Norway–represented by the Belarusian-born, violin-wielding Alexander Rybak–ran away with the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night, with the song “Fairytale” receiving a record 387 points from the collected panel of European nations. The folky, joyous “Fairytale” sounded to these ears like it benefited greatly from voting by the contest’s participating Eastern European nations, which have been accused of acting like an Eastern Bloc of sorts, causing a massive number of votes to swing one song’s way in years past. Did Norway figure out the secret to charming the East? I asked UK pop expert Tom Ewing for his take. More »
