It was the 16th of May. No, actually, it was long before that. Everyone knew something big was bound to happen. There was no reason to participate in the national finals - the media had declared the winner already. And so had the Norwegian people. Because somewhere in a basement of Nesodden there was an almost unknown 23 year old boy who had written a little song because he kinda liked a girl he knew even though it hurt. He turned out to have it all: The looks, the voice, the moves, the Eastern European heritage, the glorious charm and, not to forget, he was a fantastic violinist. No one could never ever beat that in our country, you see, because we do love our underdogs. As long as they remain as such.
Turned out, no one could never ever beat that boy in Europe either. He was unstoppable, and hit everyone's record long before voting was over.We will never forget that night of 16th of May, when everyone danced in the street and you couldn't be anywhere without hearing Alexander Rybak on repeat with happy people singing along. The world had gone completely mad with joy, and we hadn't seen anything like it since the war ended. This was everyone's party for everyone. Alexander Rybak was the tsar of Moscow, the emperor of Europe and the king of Norway. He played in the opera and on all television channels and made all women scream while their men clapped their hands.
Yes, Alexander was our star and we certainly treated him like one. Until one day he was too popular for us. Then suddenly people were sick of him. He wasn't an underdog anymore and we didn't like that he was a bit tired from the circus.The fanpages on Facebook, that grew out of proportions before the national finals were over, gave way to pages like "Can this duck get more fans than Alexander Rybak". And as this years international finals are rapidly approaching, all media can find to write about is that they don't like Alexander's new single.
Seriously, Norwegians: Pull yourselves together. Alexander gave us a fairytale. The forthcoming final is our time to return some of the favor. He was loved for a reason. And he still deserves to be. This bloke did everything himself. He gave himself to us without filter. And he is the sole reason Oslo and Norway is approaching the most glamorous party of the millennium so far. Just remember that when you sip your champagne and enjoy all great things about to happen. The welcome in Telenor arena better be fantastic.
Thank you, Alexander Rybak. You will always be our winner <3
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Very nice you said. I'm sorry that Norway thinks so. In Russia, he is seen in a better way (I think it would take him, if Norway does not want him anymore). And there are other countries that would like to have him. I am from Romania and I love all his songs, and I like the new song, even if it is a little rough. He likes to mock himself and it has more humor ... If there are people who don't have sense of humor and do not understand, it's their loss.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great guy and an accomplished artist.
Catalina (Team Rybak Romania)
Thank you. We bet Russia would love to have him, but we'll make sure to keep him ;) Guess what we would like to describe is the Norwegian paradox, where a person is loved into fame only to be despised of for being too famous. There is an impossible balance to be reached there, and we're happy people like Rybak can show that they don't care. Yay to skipping smugness and showing a sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteDear Astrid and Guri. Thank you so much for this wise and funny posting. I think, Alexander has felt, mostly, well-treated by the norwegian media and there will allways be people, who like to be in opposition, but I still think, there is a lot of truth in your comments. I am one of his devoted Facebook-fanpage-members, who are now more than 70.000 and we are working on a charity-fund-raising for Valdres Sommersymfonis project, Playing for a FUture, which he is ambassador for. You can join, if you hurry, or just spread the posting. Read all about it here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebookies.org/2010/05/08/only-5-days-left/
You can't demand that everyone like Alexander Rybak just because you do. And allthough fairytale was a decent tune (not something for me though, but I respect different opinions), that doesn't make all his songs good.
ReplyDeleteI agree though, that it's a bit typical in Norway to bring down everyone that has gotten to famous. First we push them up, then we bring them down. But the hype on the way up is part of the problem. Alexander Rybak was never that good. Many other struggling musicians have so much more talent, and never get any attention at all. They drown in all the commercial mud that the media pump out.
Good point. Of course everyone doesn't have to love Rybak. We're just sick of the build up-tear down mentality - like you. And grateful that Rybak gave us the next few weeks of party.
ReplyDeleteYes, lots of other good people around. Let's help show them off. Like we've done with Alexander Stenerud, and will keep doing with others :)
Im a girl from Norway.
ReplyDeleteAstrid and Guri describes the norwegian "Janteloven".
From wikipedia:
The ten rules state:
Don't think that you are special.
Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
Don't think that you are smarter than us.
Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
Don't think that you know more than us.
Don't think that you are more important than us.
Don't think that you are good at anything.
Don't laugh at us.
Don't think that any one of us cares about you.
Don't think that you can teach us anything.
Me, myself and I love Sasha Rybak and his music! But I constantly have to defend it.
Check out his new song. Youtube "fela igjen".
It is in Norwegian.
The lyriks are based on a Norwegian folks song. The storyline is that he tryes to get a girlfriend. The two verses is before he became famous. The third is after the fame, but his buddy and his date find each other.
"Fela igjen" means "The fiddle back". He got the fiddle back and left the girl behind.
Thank you so much for that. Yup, Janteloven is exactly it. Let's help everyone break the rules!
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