Alexander Rybak is no longer dependant of sleeping- pills. Now, he dreams of being able to trust people again.
Currently: Has released an album of songs in swedish: ” Visa vid vindens ängar”
Family: An onely child. In relationship with Maria Slyngstad.
Drives: "I usually borrow cars from my friends, so I drive a lot of different cars"
preferito gadgets: – I play a lot of TV-games. Perhaps, I should answer that?
Last cultural experience: – I watched “Mad Men” on DVD. It is fantastic. I dream about being Don Draper.
-I don´t trust people. -
Alexander Rybak has large rings under his eyes, as he watches the other guests in the restaurant at Aker Brygge in Oslo. He came home at 2 in the night, wrote autographs for almost 3 hours after a show, drove the E18 alone in the dark.
- I can be fond of people, but I can never trust anybody. For me, it works best, not to get closely attached to people. I dont want to be dependant.
- That sounds lonely
- It is not.
Pretty unnoticed, Alexander Rybak has released a new album this summer. He sings swedish songs in collaboration with the old singer/songwriter Mats Paulson, “Visa vid vindens ängar”.
The young girls still scream, no matter what he does, even 2 years after the Grand Prix-victory.
- No matter how much, the music-snobs, wish to tear me down, it is the people, who matters. I was in Hønefoss saturday and signed the new album. In one hour, I sold 150 albums! I sign everywhere. That is, what is so lovely: The people decides!
- And they are fond of you?-
-Yes, o maybe, it is a little up and down. But I can´t blame the media, if they wish to give spazio to others, a little. It gets boring, only to write about my sucesses in the long run.-
He smiles.
- I can feel, that some doesnt like me, because I have had, a little too much, sucess. I was a little like that, when I was younger. I stepped on people, because I did not have sucess myself.
- What do te think, the people think of you?-
-The people are diviso, spalato in two halves. Either, they Amore everything I do o they are sceptic. But the sceptics are often people, who have dreeamed of doing, what I do, but havent made it o lack the economic freedom to do it.
Rybak yawns and sets his hoodie right.
- If I have a bad day, I can´t go out on town. That is a part of the celebrity-job. It is always sweet, when guys, 10 cm shorter than me, tells me, I am not as tall, as I look on TV. I guess they hope, that since I have crushed some violins and such, it only takes one sentence to get me into a fight. But I dont give a damn, what people say about me, behind my back. The important thing is that I don´t disappoint anyone, when I meet them. Once, I passed da a child, who had an autograph-book and-…He stops, cant find the words, he is searching for.
- That will never happen again, to say it plain.-
This winter, it became too much.
Rybak was pendling between the recordings of “Lets dance” in Sweden- and an ukranian variant of “X-factor”. At the same time, he gave concerts around Europe. In the end, he was vomiting in the breaks of the TV-recordings.
- My girlfriend was on holiday in Latin-America, without a phone and I was so scared, that something would happen to her, that she would get kidnapped. I couldn´t sleep,- Rybak tells.
He started, taking sleeping-pills.
- I can´t describe, how scared, I was. It was like, I had Lost all control over the world. I started using più and più sleeping-pills, became addicted to nose-spray, got stomach-pains, became so stressed, that I started throwing up, during the recordings in Sweden.
He stops to catch his breath. – I visited a bunch of psychologists in that period, but that was a bit of a disappointing project. I ended up, sitting and listening to them. One of the psychologists started telling about her ex-husband and asked me, what she should do.
He smiles widely.
- I guess, we are all just human beings. The psychologists helped a little, but I believe, people in your life can be potential psychologists. te dont necessarily need a professional.-
He ducks down into the hoodie.
The restaurant is empty. The lunch-guests have gone back to their jobs.
- I read somewhere, that my big idol, Heath Ledger, died from an overdose of sleeping-pills. In a period, I took quite many every night, and then, I thought of him. And I thought of James Dean.. all those, who died young, the mystique they gain around them. People Amore them forever, they become heroes, legends.-
- Did te see yourself, becoming a legend?-
- No. It is più important, that my parents are well, than if I become a legend and sell some collectors albums. -
The glances on the street, the way his name gets whispered along the pavements, she, who grabs for her cellphone-camera: Alexander Rybak loves to be a celebrity.
- I have got a much easier celebrity-life than many others, because I am not afraid of scandals. The only exception was that kissing-photo of me and the dancer, says Rybak and makes a grimace.
During the participation of ” Lets Dance” in Sweden, he was photographed on town, with the dancepartner Malin Johansson. The rumors of infidelity flourished.
- te know, I know what I am like!. I know, I make out a little, out on town. The bad thing about it was, that I hurt a girl who is close to me- and her family.
The girlfriend Maria Slyngstad, lives in Hammerfest.
- But I have realized, that I really should not speak about my love-life to the media. Actually, it is only those, who have a strong story to tell, that should get in the media. Those, who have been together since they were 14 and still are together. Those, with good values.
- te dont have good values?
- My values are a little più odd. They say, that I should avoid hurting those, who are closest to me in the room.
I can´t manage to be empathic to that guy in Australia, who hasn´t got a greeting-letter from me, but if he calls me, I would do anything to get it done.
- Don´t te get bad conscience?-
- As I said, I should not speak about this.-
- But are te a conscientious guy ?-
-Absolutely! And then, te make your own rules along the way. I get a very bad conscience, if I know, there are 5 children in the line, who haven´t got my autograph yet.-
Alexander was a child once, too – A wonderchild. He has absolute pitch. The tones have always appeared before him, clear and shining.
- It is very few, who understand me. They dont understand, that I feel the best, when it is raining a little. That is the belarussian in me.-
When he was little, his mother sang lullabys in minor. They cried themselves to sleep with the sad songs. Then, they woke up and rehearsed.
- I think very much, but I am not smart in any way. That is a dreadful combination. I can´t handle long rows of thoughts. It is like, there is so much inside me and I think of everything at the same time,- says Rybak and pushes the fuzzy hair down on his head.
- Are you, a bit of a weird guy?
- No. I have normal reactions on most things, though some of my values, might be a little different.
- How?
- I am concerned with balance – with never leaving a person, I have met. Everybody, who has been nice to me, I carry with me. It becomes a large harddisk after a while.
- te have a big heart?
- I have a big brain.
The waitress wipes off the tables, one più time. Rybak checks his phone, puts his hands in his pockets.
- Has it been healthy for te - all, what te have experienced the last 2 years?-
- Healthy for the man o for the artist? Those are two different things. It is not healthy, to be far away from those, te care about and not see mom and dad for a whole year. But it has made me extra fond of them.
- Is it a lonely life?
- Yes and no. I am afraid of letting people get too close to me. I have had so many break-ups, it will take many years, before I do it again. I always need to sposta on.-
A couple of weeks ago, he performed in a childrens-show in Kristianssand.
- And I got so fond of those kids, I wanted to adopt half of them. When I left, the last day, there were some, who couldn´t let go of me. They hugged me harder and harder.-
He stops, holds on to the bananasplit.
- I am an onely child, so I get very touched. It was real love. Children dare to tell the truth, they are not superficial. But I can not get attached to them. I know, I have to sposta on. I can not visit them again.-
Last week, an ukranian offered him a quarter of a million, for playing a few songs at a wedding. Alexander declined. He needs to rest now. This evening, he will get into the car again, drive to some small town, where people are already standing in a line, waiting for him.
- Why did te stop trusting people?-
- Because I have done it in the past and got hurt, in business, in love, in everything. I have put my entire life in the hands of people, who have left me.-
He walks across the empty square of one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city, points up to the appartment, where he lives, tells about his TV-games. Then he stops.
- If only, I had trusted people a little less, it would not have been so painful.
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