To be disappointed is allowed, says Rybak

Alexander Rybak is a little bit disappointed with the 15th place in the Eurovision Song Contest final which Israel won. At the same time he opens for participating several more times – not just once – but seven or eight no less.

Netta from Israel won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Portugal with the song «Toy». She was awarded with 529 points.

– It is a very nice song that won, says Alexander Rybak.

He himself ended up with 144 points.

– When you participate in a competition, you aim for victory. A win was not in the cards. Being disappointed is allowed. The most important thing for me is that I made the best performance of the week, it came at the very end, says Rybak, who turns 32 years old on Sunday.

The very same day as the ESC is past tense, he is ready to talk about partaking a number of times more.

-I foresee joining the Melody Grand Prix (ESC) seven to eight times more. I just love the whole thrill of the Grand Prix. I do not know if I will go through to the finals next time around, but I like this feeling of competing, Says Rybak.

A consolattion came right after the final was broadcast in the form of announcement of the results from the semifinals, which has been kept secret. Norway was best in their semi-final, with 266 points. Sweden was runners-up, with 254 points.

The biggest favourite runners-up

It was Cyprus that for a long time as expected to win, according to the odds overview by Eurovisionworld. Eleni Foureira with “Fuego” (Fire) was runners-up with 436 points.

In the final, Austria took the final spot on the podium followed by Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, Moldova, Albania, Lithuania, France, Bulgaria and finally Norway.

– I never believed this would happen. I thought I was too avant-garde, says a surprised Netta after her victory.

She thanked the audience for choosing what is a little of the beaten track, and for accepting that people are different. During the press conference, she stressed that it is important for her to be true to herself.

– I have to be myself in order to love myself, she says.

Best in their semifinal

After all the jury votes from all the participating countries were added up, Austria led the final with 271 points followed by Sweden (253) and Israel (212).

The Norwegian jury awarded its twelve points to Germany, while Sweden got ten. The scores were presented by last year’s Norwegian participants, Aleksander Walmann and Joakim With Steen, better known under their the artistic name “Jowst”.

The scores were, in ascending order, awarded to Ireland, Spain, Lithuania, Netherlands, Cyprus, Australia, France, Austria, Sweden and Germany.

Norway received a total of 84 points from the juries. Italy was the only country that bestowed Norway with twelve points. We received eight points from Belarus, which is not very surprising since Rybak was born in Minsk, the capital of that country.

Norway additionally received five points from Croatia and the United Kingdom, and (the obligatory) two from Sweden. We received no points from Denmark or Finland, or from Russia, where Rybak has been touring lately.

Storming of the Scene

There was drama during the show when a man stormed the stage during Britain’s performance – performing the song adeptly named as “Storm.” The man grabbed the microphone from singer SuRie, who was artist number nine on the stage. The British singer and delegates were offered to perform the number once more, but according to EBU, they were very pleased with the performance and saw no reason to go back on stage.

It’s not the first time that the Eurovision show is disturbed in this way. During the final at the Telenor Arena in Oslo back in 2010, a man who calls himself Jimmy Jump, managed to get past the guards before being taken care of.

Last year’s winner

This year’s competition was held in Lisbon after the Portuguese artist Salvador Sobral brought the country to the top of the list with the song “Amar Pelos Dois” during last year’s final. He performed during the show on Saturday, despite having gone through a heart transplant in December.

This year 43 countries participated, which the same as the record is that was set in 2008 and repeated in 2011.

Rybak was for a while runner-up at the betting shops, but just before the final he dropped to tenth place. After all the countries had been through pegatory, he was in 11th spot, according to the overview published by the Eurovisionworld.

This is the fourth time that Israel wins the Eurovision Song Contest (Melody Grand Prix).