Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

In the small town of Húsavík, Iceland in 1974, a young Lars Erickssong dances with his best friend Sigrit to ABBA's winning Eurovision performance of Waterloo.

In the present, Lars (Will Ferrell) and Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) make music together as the band Fire Saga, much to the dismay of Lars's widowed father, Erick (Pierce Brosnan). Lars has one dream: to win the Eurovision Song Contest. They apply to take part in Söngvakeppnin, the Icelandic pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, and are selected to compete when producers pick their demo tape at random. Sigrit, who believes in the old Icelandic tradition of elves, asks them to help them in the contest and that, if they win, that Lars might finally notice her.

Their performance is a disaster, and the incredibly talented Katiana (Demi Lovato) wins the pre-selection. Dejected, Lars and Sigrit look out at the boat party taking place with all the other contestants. The boat suddenly explodes, killing everyone on board. Fire Saga, as the only surviving contestants, are selected as Iceland's entry to the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest.

Lars and Sigrit arrive in Edinburgh, and struggle with a new remix of their song and the elaborate stage design. They meet Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens), a slick Russian singer who is the favourite to win the contest. He invites them to a party at his house, attended by a number of real former Eurovision contestants, where he introduces Lars and Sigrit to the Greek singer Mita (Melissanthi Mahut). Alexander and Sigrit spend the night together, as do Lars and Mita. This causes tension in Fire Saga which almost derails their plans for the semi final. Lars overhears Sigrit working on a new song in their hotel room, but assumes it is a love song for Alexander.

They reconcile, but their semi final performance ends with a huge accident on stage. They finish the song but are met with deafening silence. Lars storms out, leaving Sigrit behind. To her shock, Iceland advances to the final of the contest.

Lars returns to Húsavik, unaware that Fire Saga will be representing Iceland in the final. He talks with his father and confessed his love for Sigrit, and Erick tells him to return and fight for her love. On his way back to Reykjavik, one of the Icelandic organisational team attempts to murder Lars, as Iceland cannot afford to host Eurovision the following year if Fire Saga win, but is killed by the elves.

Lars makes it to the contest just in time to perform. Instead of their official entry, Sigrit and Lars perform the song she wrote for him. Erick watches the contest proudly with Sigrit's mother, Helka. Alexander – who is gay but unable to live openly in Russia – discusses with Mita the possibility of moving to Greece. Fire Saga are disqualified from the contest. Lars and Sigrit finally kiss.

Lars and Sigrit return to their hometown, where they are greeted with a hero's welcome. A while later, Fire Saga perform with their young baby at the wedding of Erick and Helka.

• Will Ferrell as Lars Erickssong
• Rachel McAdams as Sigrit Ericksdóttir
• Pierce Brosnan as Erick Erickssong
• Dan Stevens as Alexander Lemtov
• Melissanthi Mahut as Mita Xenakis
• Demi Lovato as Katiana
• Graham Norton as himself
• Mikael Persbrandt as Victor Karlosson, governor of the Central Bank of Iceland
• Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Neils Brongus
• Björn Hlynur Haraldsson as Policeman - Arnar
• Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir as Woman #2 (1974)
• Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Johans
• William Lee Adams as himself
• Elin Petersdottir as Helka
• Jon Kortajarena as Coran Vladvitch

Former contestants of the Eurovision Song Contest made cameos in the film. John Lundvik (Sweden 2019), Anna Odobescu (Moldova 2019), Bilal Hassani (France 2019), Loreen (winner for Sweden in 2012), Jessy Matador (France 2010), Alexander Rybak (winner for Norway in 2009 & representative in 2018), Jamala (winner for Ukraine in 2016), Elina Nechayeva (Estonia 2018), Conchita Wurst (winner for Austria in 2014), and Netta Barzilai (winner for Israel in 2018) all appeared during the "Song-A-Long" portion of the film. Salvador Sobral, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 for Portugal, appeared as a busker.[4]

In May 2018, in preparation for the film, Will Ferrell attended the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal to research possible characters and scenarios for the film.[5][6] He also spoke backstage with Eurovision contestants.[5] On June 18, 2018, it was announced that Ferrell would star, co-write and produce a film inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest. The film would be distributed by Netflix.[3]

In March 2019, David Dobkin signed on to direct the film.[7] In May 2019, Rachel McAdams joined the cast. McAdams and Ferrell were spotted at the dress rehearsals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel.[8][9] In August 2019, Pierce Brosnan, Dan Stevens and Demi Lovato, among others joined the cast, with filming commencing in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland and Iceland. With Ferrell pictured filming scenes at the SSE Hydro and Glasgow Airport in October 2019 [10][11][12] McAdams stated that they were lucky to have concluded filming in Iceland without experiencing any issues from nearby volcanic activity.[2]

Scene from Trailer filmed on Victoria Street in Edinburgh, Scotland

The soundtrack for the album was released on June 26, 2020.[13] "Volcano Man" was the first song released from the album and features vocals from Will Ferrell and Swedish singer Molly Sandén, credited as My Marianne, (McAdams, who appears in the video, was lip syncing to Sandén's vocals).[14]

The film was released on Netflix on June 26, 2020.[15]

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 82 reviews, with a weighted average of 5.73/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga contains inspired ingredients and laugh-out-loud moments, but they're outnumbered by the flat stretches in this overlong comedy."[16] At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[17]

• Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga on Netflix
• Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga on IMDb

• Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest