Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song)

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"Fairytale"
Single by Alexander Rybak
from the album Fairytales
Released12 January 2009
Recorded2008
Genre
Length3:03
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Alexander Rybak
Producer(s)Kim Bergseth
Alexander Rybak singles chronology
"Fairytale"
(2009) 		"Funny Little World"
(2009)
Music video
"Fairytale" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2009 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Alexander Rybak
Lyricist(s)
Alexander Rybak
Finals performance
Semi-final result
1st
Semi-final points
201
Final result
1st
Final points
387
Entry chronology
◄ "Hold On Be Strong" (2008)
"My Heart Is Yours" (2010) ►
Official performance video
"Fairytale" (Final) on YouTube

"Fairytale" is a song composed, written, and recorded by Belarusian-Norwegian singer-songwriter Alexander Rybak. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 held in Moscow, winning the contest. It is the first single from Rybak's debut album Fairytales released on 29 May 2009 just after the contest.

Background[edit]

Conception[edit]

"Fairytale" was composed and written by Alexander Rybak. In February 2009, Norwegian media reported that the song is about Rybak's ex-girlfriend Ingrid Berg Mehus whom he got to know through the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo.[1][2][3] Rybak has since confirmed this. At a press conference in May 2009 he revealed that the song's inspiration came from the Hulder, a beautiful female creature from Scandinavian folklore, who lures young men to her, and then may curse them for all time.[4] The Russian-language version of the song is entitled "Skazka" (Russian: Сказка).

National selection[edit]

Between 24 January and 21 February 2009, "Fairytale" performed by Rybak competed in the 47th edition of the Melodi Grand Prix, the national final organised by Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) to select its song and performer for the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition in the biggest landslide of the contest's history,[5] becoming the Norwegian entrant –and Rybak the performer– for Eurovision.[6][7]

"Fairytale" won with a combined televote and jury score of 747,888, in the biggest victory of the Melodi Grand Prix's history. The song received over 600,000 votes more than the runner-up, which made it the clearest win in the history of the competition.[6][5]

Music video[edit]

The first official music video for the song, which was used to present the song before the Eurovision final, was Rybak's performance at the Melodi Grand Prix. The most recent video was of Rybak playing the violin and singing with his backing dancers behind him, where the background occasionally changes from white to black.

Eurovision[edit]

On 14 May 2009, the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Olimpiysky Arena in Moscow hosted by Channel One (C1R) and broadcast live throughout the continent. Rybak performed "Fairytale" sixth on the evening, following Poland's "I Don't Wanna Leave" by Lidia Kopania and preceding Cyprus's "Firefly" by Christina Metaxa.[8] After the grand final it was revealed that it had received in its semi-final 201 points, placing first in a field of nineteen and qualifying for the final.[9]

On 16 May 2009, the grand final for the Eurovision Song Contest was held. Rybak performed again "Fairytale" twentieth on the evening, following Albania's "Carry Me in Your Dreams" by Kejsi Tola and preceding Ukraine's "Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" by Svetlana Loboda.[10]

The backing dancers for the Eurovision performances, Sigbjørn Rua, Torkjell Lunde Børsheim and Hallgrim Hansegård, were from the Norwegian dance company Frikar,[11] performing the folk dance halling. The backing singers, Jorunn Hauge[12] and Karianne Kjærnes,[13] wore long pink dresses designed by Norwegian designer Leila Hafzi.[14]

Rybak at the press conference after winning.

"Fairytale" won with the highest recorded score until then in Eurovision, with 387 points –out of a maximum possible of 492–, surpassing "Hard Rock Hallelujah" 2006 record of 292 by Lordi. It held this record until 2016 when "1944" by Jamala for Ukraine, the first self-written winner after Rybak, won with a record 534 points –but because of the new scoring system with separate sets of televotes and jury votes, the results are not comparable with each other–. Its average score of 9.4 points from every voting nation was the highest since the wide use of televoting began in 1998. "Fairytale" received sixteen scores of 12 points, also a new record, surpassing the previous record of ten held by "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves in 1997 and "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou in 2005; this record was surpassed in 2012, by "Euphoria" by Loreen, who received eighteen. This was Norway's third Eurovision win.

Aftermath[edit]

The song was the first single from Rybak's debut album Fairytales released on 29 May 2009 just after the contest.

A video of Rybak's performance of the song at the Eurovision Song Contest final was chosen by YouTube as one of its 31 most memorable videos of 2009.[15]

Commercial performance[edit]

The song also debuted on the Norwegian Singles Chart on the week of 11 February 2009 at number 3,[16] before rising to number one on the following week, the week of the Melodi Grand Prix final.[17] This was the first time that the Melodi Grand Prix winner reached number 1 before winning the contest. The song remained at number 1 for 8 consecutive weeks.[18] The song has since entered the Swedish Sverigetopplistan, debuting at number 47, before rising to number 7 in its third week, the week of Eurovision - eventually reaching the top spot. After the song gaining the Top Spot on Eurovision, it entered the Top Ten of many Charts across Europe, and also the No. 1 position in many countries.[19] The song debuted on the UK charts at #10 on Downloads Alone and then dropped to #38 the next week, it also reached Number 3 on the Download Chart. "Fairytale" is the ninth non-UK Eurovision entry to reach the top ten in the UK charts since the contest began in 1956, most recently Johnny Logan reached #2 representing Ireland in 1987.[20] It was certified Gold in Finland[21] and Norway.[22] The single went multi-platinum in different formats in Russia. It first went platinum as realtone full track and sold 100,000 copies.[23] Then it was certified 2× platinum as ring-back tone with another 400,000 copies sold.[24] Combined sales of the song are 500,000 copies without online downloads.

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[21] Gold 6,887[21]
Germany (BVMI)[56] Gold 150,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[22] Gold 5,000*
Sweden (GLF)[57] Platinum 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] Silver 200,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Version
Norway 12 January 2009 Digital download Original
Germany[59] 15 May 2009 Digital download Original
United Kingdom 17 May 2009 Digital download[60] Original
Germany[61] 20 October 2017 CD-Maxi Duet with Franziska Wiese

References[edit]

  1. ^ "MSN | Outlook, Office, Skype, Bing, Breaking News, and Latest Videos". Archived from the original on 2009-05-23. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  2. ^ Her er hun! (Norwegian), Romerikes Blad, February 24, 2009
  3. ^ Dette er Alexanders eventyrdame (Norwegian), VG, February 24, 2009
  4. ^ Avslørte hvem «Fairytale» egentlig handler om (Norwegian), TV2 Norway, 28 May 2009
  5. ^ a b Henrikson, Arve (21 February 2009). "NRK: - Vi har ikke sett maken". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Norway: Alexander Rybak to Eurovision". ESCToday. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  7. ^ Fisher, Luke (21 February 2009). "Norway: Alexander Rybak wins Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix!". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  8. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2009 - second semi-final". Eurovision Song Contest. 14 May 2009. C1R / EBU.
  9. ^ "Official Eurovision Song Contest 2009 second semi-final scoreboard". Eurovision Song Contest.
  10. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2009 - grand final". Eurovision Song Contest. 16 May 2009. C1R / EBU.
  11. ^ Frikar til Moskva! Archived March 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (Norwegian), Folkemusikk.no, 22 February 2009
  12. ^ Til MGP-finale for 4. gang Archived 2011-07-24 at the Wayback Machine (Norwegian), Agderposten, 22 February 2009
  13. ^ - Det gikk som forventet Archived 2009-05-22 at the Wayback Machine (Norwegian), Moss Avis, 22 February 2009
  14. ^ Alle vil ha Hafzis kjoler (Norwegian), Adresseavisen, 15 May 2009
  15. ^ Fairytale reprise one of YouTube's most memorable of 2009, The official website of the Eurovision Song Contest, December 24, 2009
  16. ^ Staff (13 February 2009). "Topp 20 Single uke 7, 2009" (in Norwegian). VG-lista. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  17. ^ Staff (20 February 2009). "Topp 20 Single uke 8, 2009" (in Norwegian). VG-lista. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  18. ^ Staff. "Alexander Rybak: Fairytale" (in Norwegian). VG-lista. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  19. ^ "ALEXANDER RYBAK  — FAIRYTALE". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  20. ^ Archive of Eurovision Song Contest Winners and British entries from 1956 to the present day, everyHit.com
  21. ^ a b c "Alexander Rybak" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  22. ^ a b "IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  23. ^ "Домен припаркован в Timeweb".
  24. ^ "Домен припаркован в Timeweb".
  25. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 241.
  26. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  27. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  28. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  29. ^ Aleksandr Rybak — Fairytale. TopHit. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  30. ^ Czech IFPI Singles Chart
  31. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale". Tracklisten.
  32. ^ Search result, Alexander Rybak, billboard.com
  33. ^ "Alexander Rybak: Fairytale" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  34. ^ French Download Single Top 50 - 23 May 2009 Archived 25 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  36. ^ IFPI Greek Singles Chart
  37. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  38. ^ "RÚV - Vinsældalisti Rásar 2". RÚV. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  39. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Alexander Rybak". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  40. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  41. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Alexander Rybak" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  42. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale". VG-lista.
  43. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Weekly Chart: Jun 18, 2009". TopHit. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  44. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  45. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale" Canciones Top 50.
  46. ^ Slovakian IFPI Singles Chart
  47. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale". Singles Top 100.
  48. ^ "Alexander Rybak – Fairytale". Swiss Singles Chart.
  49. ^ "Digital Singles Charts - Turkey". Number One Top 20. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  50. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  51. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2009". Ultratop. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  52. ^ "CIS Year-End Radio Hits (2009)". TopHit. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  53. ^ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  54. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Annual Chart: 2009". TopHit. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  55. ^ "Årslista Singlar – År 2009" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  56. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Alexander Rybak; 'Fairytale')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  57. ^ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2009" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  58. ^ "British single certifications – Alexander Rybak – Fairytale". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  59. ^ Fairytales: Alexander Rybak - Artist Home - EMI Archived 2009-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, emimusic.de
  60. ^ Eminem comeback crowns UK chart, BBC, 24 May 2009
  61. ^ hitparade.ch, Franziska Wiese & Alexander Rybak – Fairytale, retrieved 12 August 2018

External links[edit]

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Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
2009 		Succeeded by
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