Alexander Rybak - Fairytale

"I'm in love with a fairytale even though it hurts"

It's Eurovision week! I'm going to attempt to compile my favorite tracks of the competition this week, though there are actually a bunch of standouts this year. Remarkably, today on Oprah they actually talked about Eurovision and featured a performance of Germany's entry (not one of my favorites, but fun/lame nonetheless). Eurovision on Oprah?? It was beyond weird, and only confirms my thought that we need a EV-type competition in America. It would totally fly with the right people.
Anyways, onto my first favorite of 2009, and my pick to win the whole contest. If you haven't heard (or seen) Norway's entry this year, you've gotta watch the performance. Alexander Rybak is a well known young singer/actor in the country (though he's never put out an album), and Fairytale is the song that is going to break him internationally. It's already flying up the charts in neighboring Sweden, and come Saturday, the entire continent's going to fall in love. As much as I adore Sweden's entry, there's just something about Rybak's charisma coupled with his talent that propels this song into a different league. It's got a unique, folk-driven charm to it and the melody is strong and aggressive. Many have positioned it as the frontrunner going into Moscow, and it's easy to see why. I'm usually not a frontrunner type of guy (except for Adam in American Idol), but this song deserves every bit of praise it's getting.