All the Eurovision Cameos in Netflix’s Eurovision Song Contest

Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as Eurovision Song Contest’s Fire Saga.

Netflix

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, the new comedy from Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin and screenwriters Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele, hits Netflix Friday. The original plan was to release the movie during the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in May, but thanks to COVID-19, this Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams movie is the closest thing we’re getting his year. Fortunately, there’s a lot of Eurovision in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. The film is full of cameos from Eurovision contestants, most prominently during the “song-a-long,” a pop medley performed by a murderer’s row of past Eurovision winners, alongside the characters played by Ferrell, McAdams, Dan Stevens, and Melissanthi Mahut. (Ferrell performs his own vocals; the others are dubbed.) Here’s everyone in the movie with a Eurovision connection, beginning in precise song-a-long order.

John Lundvik

John Lundvik.

Netflix

John Lundvik, who kicks off the song-a-long, is a Swedish pop singer who placed fifth in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with the song “Too Late for Love.” He was also one of the composers of “The Best in Me,” which was France’s entry in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest before it was canceled. Here’s Lundvik’s 2019 Eurovision performance:

Anna Odobescu

Anna Odobescu represented Moldova in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, where she performed “Stay.” The song didn’t make it out of the semifinals, so there’s no full Eurovision performance, but here’s the music video:

The official Eurovision YouTube channel has some footage from Odobescu’s rehearsals, but here’s a video from the audience that shows her full performance, which included sand art from Ukrainian sand animation performance artist (and winner of Ukraine’s Got Talent) Kseniya Simonova:

Bilal Hassani

Bilal Hassani.

Netflix

Bilal Hassani represented France in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Roi.” He made it to the finals, ultimately placing 16^th. He’s also a YouTube star. Here’s the video for “Roi”:

Hassani’s Eurovision performance isn’t online, but rehearsal clips are. He shared the stage with dancers Lizzy Howell and Lin Ching Lan.

Loreen

Loreen is a Swedish pop singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with her song “Euphoria.” Here’s her winning performance, positively minimalist by Eurovision standards:

Jessy Matador

Loreen is joined by Jessy Matador, who represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo. Here’s his performance of “Allez Ola Olé,” which placed 12^th:

Alexander Rybak

Alexander Rybak is a Belarusian Norwegian singer and violinist who has represented Norway in two separate Eurovision Song Contests. In 2009, he won the contest with “Fairytale,” which features some very energetic violin playing:

In 2018, Rybak returned with “That’s How You Write a Song,” which placed 15^th. Here’s his performance:

Jamala

Jamala is a Ukrainian singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with “1944,” a song about Stalin and Beria’s deportation of the Crimean Tartars. (Russia was not thrilled about this.) Here’s her performance:

Elina Nechayeva

Elina Nechayeva represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, placing eighth. Here’s her performance of “La Forza”:

Conchita Wurst

Conchita.

Netflix

Conchita Wurst, the stage persona of Austrian singer Thomas Neuwirth, first rose to fame by appearing on Die Große Chance in 2011, placed second in Austria’s 2012 national Eurovision contest, and won the contest in 2014 with “Rise Like a Phoenix.” Here’s her performance:

Netta

Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with “Toy.” Her performance from that year doesn’t seem to have made it to any official channels, but here’s the music video:

Netta performed “Toy” again to open the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, and that performance is online:

That’s everyone in the song-a-long, but there are a few other cameos scattered throughout the movie.

Lordi

Finnish band Lordi does not appear in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, although the movie’s Belarusian band Moon Fang, whose singer performs in costumed as a horned demon, is a close facsimile. But we have nevertheless chosen to include the band’s performance of “Hard Rock Hallelujah,” which won the contest in 2006, because it has a good message.

Salvador Sobral

Salvador Sobral, the Portuguese singer who won the contest in 2017 with “Amar Pelos Dois,” appears briefly as a street performer in Scotland. Here’s his winning performance:

The Wonder Four

Finnish pop act the Wonder Four is played by English pop act Anteros (Laura Hayden, Joshua Rumble, Harry Balazs, Jackson Couzens), who appear on screen in the same outfits they’re wearing on the cover of their most recent album. They have never won Eurovision, but in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, they’re performing “Fool Moon,” a real Anteros song. Here’s the video:

William Lee Adams

William Lee Adams, who appears in the movie as a Eurovision commentator, is a Eurovision commentator in real life (as is Irish TV presenter Graham Norton, who likewise appears as himself). He’s a YouTube personality and the founder and editor in chief of Wiwibloggs, a leading Eurovision news site. He recently posted a reaction video for “Volcano Man,” the song that opens Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, which seems like maybe a conflict of interest:

Fire Saga

This Icelandic pop duo is easy to miss, but eagle-eyed viewers may be able to spot Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir in a scene or two. Their legendary performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 is only available on Netflix, but here’s the official video for their song “Volcano Man.”

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