The Songs on Netflix's "Eurovision" Soundtrack Are Beyond Catchy

Elena Nicolaou
·4 min read

From Oprah Magazine

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, a new movie on Netflix, was designed to be a parody of Eurovision, an annual song competition in which multiple European countries compete to become the next ABBA—more or less.

Ironically, the original songs are probably good enough to win Eurovision.

For now, the soundtrack of Eurovision Song Contest will be a substitute for the real thing. Unfortunately, this year's Eurovision competition, set to take place in Rotterdam, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. We'll have to make do with listening to "Jaja Ding Dong" on repeat—which frankly, we'd be doing anyway.

Already, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga has become the streaming equivalent of a blockbuster. The film topped the Netflix Top 10 chart, and "Husavik," which Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) sings in her tour-de-force solo, has similarly cracked iTunes Top 10.

For the filmmakers, the songs' success might come as no surprise. According to an interview with Vulture, their goal was to create genuine bops. “It’s okay if it’s funny, but it has to be really good music. It has to still be great and just kitschy enough to be Eurovision, because that’s part of what’s fun about Eurovision,” director David Dobkin said.

Dobkin said that the songs were crowd-approved, too. "Lion of Love" played for a crowd in Tel Aviv, Israel. "When the rhythm of ‘Lion of Love’ hit, something happened and the crowd got on their feet and started dancing every night that we ran that song,” Dobkin added.

The soundtrack features an array of stars, from movie star Will Ferrell, to TV star Dan Stevens, and pop star Demi Lovato, to past Eurovision stars like the 2017 Portuguese winner, Salvador Sobral and the 2018 Israeli winner, Netta. The "Songalong" sequence merges past Eurovision participants' talents into a soaring—and honestly, quite glorious—pop medley.

But are the movie's stars really singing on the soundtrack? Ferrell's voice is obvious—especially in the background of "Husavik." McAdams's role is less straightforward. To achieve those soaring high notes, her voice was blended with that of Molly Sandén, a 27-year-old Swedish singer credited as "My Marianne." Sanden competed in the real Eurovision four times, according to Vanity Fair. Similarly, Dan Stevens doesn't sing his character, Alexander Lemtov's, operatic number "Lion of Love." That honor goes to the Swedish singer Mjönes.

Even if there's a slight illusion involved in creation of the soundtrack, it's undeniably excellent. Check out all of the songs from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga below—including one by Demi Lovato, and some by real Icelandic bands.

Eurovision Song Contest Complete Soundtrack

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