American Reacts to Norway’s 2009 Eurovision Winning Song (Fairytale by Alexander Rybak)

As an American I don't really know much about Eurovision, but I understand that it is a huge music competition that Norway has in fact won before. Today I am very excited to see the 2009 Eurovision song that won Norway first place. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!

[ingvildkvakestad]

The dancing is a norwegian dance Hallingdal dance so it is cultural too. We are very proud of him

[crocutalcorvus]

The melody and the dancing were spiced up with folk music. He is proof that traditional music can live on.

[sainttrmsoo]

Fun fact, according to the system they where using that year, it was the song that got the most points ever

[sundhaug]

Rybak is a classicly trained Norwegian-Belarusian musician, the dancers are among the best dancers in Norway (at least of that style at the time). Officially it is the melody that is to be evaluated, but in practice it's often politics (some countries often give eachother good scores), song, dancing, etc

[mrt_]

Fun fact:
the dancers were doing a traditional Norwegian dance called Hallingdans at least parts of it was, there was parts specific to the song.
Yes the hat is a part of the dance

[annehelenhoug]

Fun fact. Alexander Rybak audition for Norwegian Idol in 2005 and failed to go threw. The judges thought he was not a good singer 🤣🤣 they should eat their hat!

[Bean-khcu]

Alexander Rybak is amazing. My sister was nine in 2009 and was so happy when he won. Me and my sister listened to Fairytale so often in the months/year after and our parents were driven mad😂
Now i listen to it again and all the good feelings rush over me like a nostalgic tsunami❤

[dipszi]

As a Eurovision fan myself, I'm gonna telling you: you stepped into a very right place to make reaction videos. :) The show is lovely, and the level of talents are so unique and cool, hope to see you doing more stuff definitely. Great content!

[carolineskipper]

Ther is a distinction between a 'singing competition' where an artist's singing ability is judged, and a 'song competition' where it is the quality of the song itself which is judged. For Eurovision, each participating country submits an original song - so it can't have been a hit in their own country prior to thecompetition. The costumes and staging are also important factors in the performance of the song.
Not only is the live audience huge- but the programme is aired live across Europe. This year's competition (2023) was watched by 162 million people!

[sirenxstar]

The violin is so extremely used in Russia/Belarus, Norway & Sweden & Danmark 🎼👍
Btw Alexander Rybak made some amazing song in Russian after he won the Eurovision❤️

[magnusalexander]

This final happened the day before our constitution day, where we met some Americans who asked what was going on. When I told them we were all celebrating the Eurovision victory they believed me

[sundhaug]

9:37 that stadium is "nothing", the eurovision has viewership of about 162 million, which is about 50% more than the Superbowl

[jeschinstad]

Except for the lyrics being in English, this song is extremely Norwegian and that makes it even more special for us. Because the most famous Norwegian song of all time, is «Take on me», but that has nothing to do with Norwegian culture. This song won _because_ it was Norwegian. You might also check out Alessandra – Queen of Kings. It has many of the same qualities and everyone seems to agree that she should've won this years Eurovision Song Contest. Very strong Scandinavian tones, almost so you can smell the Norwegian taiga.

[regina]

2009 was a good year in Eurovision! Loved the winner, but also Iceland and Estonia ❤

[mjelves]

In the past, it was normal for a song to be in the native language in the national competition, and then have an English one in the finale. Some opted rot not have an English version. No, most song are in English from the start. Also, it was the strings on his bow that snapped, not the violin

[arnelilleseter]

The dancers are doing a "Halling" dance. It's a traditional Norwegian folk dance. It could be a good subject for one of your videos.

[CM-eynq]

Norwegian folk dance is just backflips, pushups and hat kicks to most non-Norwegians. Give Tyler a break, he does well as usual :)

[ineskoivisto]

this is my favourite eurovision song ever, this is just a masterpiece honestly!!!

[silh]

Loved this reaction. Would be cool to see a some more reactions of Norwegian music. I recommend AURORA, in particular I recommend you to watch her performance of her song Runaway at the Nobel peace price concert. She takes influence from Norwegian folk music in her songs and vocal style which gives her music a unique sound.

[sundhaug]

Yes people in other countries liked it, that's how you win, you can't vote for your own country (and the point-system is balanced so all participating countries have the same "say")