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Belarusian-born singer representing Norway wins Eurovision Song Contest

Belarusian-born singer Alexander Rybak representing Norway won the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow on May 16, getting the most points in the festival’s 53-year history.

Mr. Rybak, who emigrated to Norway with his musician parents when he was four years old, performed “Fairytale,” a song that he wrote himself.

The winner of the competition was picked by a combination of telephone voting and official juries from national broadcasters in the 42 nations that originally took part.

The 23-year-old musician, who scored a record 387 points, earned the maximum 12 points from a number of post-Soviet countries, including Belarus.

While speaking at a news conference after one of Europe’s most watched annual television events, the singer promised that he would play shows in Belarus and Russia.

Belarus’ entrant Pyotr Yalfimaw (Petr Elfimov) missed out on the final of the song contest, taking the 13th place in Tuesday’s Semifinal One with 25 points. The 29-year-old’s song, “Eyes That Never Lie,” earned six points from Macedonia, four points from Israel, Finland and Armenia each, two points from Montenegro and one point from Iceland, Sweden, Malta, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic each. //BelaPAN