If You Love Will Ferrell, Then Watch This

I am not a true Will Ferrell fan. There are many of his films I haven’t bothered to see, because I am not a fan of stupid jokes, or Three Stooges-type pratfalls. Some of the scenes of his films are downright painful in their idiocy. That being said, his SNL "cowbell" skit was classic, and Elf is in our lineup every Christmas. But the first movie of Will Ferrell’s that I fell in love with, was the 2007 film "Blades of Glory."

My favorite Olympic sport is the ice dancing, so when the movie was purported to be about ice skating at the Olympics I was interested in seeing it. I actually own this movie, it is my guilty pleasure. I love movies that poke fun at real things like behind-the-scenes at the Olympics. I also love skating costumes and this movie did not disappoint! It was, to me, truly funny and I have enjoyed watching it again and again.

Unfortunately, none of the moves before or after that interested me until the Pandemic year of 2020 happened. If you liked "Blades of Glory", you will love "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga"!

I am probably one of the few people who didn’t know what Eurovision was. We had begun watching the movie when my daughter paused it and asked me if I had actually seen the annual Eurovision show. After answering in the negative, she proceeded to show me, on YouTube, what the program actually was.

For those who don’t know, it is a song contest for the people of Europe, kind of like our America’s got Talent, Britain’s got Talent, etc. The joke is that bands go there to die. One of the only groups to go on to fame and fortune, was ABBA. The rest of the winners over the last 65 years are virtually unknown. At least to us here in America. The show began in 1956 and is still going strong today.

ABBA 1974 Eurovision Song Contest Winners singing "Waterloo"

Here are the rules for the real Eurovision Song Contest:

"Each participating broadcaster that represents their country chooses their performer (maximum 6 people) and song (maximum 3 minutes, not released before) through a national televised selection, or through an internal selection. Each country is free to decide if they send their number-1 star or the best new talent they could find. They have to do so before mid-March, the official deadline to send in entries.

The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest will be chosen through 2 Semi-Finals and a Grand Final.

Traditionally, 6 countries are automatically pre-qualified for the Grand Final. The so-called 'Big 5' — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom — and the host country.

The remaining countries will take part in one of the two Semi-Finals. From each Semi-Final, the best 10 will proceed to the Grand Final. This brings the total number of Grand Final participants to 26.

Each act must sing live, while no live instruments are allowed.

After all songs have been performed, each country will give two sets of 1 to 8, 10 and 12 points; one set given by a jury of five music industry professionals, and one set given by viewers at home. Viewers can vote by telephone, SMS and through the official app.

Out of fairness, you cannot vote for your own country.

Only those countries who take part in the respective Semi-Final vote, along with 3 of the 6 pre-qualified countries. Which countries take part and vote in which Semi-Final is determined by the so-called Semi-Final Allocation Draw in late January.

In the Grand Final, juries and viewers from all participating countries can vote again, after the 26 finalists have performed.

Once the voting window has closed, the presenters will call upon spokespersons in all participating countries and ask them to reveal their jury points live on air.

Next, viewers' points from all participating countries will be added up, and revealed from the lowest to the highest, culminating into a climax that will eventually reveal the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The winner will perform once again, and take home the iconic glass microphone trophy. The winning country will traditionally be given the honour of hosting the next Eurovision Song Contest.

The Eurovision Song Contest is organized by the European Broadcasting Union, the world's foremost alliance of public service media, representing 116 member organizations in 56 countries and an additional 34 Associates in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas."

(Courtesy of https://eurovision.tv/ Website)

In the film, Will Ferrell and his co star Rachel McAdams are from Iceland, and they have a band (just the two of them) called Fire Saga. Ferrell, as Lars has a dream of being in the Eurovision Song Contest. McAdams as Sigrit, his band mate, follows him wherever he goes, but what she really wants is to get married and have a baby. Lars wants to realize his dream before he allows himself to settle down.

The contestants are chosen to represent their country and go to where the contest is being hosted to compete. The contestant who wins will host the next contest in their native homeland. Needless to say, Iceland is not a wealthy country and it would be problematic should an Icelandic contestant happen to win.

Like "Blades of Glory", the costumes in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga are over the top, which I love! Sigrit had a different costume every time they performed, each one sillier than the last. The announcer would roll his eyes at the constant drama the Icelandic contestants inevitably brought to the stage.

The music in this movie is catchy and fun. The contestants from other countries are recognizable if you watch some of the old Eurovision shows, they even have some original bands from the contests playing themselves in the film.

Dan Stevens plays a Russian singer named Alexander Lemtov. He is brilliant and steals the show. His performance is similar to the 2019 entrant Serhat from San Marino.

Song "Lion of Love" from the Movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Serhat from San Marino, 2019 Eurovision Song Contest Annual Show

The final song in the movie is worth keeping, I bought it on iTunes for my iPod. Be sure to check out the show and the rules before you watch the film, you will enjoy it so much more!

The movie is full of beautiful Icelandic landscapes and shots of the real village of Húsavík . According to a 2007 study by the University of Iceland, it was estimated that 62% of the nation believe that the existence of elves is more than a fairy tale. Sigrit believes, although Lars does not. Some elf houses still exist in Iceland.

Unfortunately, the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled due to COVID-19, the movie was supposed to come out at the same time as the annual contest.

We loved this movie, It came out when we were dying for something new to watch, and have seen it several times.

If you like Will Ferrell and you liked "Blades of Glory", you will love "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga."