Alexander Igoryevich Rybak (Alyaksandr Iharavich Rybak; born 13 May 1986) is a Belarusian-Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pianist, actor. Representing Norway in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia, Rybak won the contest with 387 points—the highest tally any country has achieved in the history of Eurovision under the old voting system—with "Fairytale", a song he wrote and composed. His debut album, Fairytales, charted in the top 20 in nine European countries, including a No. 1 position in Norway and Russia. Rybak made a return to Eurovision in 2012 and 2016, playing the violin during both interval acts.
Rybak was born in Minsk, Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. His family emigrated to Norway, when Alexander still was at an early age. He became a student at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo at the age of 10. As a result of his success in the Eurovision Song Contest, he took a break from his bachelor's degree studies at the institute, but in 2011, he returned to his studies and in June 2012, he graduated from Barratt Due Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music in violin performance.