If Nothing Else, 'Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga' Gives the World the Delightful Song "Jaja Ding Dong"

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual song competition that a total of 52 countries, mostly from Europe, have participated in at least once.  And, no, it’s not just another reality TV singing contest like American Idol or The Voice.  It’s actually much, much bigger than that.  Although few people outside those 52 countries have heard of Eurovision, it’s actually a mega-event for the participating countries.  For scale, Rachel McAdams described it as “bigger than the Super Bowl.”  Moreover, it’s been around since 1956, and thus, it’s a venerated European institution at this point.  Some notable winners are ABBA (Sweden) and Celine Dion (although she’s Canadian, she represented Switzerland).

2020 marks the first year in its 64-year history that there’s no Eurovision, as it was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  However, it’s kinda poetic that slated for this year is a musical comedy film that’s based on it, which is titled Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

The movie follows Lars Erickssong (Will Ferrell), a middle-aged man from Húsavík, Iceland whose life’s dream is to win the Eurovision Song Contest ever since he saw ABBA won it as a kid.  Sharing this dream is his best friend since childhood, Sigrit Ericksdóttir (Rachel McAdams).  Together, they form the band Fire Saga.  Although they are far from being the best performers in Iceland, a twist of fate grants them the chance to be Iceland’s representative to the Eurovision semi-final.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga has some fun parts, but is a bad movie as a whole.  The story is stupid, predictable, and uneven.  And while there are a few moments that warrant laughs, the comedy aspect is a letdown.  Which is a shame, since its premise has elements that could have been made into a genuinely interesting film.

Going in, I was expecting its depiction of the Eurovision Song Contest to be reminiscent of the highly entertaining reality TV singing competition arc in Carole & Tuesday, in which there’s a mix of serious and over-the-top (honestly, I was hoping for the movie to have a “Galactic Mermaid” counterpart).  However, the in-movie Eurovision Song Contest is treated seriously.  A couple of the performers are actually legit Eurovision contestants in real life.

Apparently, Will Farrell is a die-hard Eurovision fan.  That’s why even though the plot is goofy, its depiction of the contest itself is handled with respect.  This movie is sort of a passion project of his.  However, while his passion for this project is to be respected, I think he’s the worst part of this movie.  His script stinks (he co-wrote the screenplay).  And his performance drags down the rest of the movie.  He’s just not a compelling lead here.  For every joke of his that hit, ten miss.  Also, he isn’t a believable pairing for Rachel McAdams.

Will Farrell has been on a streak of duds lately.  It’s possible that, at this point of his career, his creativity and brand of humor have grown stale already.  He must realize that he can’t afford to be a mere one-dimensional goofball in his movies anymore.

On the other hand, Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens (who plays the Russian representative, who’s the favorite to win it all) have charismatic performances.  They made their characters quite winsome.  Also, even though they didn’t sing their own songs (their singing voices were provided by Junior Eurovision alumna Molly Sandén and opera singer Erik Mjönes, respectively), you can’t ask for more from their lip syncing execution.

But the thing I like the most about this movie is the music.  Indeed, the songs are actually pretty good.  My favorites are “Double Trouble”, “Husavik”, and “Jaja Ding Dong” – especially this one!  With its catchy music and amusing lyrics, “Jaja Ding Dong” is a delightful earworm.

However, are the songs worth sitting through this clichéd, cluttered movie?  “Can’t I just watch clips of the song numbers?” you might ask.  Well, the songs are enjoyable on their own.  But the context that the story provides actually makes the songs more pleasing and meaningful.

Besides, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga isn’t entirely terrible.  It has enough to be a passable diversion.  And the experience of hearing “Jaja Ding Dong” for the first time and then having it get stuck in your head later almost makes up for the movie’s flaws.