Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song)

The song "Fairytale" written and performed by Alexander Rybak won the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 for Norway, and is the first single from Rybak's debut album Fairytales.[1][2]

"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)
Eurovision Song Contest 2009 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
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) ►

Writing and inspiration

In February 2009, Norwegian media reported that "Fairytale" is about Rybak's ex-girlfriend Ingrid Berg Mehus whom he got to know through the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo.[3][4][5] 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.[6] The Russian-language version of the song is entitled "Skazka" (Russian: Сказка).

Eurovision 2009

The song was elected through the Norwegian festival Melodi Grand Prix 2009 on 21 February, winning in the biggest landslide of the contest's history,[7] and competed against eighteen other Eurovision entries in the second semi-final on 14 May 2009, where it qualified for the final. The final took place on 16 May and the song won with 387 points – a new ESC record. It was Norway's third Eurovision win.

The backing dancers for the Eurovision performance, Sigbjørn Rua, Torkjell Lunde Børsheim and Hallgrim Hansegård, are from the Norwegian dance company Frikar,[8] performing the folk dance halling. The backing singers, Jorunn Hauge[9] and Karianne Kjærnes,[10] wore long pink dresses designed by Norwegian designer Leila Hafzi.[11]

Music video

The first official music video for the song, which was used to present the song before the Eurovision final, was Alexander Rybak's performance at the Melodi Grand Prix 2009 in Norway. 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.

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.[12]

Record

In the Norwegian preselection, Melodi Grand Prix 2009, Rybak's "Fairytale" won with a combined televote and jury score of 747,888, in the biggest victory of the contest's history. The song received over 600,000 votes more than the runner-up, which made it the clearest win in the history of Melodi Grand Prix.[1][7]

At the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, Rybak won with the highest recorded score since the contest began, with 387 points (out of a maximum possible of 492), surpassing Lordi's 2006 record of 292. He held this record until 2016 when Jamala from 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). His average score of 9.4 points from every voting nation was the highest since the wide use of televoting began in 1998. Rybak received sixteen scores of 12 points, also a new record, surpassing the previous record of ten held by Katrina and the Waves (1997) and Helena Paparizou (2005); this record was surpassed in 2012, by Loreen, who received eighteen.

Commercial performance

The song also debuted on the Norwegian Singles Chart on the week of 11 February 2009 at number 3,[13] before rising to number one on the following week, the week of the Melodi Grand Prix final.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] It was certified Gold in Finland[18] and Norway.[19] The single went multi-platinum in different formats in Russia. It first went platinum as realtone full track and sold 100,000 copies.[20] Then it was certified 2× platinum as ring-back tone with another 400,000 copies sold.[21] Combined sales of the song are 500,000 copies without online downloads.

Charts

Weekly charts
Weekly chart performance for "Fairytale"
Chart (2009–2020) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[22] 67
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[23] 10
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[24] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[25] 4
CIS (TopHit)[26] 1
Czech Republic (IFPI)[27] 95
Denmark (Tracklisten)[28] 1
European Hot 100 Singles[29] 3
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 1
French Digital Singles Chart[31] 29
Germany (Official German Charts)[32] 4
Greece (IFPI)[33] 3
Hungary (Single Top 40)[34] 14
Iceland (RÚV)[35] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[36] 2
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[37] 2
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[38] 14
Norway (VG-lista)[39] 1
Scotland (OCC)[40] 77
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[41] 35
Slovakia (IFPI)[42] 34
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[43] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 3
Turkey (Turkish Singles Chart)[45] 24
UK Singles (OCC)[46] 10

Year-end charts
Year-end chart performance for "Fairytale"
Chart (2009) Position
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[47] 48
CIS (Tophit)[48] 57
Germany (Official German Charts)[49] 46
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[50] 1

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[18] Gold 6,887[18]
Germany (BVMI)[51] Gold 150,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[19] Gold 5,000*
Sweden (GLF)[52] Platinum 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[53] Silver 200,000‡

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

Release history
Region Date Format Version
Norway 12 January 2009 Digital download Original
Germany[54] 15 May 2009 Digital download Original
United Kingdom 17 May 2009 Digital download[55] Original
Germany[56] 20 October 2017 CD-Maxi Duet with Franziska Wiese

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