charts the following week. It also reached the top three on the European charts, number one in Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Russia and number two in Ireland, Finland and the Netherlands. Alexander’s performance from the Eurovision Song Contest had more than 10 million hits on YouTube within a few weeks after his victory.
Alexander Rybak recorded his debut album “Fairytales” shortly after, and by August 2009 the album had been released in more than 25 European countries including Scandinavia, Russia/CIS, Germany, France, Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, France and Greece. “Fairytales” has sold approximately 120,000 copies in Norway, reaching 500,000 of total sales in Europe. The album has been in the top 3 since it was released in Norway, peaking at number one for weeks at a time, reaching triple platinum within two months. The record went Gold in Sweden and Double Platinum in Russia, where Alexander’s song was number one on the Russian Billboard charts in mid-August 2009.
This summer, Alexander Rybak has toured Norway, playing more for more than 400,000 people. He has also done major TV shows and performed numerous concerts in Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway, being exposed to millions of Europeans. From October to December 2009 Alexander Rybak has been travelling throughout Europe, playing for thousands upon thousands of people, with a full house every time. He will appear in New York for one day only on November 21, 2009.
