For months mystery has surrounded Eurovision — Will Ferrell’s upcoming movie on Netflix. The casting of Demi Lovato last year raised hopes that the comedy would include some stellar music and powerhouse vocalists, much like the contest itself.
On Friday we got a taste of the music that’s in the pipeline with the release of “Volcano Man” — the first song from the album Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
The song — a duet between Will and a singer named My Marianne — tells the story of Volcano Man, who is cast as a heroic figure and guardian of love. The female vocalist awakes late at night and hears “floating chords” which guide her to “the highland fjords”. There, “above the clouds on a mountain peak,” he speaks to her “melting heart.”
It’s a tongue-in-cheek number that melds ethno-folk, breathy chanting and a bit of disco. These are elements you have likely heard at national selections in recent memory (and in past decades). But it’s not making fun of Eurovision. It’s in on the joke and celebrates the mix of genres and dramatics that keep Eurovision interesting. As Will sings, perhaps in a veiled love letter to the show, “I loooove youuu.”
Ding-a-dong podcast — whose tweet first alerted us to the song’s presence on Spotify — described it as a “bop”.
Surprise! The first song from the #eurovision Netflix film is out RIGHT NOW. And it is a BOP!!!
— Ding-a-Dong Podcast (@dingadongcast) May 14, 2020
It’s not clear if this song will be a competing entry in the movie, or whether it’s a rejected entry that Will’s character considered. Writing in the comments section of our Instagram post on the matter, the user perowian said: “Since this isn’t around 3 minutes long, maybe this is just a demo they made that didn’t make it to the main contest? Sounds like something they’d play in the credits though, like “Spider Pig” in The Simpson’s Movie.”
When is the Netflix Eurovision movie out?
Earlier this month entertainment site ET Canada reported that the film has been postponed because of the coronavirus. They didn’t elaborate on the specific reason why, but they seemed to have gleaned the information during or after a recent interview with one of the movie’s stars — Rachel McAdams.
As you’ll be well-aware by now, Rachel plays Sigrit Ericksdottir — an Icelandic singer who, alongside Lars Erickssong (played by Ferrell), chases her dreams at Eurovision.
She told ET that the Netflix cast and crew faced some major challenges while filming in Iceland — and not just because of the pandemic. Apparently there was major volcanic activity!
Thankfully they did finish their scenes in Iceland, which were shot in the fishing village of Husavik in the north of the country.
On Thursday evening, Will appeared in a brief video for the Icelandic broadcaster RUV as part of their show “Our 12 Points”. He had only kind words for Icelanders.
“We had such a wonderful time shooting there in your country,” he said. “You guys are lovely. What a beautiful place on Earth, what lovely people. What a beautiful town Husavik. We loved it.”
What do you think of the song? Are you adding it to your Spotify list? And what is “The Story of Fire Saga”? Shout out your theories below!
It exactly sounds like an Eurovision song lol
12 points
Volcano Man sounds like it was inspired by Keiino’s Spirit In The Sky. It’s insulting really.
Parodies are such a low, lazy form of humour. It just feeds off other people’s creativity.
Has Will Ferrell ever produced anything good?
ANCHORMAN 1 AND 2, TALLADEGA NIGHTS, his many SNL skits,… What have you done?
Will Ferell is overrated and not funny in the first place, I’ll pass.
I almost always agree with that statement, but I gave this movie a chance (because Rachel McAdams) and I was very pleasantly surprised. The film and the soundtrack from it are actually amazing. The whole thing may be a “joke”, but it’s an incredibly lovable one. Not to mention that some of the songs are surprisingly good pop music!
I think it’s actually quite catchy and fun. People are already marking the movie as a joke, terrible, and trashy when no one has seen it yet. As an American I am actually very excited that this movie could get people interested in eurovision and see it for what it really is. The movie is going to be funny, jokey, and kinda trashy and that’s what Will Farrell is a god at. People are going in to hard on this movie.
The complainers are just mad they’ve never made a funny movie about Eurovision. They’re pissed that it’s a talented American who did it and not a European. I can bet a European filmmaker has done a parody about American events that no one cared to see.
So yeah, I was expecting something actually interesting but I can tell this movie will be no more than a joke about Eurovision and all of its cliches, and not in the right and funny way as “Love, Love, Peace, Peace”.
What did you expect? A full blown documentary about a cringy contest?
Anyone else think that the female voice sounds like Molly Sandén?
It is Molly Sandén, her full name is Molly My Marianne Sandén!
I’ve followed her for years and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t on her wikipedia page 6 years ago
EDIT – I’ve just googled it and its everywhere. How did I not know this…..
This could definitely be worked into a proper bop for sure… It is good until Will Ferrell comes into it, then it falls flat and feels like a demo… But as it is from the soundtrack which most likely will include all music from the movie this might be exactly that, the first demo of the song they will enter with ?
Agree on the Pirates of the Sea-comparison as mentioned in an other comment, and Vampires Are Alive not to forget.
I can honestly vision this song on ESC stage..a joke entry like latvia’s pirates of 2008
From the cover and the song i can already tell that this movie will be a mockery. The typical cliché American view of Eurovision. I’ll pass on that.
No one knows what Eurovision is in the US. So this movie will be more of a first impression and since YouTube geoblocked All other Eurovision videos this will be what they think of.
What i’ve meant was, when they talk about Eurovision on American tv or whatever they always make it seem like a dated clownery with glitter and trashy disco songs. They compile all the ridiculous joke entries and present it as Eurovision. And this movie is gonna be just that.
To be fair, RUSSIA’s of all songs is one of the favorites of this year and that song’s far from serious. So it’s really silly of you to make an argument like that considering how many times I’ve seen fans moan about how the contest has been too serious lately.
Oh yeah not to mention Netta’s win! She literally made chicken noises in her song like honestly what did you expect outsiders to think?
I wouldn’t say Netta and Russia are joke entries, they are just fun. But they are both also modern, and not dated disco songs. + Russia is one entry this year, what about other 40 countries.
All I’m saying is weird tends to be popular. You cannot deny that it’s straight-up true. The stranger entries are always more memorable and talked about for longer. So of COURSE those are the ones countries not in the contest would hear about first. Also we literally have a disco entry this year
The chicken song & Uno are joke entries. Aqua will be pleased to know they are modern, 23 years after Barbie Girl.
Yes, what an embarrassing piece of crap the chicken song is.
Yes, exactly. They will have 3 new songs to add to their joke entries from 2020. Thanks Iceland, Russia & Lithuania.
I just hope the movie comes out soon so we can find out if it’s a train wreck or not. I’m holding out hope because being negative during these times just wastes energy. Even a teaser.
use that volcano and kill it with fire