Alexander Rybak from Norway - Eurovision 09
2 Comments Published by Svetlana Zhukova on Sunday, May 17, 2009 at 3:04 PM.
Just finished watching Eurovision 09 (yes I do watch it, especially since it's in Moscow this year!), and the 1st place went to the Norwegian guy of Belarusian origin, Alexander Rybak (Александр Рыбак).
And what's interesting to observe - Russian and Belarusian media refer to him as a kind of 'our guy'. He is also very cute :)
While I'm very happy for the guy, he looked very genuine - there is this tendency I noticed that if anything is remotely related or originates from Russia etc, we will claim it our own. That guy is as Norwegian as they come. Yes, his parents are from Belarus, and he was born there, but he left the country when he was 6 and have never been back since... He is not a citizen, and I'm sure considers himself very Norwegian. Alexander is not Belarusian, in the same was as I'm not Lithianian, even though I was born there :)
His parents probably left because Belarus, their own country, couldn't provide them the living their talent deserved (they are musicians), but suddenly now he is 'ours' ?? Alexander means more for Norway and is much more theirs than he ever was or will be for Belarus. And fair enough. And good luck :)
I think the place of birth doesn't matter as much as the environment you become an adult in. What language do you speak in school? Who are your role models? Where do you spend your summer holidays? What language do you think in?
In the current all-global, all-travelling, all-interconnected world, it's not the country you are born in, that makes who you are. It's you choosing who you are by choosing where you belong and what you do.
I'm so happy it's possible.
Reporting from my couch in Sydney, me - born in Lithiania, Russian by origin, grew up in Belarus, lived in Russia and Netherlands, and am settling down in Australia :)
Eurovision 2009 in Moscow - results
and the winning song on YouTube
And what's interesting to observe - Russian and Belarusian media refer to him as a kind of 'our guy'. He is also very cute :)
While I'm very happy for the guy, he looked very genuine - there is this tendency I noticed that if anything is remotely related or originates from Russia etc, we will claim it our own. That guy is as Norwegian as they come. Yes, his parents are from Belarus, and he was born there, but he left the country when he was 6 and have never been back since... He is not a citizen, and I'm sure considers himself very Norwegian. Alexander is not Belarusian, in the same was as I'm not Lithianian, even though I was born there :)
His parents probably left because Belarus, their own country, couldn't provide them the living their talent deserved (they are musicians), but suddenly now he is 'ours' ?? Alexander means more for Norway and is much more theirs than he ever was or will be for Belarus. And fair enough. And good luck :)
I think the place of birth doesn't matter as much as the environment you become an adult in. What language do you speak in school? Who are your role models? Where do you spend your summer holidays? What language do you think in?
In the current all-global, all-travelling, all-interconnected world, it's not the country you are born in, that makes who you are. It's you choosing who you are by choosing where you belong and what you do.
I'm so happy it's possible.
Reporting from my couch in Sydney, me - born in Lithiania, Russian by origin, grew up in Belarus, lived in Russia and Netherlands, and am settling down in Australia :)
Eurovision 2009 in Moscow - results
and the winning song on YouTube
Labels: alexander rybak, eurovision 2009, philosophising, where you born doesn't make you
The guy does consider himself Belarusian ;)
http://www.belradio.fm/by/771/reports/29018/
http://www.belradio.fm/ru/829/reports/31764/
I also do consider myself mostly Belarusian even though I wasn't even born in Belarus and have lived there for just a bit more than one year. Because roots and national identity do matter in our diverse globalized world ;)
That's great then, I should have made more research :)
Well you see Ales', my main point is that I'm for the choice people make, and against automatic labeling.
Alexander Rybak considers himself Belarusian, and that's great - i actually do appreciate people standing up to, understanding and appreciating their identity. But I do not like this identity being attributed to people by default.
I guess this national identity question especially feels stronger here in Australia, where the country is built by immigrants, and for example kids whose parents emigrated say from China when those kids were 6, are not chinese - they are australian, because this is what their home is and where they grew up. A guy whose surname is Bhoy - looks like Indian, and surname is indian, but he is actually a Scottish stand-up comedian. You just can't define people anymore by only their origin and ethnicity.
It's the same way as I consider myself Russian - when people ask me where I'm from, I'll always say - I'm Russian - from Belarus. I feel Russian, and this is my cultural heritage and family and childhood that formed me as such, but also my own experience in university in Belarus, when at some point I've realised I'm Russian in spirit (which is different longer story in itself :)
The choice is really the key - the one you can make, but not the one that someone else makes for you