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Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Name	Hønefoss
Native name
Settlement type	Unincorporated city
Total type
Pushpin map	Norway
Pushpin label position
Pushpin map caption	Location within Norway
Pushpin mapsize	175
Coordinates region	NO
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision name	Norway
Subdivision type1	County
Subdivision name1	Buskerud
Subdivision type2	District
Subdivision name2	Ringerike
Subdivision type3	Municipality
Subdivision name3	Ringerike
Established title	City status
Established date	1852
Population as of	1 January 2007
Population total	13930
Timezone	CET
Utc offset	+1
Timezone dst	CEST
Utc offset dst	+2
Elevation m	96

Hønefoss is a city in Buskerud county, Norway, and the center of the municipality of Ringerike.

In 1852, Hønefoss received town status and was separated from Norderhov. Hønefoss celebrated its 150th year of township in 2002. In 1964, Hønefoss ceased being a separate municipality and became part of Ringerike.

Hønefoss is located north of lake Tyrifjorden, where the river Begna forms the waterfall of Hønefossen, giving the town its name. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, Hønefoss has 14,177 inhabitants.

On the north side of the town bridge you’ll find Riddergården (knight's estate). This had been a patrician farm dating to 1730. This was the home of the manager of the local sawmill for generations.

Ringerikes Blad is a regional newspaper covering Ringerike, Hole and Jevnaker. Established in 1845, the newspaper is published daily in Hønefoss. As of 2006, the newspaper has a daily circulation of 12,684.

Transport

Hønefoss is connected to Bergen, Drammen and Oslo by the railway Bergensbanen, as well as to Gjøvik by Gjøvikbanen. European route E16 runs near Hønefoss on its way from Oslo to Bergen.It is approximately 65 km from both Oslo centre and Oslo Gardermoen.

Hønefoss Church

Hønefoss Church (Norwegian: Hønefoss Kirke) burned down in 2010.

The name Hønefoss

The city is named after a waterfall in the river Begna. The first element is the name of the old farm Hønen, the last element is Foss meaning 'waterfall'. The meaning of the name Hønen is unknown, though it probably originates from Hænir from Old Norse mythology.

References

External links

Wikitravel

Riddergardenin Norwegian

Ringerikes Museum

.

Category:Cities and towns in Norway Category:Former municipalities of Norway Category:Populated places in Buskerud Category:Populated places established in 1852 Category:Unincorporated cities in Norway

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Name	Alexander Rybak
Background	solo_singer
Born	May 13, 1986Minsk, Byelorussian SSR
Instrument	Vocals, violin, piano
Genre	Pop, folk, classical
Occupation	Singer, actor, songwriter, composer, pianist
Years active	1991–present
Associated acts	Eurovision Song Contest 2009, Frikar
Url	www.alexanderrybak.com

Alexander Igoryevich Rybak (Russian: Алекса́ндр И́горевич Рыба́к) or in Belarusian Alyaksandr Igaravich Rybak (Аляксандр І́гаравіч Рыбак), born 13 May 1986 in Byelorussian SSR) is a Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pianist, writer, and 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—with "Fairytale", a song he wrote and composed. His debut album, Fairytales, charted in the top 20 in nine European countries, including a #1 position in Norway and Russia.

Personal life

Rybak was born on May 13, 1986, in Minsk, Belarus—which at that time was the Belarusian SSR in the Soviet Union. When he was 5 years old, he and his family moved to Norway. Rybak was baptized and raised in the Orthodox religion. At the age of five, Rybak began to play the piano and the violin. He stated "I always liked to entertain and somehow that is my vocation". Rybak bought a new apartment and lives now at Aker Brygge (Oslo, Norway).

Anger issue

In 2010, several incidents of uncontrolled anger caused commentators to question whether Rybak has a temper control problem. During the trials for the ESC 2010 finals in Bærum, Rybak became so infuriated when a sound technician was not doing what he wanted that he smashed his own hand, breaking his fingers. Also, during trials for Swedish television in June 2010, he smashed his violin on the floor. His appearance was then canceled. According to his manager, Kjell Arild Tiltnes, Rybak does not have an issue with aggression. Tiltnes stated that "as long as he abreacts on objects and on himself, I see no reason for this to be something that he needs help dealing with." Rybak said, "I never raised my voice before, and that's why I did what I did. I'm just a human being—and perhaps not the glossy image many believe. So it was good to get out frustrations so I could go on. It's only me that goes beyond the same."

Career

Rybak has been a student at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo since the age of 10. Due to his success in the Eurovision Song Contest, he is currently taking a break from his bachelor's degree studies at the Institute. In 2004, Rybak was awarded the Anders Jahre Culture Prize. In 2005, he entered the Norwegian version of Idol, Idol: Jakten på en superstjerne, reaching the semifinal. In 2006, Rybak won Kjempesjansen (“The Great Opportunity”), a talent competition hosted by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), with his own song, "Foolin". a song inspired by Norwegian folk music. The song was composed and written by Rybak and was performed together with the modern folk dance company Frikar. The song received good reviews with a score of 6 out of 6 in the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet,

In the Norwegian national heats, Rybak achieved a clean sweep, gaining the top score from all nine voting districts and ending with a combined televote and jury score of 747,888, while the runner up, Tone Damli Aaberge, received a combined score of 121,856.

The song competed in the second semi-final and won a place in the Eurovision final.

Rybak later won the Eurovision final with a landslide victory, receiving votes from all the participating countries (except Norway, which was not allowed to vote for itself). Rybak finished with a total of 387 points, breaking the previous record of 292 points scored by Lordi in 2006 and scoring 169 points more than the runner-up, Iceland.

After Eurovision, film and the first album

, at a concert in Norway, September 2009]] Rybak's first album, Fairytales, was released after his Eurovision win. Rybak also co-stars as Levi in the film directed by Grete Salomonsen, which was released in March 2010. Rybak also went on a tour in Norway with former Norwegian Eurovision winner Elisabeth Andreassen, something that had been decided before his Eurovision win and participation. He and Frikar also toured Norway and Europe in 2009. In a December 2009 performance of his hit "Fairytale" at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, held at the Oslo Spektrum, Rybak shared the stage with nine other acts. Too EMI Norway has just released a film entitled Fairytale, the movie, directed by acclaimed Norwegian director, Rune Langlo, documenting the journey of Alexander Rybak since claiming the top prize for Norway in Moscow.

In 2009, he recorded the theme song, called "I Don't Believe in Miracles / Superhero", for the Russian action movie Black Lightning produced by Timur Bekmambetov.-

2010–present: 2nd album and Let's dance Sweden

On January 30, 2010, Rybak performed one of his new singles, "Europe Skies", in national final, Euroviisut 2010, to select the 2010 Finnish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. On March 12, 2010, Alexander Rybak performed his Eurovision 2009 winning song "Fairytale" on UK TV show . In April 2010, Rybak released a new song, featuring Opptur, called "Fela Igjen". Alexander released his second album on June 14, 2010, called No Boundaries. It was not as successuful as his first album, so far it has peaked at number 7 in Norway, number 8 in Sweden and 32 in Finland. On January 7, 2011, Rybak was one of twelve contestant on the next Swedish season of the dancing show Let's dance also known as Dancing with the stars, in the show Rybak danced to win the competition against other Swedish celebrities. Rybak made it to the Top 4 before being voted off on March 11, having received the lowest scores from both juries and the voting public.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |- ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details ! scope="col" colspan="10"| Peak chart positions |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| NOR ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| BEL ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| DEN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| DUT ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| FIN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| GER ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| POL ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| RUS ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| SWE ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| FRA |- ! scope="row" | Fairytales |

1st Studio Album

Release Date: 29 May 2009

Labels: EMI, Universal

Genre: Pop

| 1 || 13 || 15 || 29 || 4 || 16 || 7 || 1 || 2 || 21 |- ! scope="row" | No Boundaries |

2nd studio album

Release Date: 14 June 2010

Labels: Universal

Genre: Pop

| 7 || — || — || — || 32 || — || 12 || — || 8 || — |- ! scope="row" | Visa vid vindens ängar |

3rd studio album

Release Date: 15 June 2011

Labels: Universal

Genre: Pop

| — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — |- |colspan="14" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. |}

Singles

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |- ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Single ! scope="col" colspan="10"| Chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| NOR ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| UK ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| IRE ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| RUS ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| FIN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| GRE ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| SWE ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| DEN ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| DUT ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| EU |- |rowspan="3"|2009 ! scope="row"| "Fairytale" | 1 || 10 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 3 | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"|Fairytales |- ! scope="row"| "Funny Little World" | 1 || — || — || — || — || — || 4 || — || — || — |- ! scope="row"| "Roll With the Wind" | 10 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — |- |rowspan="2"|2010 ! scope="row"| "Oah" | — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — |- |2011 ! scope="row"| "Resan till dig" | — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1"| Visa vid vindens ängar |- |colspan="14" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. |}

Other songs

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" |- ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Single ! scope="col" colspan="1"| Chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;"| RUS |- | 2009 ! scope="row"| "I Don't Believe in Miracles / Superhero" | 18 | style="text-align:center;"|Black Lightning Soundtrack |- | 2010 ! scope="row"| "Fela Igjen" (feat. Opptur) | |Non-Album single |- |colspan="14" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. |}

Filmography

References

Hyllet i hjembygda (Norwegian), Østlands-Posten, May 18, 2009, about the official Alexander Rybak Fanclub on Facebook

Du kan bli med Alex til Moskva (Norwegian), Akershus Amtstidende, April 15, 2009, about the official Alexander Rybak Fanclub on Facebook

External links

Official homepage

Official Facebook Page

Official International Fansite of Alexander Rybak

Fan web-site of Alexander Rybak

Alexander Rybak PR in Ireland

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from Norway Category:Melodi Grand Prix contestants Category:Melodi Grand Prix winners Category:Naturalised citizens of Norway Category:Norwegian violinists Category:Norwegian male singers Category:Norwegian actors Category:Norwegian composers Category:Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2009 Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:People from Minsk Category:Norwegian people of Belarusian descent Category:People from Nesodden Category:Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Category:Norwegian fiddlers