esctoday.com exclusively met with Norwegian finalist Alexander Rybak in a silent cafe in Oslo, right after a normal day of music-studies, a bit before his appearence in the MGP. He was one of the two qualifiers in Saturday's third semi final. Being one of the favourites, this interwiev is a chance to know him a bit better.

Who is Alexander Rybak?

I was born in Belarus, but moved quickly to Norway and grew up here. I have always been very fond of music. I started playing instruments from the age of five and now I play the violin and I can cope at the piano. I always liked to entertain and somehow that is my vocation.

How was your experiences with the talent-shows Idol and Kjempesjansen (The big chance)?

Well, I decided to attend Idol and got through to the semifinals, without getting any airtime. Although "not getting through", I got a taste of attention. I got a lot of appriciative textmessages from people all over Norway. Kjempesjansen was my next competition , but on my first audition I tried to impress with doing too much (playing the piano, the violin AND trying to sing) at the same time. I wanted to show the jurors all my talents, but for them it just got too confusing. The second time around( three years later) I focused only on my violin and the singing, It paid off. Winning Kjempesjansen was unexpected, and a great opening for me as a musician. I got a part in Fiddler on the roof wich got me some acclaim and a major industry award (Hedda prisen).

How did you come up with the idea to compete in Melodi Grand Prix?

I have always loved Eurovision, and I enjoy a good competition, so for me it was no doubt. . Last summer I traveled around Ålesund (the host of next weekends televised Siste sjansE.) I was inspired by the monumental Norwegian nature, and I came up with a song that I thought would fit perfectly in Melodi Grand Prix. I was so in awe of the nature and had a story of an ex-girfriend in mind. it all came together.

What do you think about your chances in Norway, and if you would win MGP, internationally?

I really hope that the audience like my song, and I think that pop music mixed with the original Norwegian folk-tones from my violin can be a succesfull combination. On the stage in Grenland three dancers from the modern folk-dance company Frikar (http://www.frikar.com) will join me in what I hope will be a spectacular show. I would love to win MGP, and I would be so proud to wear the Norwegian flag on my chest in Moscow. So far I have gotten a lot of positive attention because of my song, from friends and other musicians, but also from the media (I'm so excited, I got good reviews and even a 6 out of 6 from the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet). This actually makes me kind of nervous, because I've always loved beeing the underdog, suprising everyone by what I'm doing. But now that I am among the favourites I will get a new experience, and hopefully I will grow on that.