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Moldovan (also Moldavian; limba moldovenească, лимба молдовеняскэ) is one of the names of the Romanian language as spoken in the Republic of Moldova, where it is an official language.^[1][2] The variety of Romanian spoken in Moldova is the Moldavian subdialect, which is also spoken in northeastern Romania. The two countries share the same literary standard.^[3] Written in Cyrillic,^[4] Moldovan is also the name of one of three official languages of the breakaway Moldovan territory of Transnistria.^[5]

The Constitution of Moldova (Title I, Article 13) states that the Moldovan language is the official language of the country. In the Declaration of Independence of Moldova, the state language is called Romanian.^[6] The 1989 Language Law that proclaimed it the state language of Moldova, speaks in the preamble of a "Moldovan-Romanian linguistic identity". After political debate over the issue became inflamed again in the early 2000s, a group of Romanian linguists adopted a resolution stating that promotion of the notion of Moldovan language is an anti-scientific campaign.^[7]

The term Moldavian is also used to refer collectively to the north-eastern varieties of spoken Romanian, spread approximately within the territory of the former Principality of Moldavia (now split between Moldova and Romania). The Moldavian variety is considered one of the five major spoken varieties of Romanian, all five being written identically. There is no particular linguistic break at the Prut River, the border between Romania and Moldova.

In Moldova's schools, the discipline about the state language is called "Romanian language", though former Moldovan president Vladimir Voronin asked for it to be changed into "Moldovan language".^[8]

The standard alphabet is Latin (currently official in the Republic of Moldova). Before 1989, two versions of Cyrillic had been used: the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet in 1924–1932 and 1938–89, and the historical Romanian Cyrillic alphabet until 1918. As of 2010^[update], the former remains in use only in Transnistria.

History and politics[link]

1999 Moldovan stamp celebrating 10 years since reverting to the Latin script

The Romanian Literature Museum, Chişinău

The history of the Moldovan language refers to the historical evolution of the glottonym Moldavian/Moldovan in Moldova and beyond, which is closely tied to the region's political status, with long periods of rule by Russia and the Soviet Union influencing the language's name and (when Cyrillic script was in use) orthography. From a linguistic perspective, this term is an alternative name for the varieties of the Romanian language spoken in the Republic of Moldova (see History of the Romanian language).

Before 1918 and also after the union of Bessarabia with Romania, it was not obvious nor universally accepted that Moldovans and the Romanians formed a single ethnic group.^[9] Missing out all the important moments in the creation of a pan-Romanian national consciousness, the Moldovan peasants referred to themselves and their language as "Moldovan" also in the period between the wars. This caused reactions from pan-Romanian nationalists.^[10] The concept of the distinction of Moldovan from Romanian was explicitly stated only in the early 20th century, and accompanied the raising of national awareness among Moldovans, and the Soviet placing heavy emphasis on Moldavians vs Romanians as a reaction to this awareness.^[11]

Major recent developments include the passing to a Latin script from Cyrillic in 1989 and several changes in the statutory name of the language used in Moldova. At one point of particular confusion about identity in the 1990s, all references to geography in the name of the language were dropped, and it was officially known simply as limba de stat - "the state language".

Moldovan was assigned the code mo in ISO 639-1 and code mol in ISO 639-2 and ISO 639-3^[12] but these have been deprecated in November 2008, leaving ro and ron (639-2/T) and rum (639-2/B) the current language identifiers to be used for the variant of the Romanian language also known as Moldavian and Moldovan in English, the ISO 639-2 Registration Authority said in the motivation of the decision.^[13][14]

Reversion to Latin script, and beyond[link]

In 1989, the contemporary Romanian version of the Latin alphabet was made the official script of the Moldavian SSR.

In the Declaration of Independence^[15] of Moldova (27 August 1991), the official language was named "Romanian", but the 1994 constitution declared Moldovan the state language.

When in 1992 the Romanian Academy changed the official orthography of Romanian language, the Institute of Linguistics at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova did not make the changes, and the official orthography continued as before until 2001 when the changes introduced by the Romanian Academy were adopted by the Moldovan Academy.

A 1996 attempt by Moldovan president Mircea Snegur to change the official language to "Romanian" was dismissed by the Moldovan Parliament as promoting "Romanian expansionism".

In 2003, a Moldovan-Romanian dictionary (Dicţionar Moldovenesc-Românesc (2003), by Vasile Stati) was published. The linguists of the Romanian Academy in Romania declared that all the Moldovan words are also Romanian words, although some of its contents are disputed as being Russian loanwords. In Moldova, the head of the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Linguistics, Ion Bărbuţă, described the dictionary as "an absurdity, serving political purposes". Stati, however, accused both of promoting "Romanian colonialism".

In the 2004 census, 16.5% (558,508) out of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova declared Romanian as their native language, whereas 60% declared Moldovan. While 40% of all urban Romanian/Moldovan speakers declared Romanian as their native language, in the countryside barely a seventh of the Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Romanian as their native language.^[16]

In October 2009, Vlad Filat, the new Prime Minister of Moldova, announced that he intends to propose changes in the Constitution regarding the name of the language, replacing "Moldovan" with "Romanian".^[17]

Linguistic aspects[link]

There are, however, regional differences in the colloquial spoken language. The Moldovan dialect/variety is common in the Republic of Moldova, as well as in Chernivtsi Oblast and Budjak region of Ukraine, and in eight counties of Romania, territories that once made up the medieval Principality of Moldavia. The difference between the language spoken in Chişinău and Iaşi and the language spoken for example in Bucharest could be roughly compared to that between Standard British and Scottish or American English.^{[citation needed]} Others have argued that these differences might be found within any linguistic territory.^{[citation needed]}

• The Romanian vocabulary in parts of Moldavia, Bessarabia and Transnistria. Researches made by Gustav Weigand:
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  The Romanian linguistic areal

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  The extension of the Moldovan caracteristic isoglosses

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Controversy[link]

Demonstration in Chişinău, January 2002. The text on the inscription is "Romanian people -Romanian language"

The matter of whether or not "Moldovan" is a separate language is a contested political issue within and beyond the Republic of Moldova.

The 1989 Language Law of the Moldavian SSR, which is still in force in Moldova (according to the Constitution,^[18]) asserts the existence of a "linguistic Moldo-Romanian identity".^[19] Article 13 of the Moldovan Constitution, names it "the national language of the country" (the original uses the term limba de stat, which literally means the language of the state, or official language, thus avoiding the term national, whose sense is that of ethnicity).

In the breakaway region of Transnistria, it is co-official with Ukrainian and Russian.

Despite the official nomenclature, standard "Moldovan" is widely considered to be identical to the standard Romanian.^[20] Writing about "essential differences", Vasile Stati, supporter of Moldovenism, is obliged to concentrate almost exclusively on lexical rather than grammatical differences. Whatever language distinctions may once have existed, these have been decreasing rather than increasing: "... in the main, Moldovan in its standard form was more Romanian by the 1980s than at any point in its history".^[21]

In 2002, the Moldovan Minister of Justice, Ion Morei, said that Romanian and "Moldovan" are the same language and that the Constitution of Moldova should be amended, not necessarily by changing the word Moldovan into Romanian, but by adding that "Romanian and Moldovan are the same language".^[22] Education Minister Valentin Beniuc said, "I have stated more than once that the notion of a Moldovan language and a Romanian language reflects the same linguistic phenomenon in essence."^[23] The President of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, acknowledged that the two languages are identical, but said that Moldovans should have the right to call their language "Moldovan".^[24]

In the 2004 census, out of the 3,383,332 people living in Moldova, 60% chose Moldovan as their native language, whereas only 16.5% chose Romanian. While 37% of all urban Romanian/Moldovan speakers chose Romanian as their native language, in the countryside barely one in seven Romanian/Moldovan speakers indicated Romanian as his native language.^[16] Independent studies found a Moldovan linguistic identity asserted in particular by the rural population and post-Soviet political class.^[25] In a survey conducted in four villages near the border with Romania, when asked about their native language the interviewees stated: Moldovan 53%, Romanian 44%, Russian 3%.^[26]

When reporting on EU Council deliberations regarding an agreement between the European Community and Moldova, the Romanian rapporteur Jean Marin Marinescu included a recommendation not to make references to the Moldovan language.^[27] This led to speculation in the Romanian press that supposedly the EU banned the usage of the term "Moldovan language."^[28] However, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, denied these allegations and stated that the Moldovan language is referred to in the 1998 Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Moldova and hence it is considered a part of the acquis, binding to all member states.^[29]

Orthography[link]

The language was generally written in a Romanian Cyrillic alphabet (based on the Old Church Slavonic alphabet) before the 19th century. From then and until World War I, both Old Cyrillic and Latin were used, at which point the Old Cyrillic alphabet fell out of use. In the interwar period, Soviet authorities in Transnistria (Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) alternately used Latin or Cyrillic for writing the language, mirroring the political goals of the moment. Between 1940 and 1989, i.e. during the Soviet rule, the new Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet replaced Latin as the official alphabet in Moldova (then Moldavian SSR).^[30] In 1989, Latin script was adopted in Moldova again, along with the orthographic rules used in Romania at the time, whilst officially Transnistria still uses the Cyrillic alphabet.^[5]

See also[link]

	Moldova portal
	Language portal

• Moldovan
• Moldovenism
• Varieties of the Romanian language
• Thraco-Roman
• Eastern Romance substratum
• Romanian language
• Origin of the Romanians
• Romance languages
• Legacy of the Roman Empire
• The Balkan linguistic union

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Seiji Ozawa (小澤 征爾, Ozawa Seiji^?, born September 1, 1935) is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Seiji Ozawa was born on September 1, 1935 to Japanese parents in the city of Mukden, Manchukuo (now Shenyang, China). When his family returned to Japan in 1944, he began studying piano with Noboru Toyomasu, heavily studying the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. After graduating from the Seijo Junior High School in 1950, Ozawa sprained his finger in a rugby game. Unable to continue studying the piano, his teacher at the Toho Gakuen School of Music^[1] (Hideo Saito), brought Ozawa to a life-changing performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, which ultimately shifted his musical focus from piano performance to conducting.^[2]

International success[link]

Almost a decade after the sports injury, Ozawa won the first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors in Besançon, France.^[3] His success in France led to an invitation by Charles Münch, then the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to attend the Berkshire Music Center (now the Tanglewood Music Center). In 1960, shortly after his arrival, Ozawa won the Koussevitzky Prize for outstanding student conductor, Tanglewood's highest honor. Receiving a scholarship to study conducting with famous Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan, Ozawa moved to West Berlin. Under the tutelage of von Karajan, Ozawa caught the attention of prominent conductor Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein then appointed him as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic where he remained for the next four years.^[3] While with the New York Philharmonic, he made his first professional concert appearance with the San Francisco Symphony in 1962.^[4]

In December 1962 Ozawa was involved in a controversy with the prestigious Japanese NHK Symphony Orchestra when certain players, unhappy with his style and personality, refused to play under him. Ozawa went on to conduct the rival Japan Philharmonic Orchestra instead.^[5] From 1964 to 1971, Seiji Ozawa served as the first music director of the Ravinia Festival, the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

He was music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1969 and of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1976. In 1972, he led the San Francisco Symphony in its first commercial recordings in a decade, recording music inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In 1973, he took the San Francisco orchestra on a European tour, which included a Paris concert that was broadcast via satellite in stereo to San Francisco station KKHI. He left San Francisco after a dispute with a players committee over granting tenure to two young musicians Ozawa had selected. From 1977 to 1979, he was the resident conductor for the Singapore Philharmonic Orchestra. He returned to San Francisco as a guest conductor, including a 1978 concert featuring music from Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake.

Boston Symphony Orchestra[link]

Between the years of 1964 and 1973, he directed various orchestras until he became music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1973. His tenure at the BSO was maintained for 29 years, the longest tenure of any music director, surpassing the 25 years held by Serge Koussevitzky.^[4] Ozawa won his first Emmy Award in 1976, for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's PBS television series, "Evening at Symphony." In 1994, the BSO dedicated its new Tanglewood concert hall "Seiji Ozawa Hall" in honor of his 20th season with the orchestra. In 1994, he was awarded his second Emmy for Individual Achievement in Cultural Programming for "Dvořák in Prague: A Celebration."^[4]

An effort to merge all-Japanese orchestras and performers with international artists, Ozawa, along with Kazuyoshi Akiyama, founded the Saito Kinen Orchestra in 1992. Since its creation, the orchestra has gained a prominent position in the international music community.^[2] In the same year, he also made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He has additionally conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic on a regular basis. Ozawa can be seen in concert with the New Japan Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Orchestre National de France, La Scala in Milan and the Vienna Staatsoper.

Ozawa caused controversy from 1996–1997 with sudden demands for change at the Tanglewood Music Center, which caused Gilbert Kalish and Leon Fleisher to resign in protest.^[6] Toward the end of Ozawa's tenure, he received strong criticism from the American critic and composer Greg Sandow, which led to controversy in the Boston press.^[7] Other critical commentary on Ozawa's tenure in Boston has been aired. Ozawa left the position in 2002.^[8]

Premiering 20th century classical music[link]

Ozawa has been an advocate of 20th century classical music, giving the premieres of a number of works including György Ligeti's San Francisco Polyphony in 1975 and Olivier Messiaen's opera Saint François d'Assise in 1983. He is noted to have somewhat of a photographic memory, as he is able to memorize the scores of large works such as the Mahler Symphonies.

Recent years[link]

In 2001, Ozawa was recognized by the Japanese government as a Person of Cultural Merit.^[9]

In 2002, he continued to follow in Herbert von Karajan's footsteps, as he became principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera. Ozawa continues to play a key role as a teacher and administrator at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer music home that has programs for young professionals and high school students.

On New Year's Day 2002, Ozawa conducted an all-Strauss concert with the Vienna Philharmonic, programming the concert so it would have a nice flow and keep everyone's interest as they ushered in the New Year.^[10] In 2005, he conducted the Tokyo Opera Nomori's debut of Richard Strauss’ Elektra. Ozawa has received a significant amount of criticism, especially from Boston music critic Greg Sandow, as he reports that some BSO members claim that Ozawa gives "no specific leadership in matters of tempo and rhythm", providing no "expression of care about sound quality."^[7] Despite the criticism, Ozawa serves a musical role model: an Asian performer who has not only attained fame in the West but has also devoted his life to fostering a global community within classical music.^[2]

On February 1, 2006, the Vienna State Opera announced that he had to cancel all his 2006 conducting engagements because of illness, including pneumonia and shingles. He returned to conducting in March 2007 at the Tokyo Opera Nomori.^[11]

Ozawa stepped down from his post at the Vienna State Opera in 2010, to be succeeded by Franz Welser-Möst.^[12]

In October 2008, Ozawa was honored with Japan's Order of Culture; and an awards ceremony for the Order of Culture will be held at the Imperial Palace.^[13] He is a recipient of the 34th Suntory Music Award (2002) and the International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.

On January 7, 2010, Ozawa announced that he was canceling all engagements for six months in order to undergo treatments for esophageal cancer. The doctor with Ozawa at the time of the announcement said it was detected at an early stage.^[14][15]

He returned to work on July 26, 2010,^[16] but promptly suffered further setbacks with a lumbar hernia. In August 2011 he conducted Bartok's Blubeard's Castle with the Saito Kinen orchestra in Matsumoto, prior to a tour of China. After a single, successful performance, he withdrew once more with pneumonia.^[17] Doctors were hopeful of a prompt recovery.

Honorary degrees[link]

Seiji Ozawa holds honorary doctorate degrees from Harvard University, the New England Conservatory, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Wheaton College.

Personal style[link]

Ozawa became famous not only for his conducting mannerisms, but also his sartorial style: he wore the traditional formal dress with a white turtleneck rather than the usual starched shirt, waistcoat, and white tie.

Awards and honors[link]

• 1958: Toho School of Music: 1st Prize in conducting and composition
• 1959: International Competition of Orchestra Conductors, Besançon, France
• 1960: Koussevitzky Prize for Outstanding Student Conductor, Tanglewood
• 1976: Emmy for "Evening at Symphony"
• 1992: Hans von Bülow Medal (given by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
• 1994: Emmy for "Dvořák in Prague"
• 1994: Inouye Award, Japan
• 1998: Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, France
• 2001: Membership in the Academic des Beaux-Arts de l'Institut de France (Given by French President Jacques Chirac)
• 2001: Person of Cultural Merit, Japan
• 2002: Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class (Given by Austrian President Thomas Klestil)
• 2003: Mainichi Art Award and Suntory Music Prize
• 2004: Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne University of France
• 2008: Order of Culture, Japan
• 2011: Praemium Imperiale, Japan

Recording labels[link]

• Sony BMG
• RCA Victor
• Philips
• Deutsche Grammophon
• Universal Music Group
• EMI Classics
• Teldec

Bibliography[link]

• Seiji: An Intimate Portrait of Seiji Ozawa (Hardcover) by Lincoln Russell (Illustrator), Caroline Smedvig (Editor) ISBN 0-395-93943-7

References[link]

External links[link]

• Seiji Ozawa at Allmusic
• Sony Classical: Seiji Ozawa
• The Jack Robinson Archives, images of Ozawa
• Decca Classics, biography of Ozawa
• Seiji Ozawa Says Farewell, NPR, July 14, 2002
• International Music Academy – Switzerland
• Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood
• (English) Productions Internationales Albert Sarfati (France Management) : Seiji Ozawa

This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (June 2010)

Alexander Rybak
Rybak after he had won Eurovision 2009
Background information
Born	(1986-05-13) 13 May 1986 (age 26) Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Genres	Pop, folk, classical, Baroque pop
Occupations	Singer, actor, songwriter, composer, pianist
Instruments	Vocals, violin, piano
Years active	2009–present
Associated acts	Eurovision Song Contest 2009, Frikar
Website	www.alexanderrybak.com

Alexander Igoryevich Rybak (Russian: Алекса́ндр И́горевич Рыба́к) or in Belarusian Alyaxandr Igaravich Rybak (Аляксандр І́гаравіч Рыбак), born 13 May 1986 in Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union is a Norwegian^[1] 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 No. 1 position in Norway and Russia.

Personal life[link]

Rybak was born on 13 May 1986, in Minsk, Belarus—which at that time was the Belarusian SSR in the Soviet Union. When he was 4 years old, he and his family moved to Norway.^[2] Rybak was baptized and raised in the Orthodox religion.^[3] At the age of five, Rybak began to play the piano and the violin.^[2] His parents are Natalia Valentinovna Rybak, a classical pianist, and Igor Alexandrovich Rybak, a well-known classical violinist who performs alongside Pinchas Zukerman.^[4] He stated "I always liked to entertain and somehow that is my vocation".^[5] Rybak bought a new apartment and lives now at Aker Brygge (Oslo, Norway).

In 2010, several incidents of uncontrolled anger caused commentators to question whether Rybak has an anger 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."^[6][7]

Career[link]

Alexander at the ESC 2009

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.^[8][9] In 2004, Rybak was awarded the Anders Jahre Culture Prize.^[10] 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".^[5] Alexander Rybak has collaborated with artists such as a-ha's lead singer Morten Harket and Arve Tellefsen. As of 2007, Rybak has played the fiddler in Oslo Nye Teater's production of Fiddler on the Roof and won the Hedda Award for this role.^[5]

Eurovision 2009[link]

Rybak won the 54th Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, Russia, with a record 387 points, singing "Fairytale",^[11] a song inspired by Norwegian folk music. The song was composed and written by Rybak^[12] 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,^[5] and, in an ESCtoday poll, he scored 71.3%, making him the favourite to get into the final.^[13]

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 (out of a total population of less then 5 million)^[14]

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[link]

Rybak and a dancer from Frikar, 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 Yohan directed by Grete Salomonsen, which was released in March 2010.^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17]

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.^[18]-

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

On 30 January 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 12 March 2010, Alexander Rybak performed his Eurovision 2009 winning song "Fairytale" on UK TV show Eurovision: Your Country Needs You. In April 2010, Rybak released a new song, featuring Opptur, called "Fela Igjen".^[19] Alexander released his second album on 14 June 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 7 January 2011, Rybak was one of twelve contestant on the next Swedish season of the dancing show Let's dance (Swedish version of television franchise Strictly come dancing), in the show Rybak danced to win the competition against other Swedish celebrities.^[20] Rybak made it to the Top 4 before being voted off on 11 March, having received the lowest scores from both juries and the voting public.^[21] In 2011 he released the album "Visa vid vindens ängar, a collaboration with Mats Paulson whom he describes as "a legend and a great friend" In 2012 he will release a new music video for his russian song "Strela Amura". http://www.facebookies.org/2011/01/05/9607/ The 30th of may he released a song together with Paula Seling called "I'll show you"

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Other songs[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

• Hyllet i hjembygda (Norwegian), Østlands-Posten, 18 May 2009, about the official Alexander Rybak Fanclub on Facebook
• Du kan bli med Alex til Moskva (Norwegian), Akershus Amtstidende, 15 April 2009, about the official Alexander Rybak Fanclub on Facebook

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alexander Rybak

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alexander Rybak

• Official homepage
• Official Facebook Page
• Official International Fansite of Alexander Rybak
• Fan web-site of Alexander Rybak
• Alexander Rybak PR in Republic of Ireland

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Dima Bilan with "Believe"	Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009	Succeeded by Lena with "Satellite"
Preceded by Maria Haukaas Storeng with "Hold On Be Strong"	Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009	Succeeded by Didrik Solli-Tangen with "My Heart Is Yours"