Article published on www.kjendis.no 22.05.2012.
Written by Merethe Skogrand and Jan Thomas Holmlund. Photos by Håkon Eikesdal and Stella Pictures.
Link to original article here
Translation by Venche M. English revision by Lillian Llewellyn
Bad sound: Per Sundnes tells, that it was he, who rejected Rybak to continue playing at the concert Friday. Photo: Stella Pictures
Per Sundnes pulled Rybak off the stage
Swedish newspapers that were present at the event, wrote that Rybak stormed off the stage and that he was badly prepared.
But Eurovision General Per Sundnes has a different version of the story.
– “There was a Norwegian sound engineer who eventually tuned the sound so that the Azerbaijani artist could sing with playback”.
– “What’s especially fun is that I was the driving force. I sent a video with a medley I’ve done in Norway and Denmark, because I know several of them personally. Not that I thought that they would give me the thumbs up, but they did. Then they began to invite other artists and it turned out to be a special Eurovision medley. I am very proud of it”, Rybak says.
He says he is delighted to be in Baku, and take a break from exam preparations to live the glam life.
But before both the former Eurovision winner and Norway’s hope Tooji are going on stage, Rybak has some advice for Tooji:
– “Sleep well after the victory!. I think he has all the advice inside him. He has a good team – look at her (pointing at the manager Kathrine Synnes), informed and alert, as always. So I think he just needs to follow his inner voice. He’s a smart guy, you seldom see that in Eurovision”, Rybak says.
The swedes want war: Per Sundnes thinks, swedish newspapers have over-dramatized the concert at Friday. Photo: Håkon Eikesdal
