Rybak beat singers from 41 other countries, including the 25 that had made it to the grand finale in Moscow on 16 May. Norway received the top score of 12 points from a record 16 countries, and finished 169 points ahead of the runner-up Yohanna from Iceland. The victory is the biggest in Eurovision's 54 year history. The British entry 'My Time', which was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and performed by 21-year-old Jade Ewan, ended up in fifth place, the best UK result for many years.
'Fairytale', which has spent two months at the top of the Norwegian charts, is now conquering the charts across Europe. Twenty-four hours after the victory, 'Fairytale' was the most downloaded song on iTunes in Belgium, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Luxembourg and Switzerland. It was also the second most downloaded track in France, Netherlands and Germany, and third in the UK and Austria.
Rybak was born in 1986 in the Belarusian capital Minsk, then in the Soviet Union, but moved to Norway with his parents at the age of four. Rybak has been playing instruments since he was five. He entered Norway's version of Idol reaching the semi final and in 2006 he won the talent competition Kjempesjansen with his own song 'Foolin’. In the Norwegian preselection for Eurovision in February, Rybak achieved a clean sweep, gaining the top score of all nine voting districts, ending with a combined televote and jury score of 747 888, a record 600 000 more votes than the runner-up.
Eurovision Song Contest 2010 will now take place in Norway, and the national broadcaster NRK will announce in the near future which city and venue will be hosting Europe’s most popular non-sport TV show next year.