Posts Tagged Rybak

Eurovision is too pop and not very euro anyway. Every year the whole Belarus watches its best participant to struggle hard to be among the first from the end.

They say this year we double our chances as there are two Belarusians: Petr Elfimov and Alexander Rybak from Norway.

Rybak was born in Minsk, migrated to Norway with his family at the age of five and has never been in Belarus since then. He may consider himself to be whatsoever: Belarusian, Russian, as that’s the mother tongue of his parents, or Norwegian, it’s a very subjective thing. But I don’t see anything Belarusian about him.

Rybak seems to be open, positive, outright and independent-minded. Belarusians are usually too serious about life, their occupations, their victories and losses. They take themselves too seriously. They live once and need to have everything right. They find suffering to be an integral part of their existence.

Moreover, Rybak is a “product” of a different society. I am not sure he would be able to achieve the same success in Belarus. The only thing Minsk and Oslo could have in common is a wee number of sunny days. So if this Norwegian boy wins (as most bookmakers say) that would be a well-deserved victory of Norway.

… the funny point is: Rybak’s father looks like a twin brother of Belarusian president Lukashenka…