If you were to write a list of stage props we regularly see at Eurovision, well-oiled backing dancers may spring to mind. From Malta’s Thea Garret to Ireland’s Ryan Dolan, they’re a recurring feature of the song contest.
And it seems they’ll get plenty of screen time in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga — the upcoming Netflix comedy from Will Ferrell.
On Monday Dan Stevens — who portrays a Russian singer called Alexander Lemtov — shared a photo from the film on his Instagram account. And it suggests that he and producers have gone all in.
Dan Stevens shares photo of Netflix Eurovision character Alexander Lemtov
The photo sees Dan standing centre stage in a flowing black and gold robe with large black cuffs. He wears the robe open, showing off his gym-honed abs as he raises his left hand toward the rafters, suggesting that he’s feeling the song with every inch of his body.
He teams the ornate top with a pair of black jeans and knee-high boots with gold embellishments and a sweetheart opening. A black belt with gold buckle adds another focal point, completing a look that is at once luxurious and rock ‘n roll.
Dan will star as Alexander Lemtov, a Russian contestant competing in the song contest with a song called “Lion of Love”. As you already know, he’ll play alongside Blades of Glory actor Will Ferrell and Mean Girls legend Rachel McAdams. They’ll play aspiring Icelandic musicians Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir, along with Pierce Brosnan who stars as Erick Erickssong, “Lars’ father and the most handsome man in Iceland.”
USA Today reports that Dan’s character is a “big-cat-loving Russian singer” — which might explain why his Instagram post includes a lion emoji.
“His performance is insane,” Will Ferrell told the paper. “It’s very real in a way, yet so over-the-top. He’s kind of the Russian George Michael. It’s a far cry from ‘Downton Abbey.'”
“We had fun with the characters, and we capture the scope,” he adds. “But it’s still a love letter to the Eurovision contest, surprisingly written by mostly Americans.”
David Dobkin, the film’s director, suggested that Dan doesn’t cover up much in the flick.
“When Dan finally saw the movie, he texted me saying, “‘I can’t believe we succeeded, I never actually wore a shirt the entire film,'” Dobkin said.
Dan, who rose to stardom as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey, is supported by four shirtless dancers wearing gold lamé hot trousers and matching golden sneakers. They appear to be using jazz hands to great effect, with the two dancers on the left performing a “burst” motion, while the two dancers on the right focus dangle their fingers to draw attention to their eyes.
Paired with the stage lights and an LED which resembles an animal print, it seems producers are going for a sense of visual realism as they re-create the Eurovision Song Contest for the streaming site.
Dan has done significant work since leaving Downton. More recently he made a turn in Beauty and the Beast and has buffeted his fame in the US as part of the cast of Legion. He received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2013.
Savan Kotecha produces songs for Eurovision Movie
The USA Today article also mentions one very tantalising fact: Music producer Savan Kotecha has worked on the songs in the film!
Savan has 17 Grammy nominations and his back catalogue is truly lit. Songs include Maroon 5’s “One More Night”, Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do”, Katy Perry’s “Rise” and One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.”
Are you excited to get this sneak peek of the movie? Do you think Dan Stevens has the voice to convincingly portray a Eurovision star? Sound off in the comments box below!
Aftonbladet has confirmed that Molly Sandén sings for Rachel McAdams in the Netflix film #Eurovision. https://t.co/wqYFdkefdq
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) May 18, 2020
I loved him in The Guest, 2014 thriller film. If you haven’t seen it, go stream it!
Very stoked Dan, my cousin is in this movie lolol Im not sure he was ever an actual fan but i think he might be now,
Your cousin is hot af
Dan is my cousin , so looking forward to this. definitely Kirkirov vibes lolol
I bet you they consulted with Philip Kirkorov…it is a very convincing russian entry.
I ‘ll definitely watch the movie, I just hope it won’t make a joke out of ESC.
It already have.
I think this is gonna be a fun movie, but what annoys me is when movies and Tv shows where Icelandic people are in it but no one Icelandic is writing it they always give them really stupid names that aren’t even Icelandic. Lars and Sigrit are not Icelandic names. Maybe they are Swedish or something, I don’t know. And I guess the -song bit in the last names of the guys could be a play on stuff but it’s son not song. And dóttir, not dottir. XD Also Erick is usually not how we spell it, but hey, maybe… Read more »
Maybe not Sigrit, but Sigrid and Sigriður are definitely Icelandic names and they are quite similar.
I’m Icelandic and I live in Iceland sooooo. Sigríður (with the accent over the i) is a real Icelandic name. But Sigrid is not (looks like it could be Norwegian tho). Pretty sure our name laws would not allow you to name your kid that. But who knows, they might make an exception if you explain it well enough. But also just because they are “quite similar” doesn’t really mean anything. You can’t just take a name that is common in Sweden or Norway and say that’s good enough. Yeah, no. Use an Icelandic one unless there’s a reason for… Read more »
From what they played in Tel Aviv for the audience shots – the song for the Russian entry is an actual tune!
They played both the “Russian” entry and the “Icelandic” entry. The Russian one sounded a bit like “You Are the Only One” on speed.
Although I am definitely not a fan of Will Ferrell I do take my hat off to him for actually seeing the project through to the bitter end. It wasn’t an obvious choice and one which no doubt came up against a lot of opposition. I have netflix anyway so I will definitely watch it. I’m going to be open minded and realise it’s going to take the mickey out of eurovision. I’m sure his intentions are sincere so I won’t hold any grudges. Slightly off topic but the UK entry seems to have bombed in the official singles chart… Read more »
I’m pretty sure it was on all the UK news stations when it got cancelled, and there was loads of coverage across the BBC for eurovision week. There was even a show on Channel 5 on Friday night.
My last breath was in the top 10 on the Itunes charts and got up to number 6 over the weekend as well…
The BBC, to their credit, has actually done a really good job with their Eurovision content this season. The documentary they did about James Newman before and after the contest got canceled was really lovely and sincere, and bumping up Shine a Light to BBC One when they were going to just drop it onto their on-demand app was a good-faith gesture like they haven’t done in a while. Ironic that it takes Eurovision being canceled for the BBC to actually take the contest seriously.
(There’s also a certain irony to the fact that it appears the two countries with the most people tuning in – Italy and the UK – are also two with relatively little general interest in the contest)
Say what you want, Americans know show business, like Israel in 2019. The Netherlands has money but
Chantal still thinks Diodato name is Antonio. She called him Antonio twice. And the whole show was messy. Chantal is on the way to be in Toto Cutugno league.
In fact, his name is Antonio Diodato
LOL
Because Antonio is his real name. Antonio Diodato. 🙂
You do know that the Netherlands has a HUGE tv market and that a lot of shows come from the Netherlands? I study media and the nl is always mentioned as a top 3 country in the tv industry having created shows such as the voice, big brother and deal or no deal. If you are interested I recommend googling shows by ‘endemol’.. you’ll be surprised
It sure does look like a Eurovision act. Hell, for a Russian act, that’s relatively reserved.
It’s Russian Dschinghis Khan! 😀
I’ll give them credit for one thing: that’s a believable photo. You could tell me that was a real Eurovision photo and i’d be none the wiser
It really does look like a dress rehearsal photo.
“Gorgeous topless men”, said Petra Mede.
I have a feeling we’ll be watching a two hour version of Love Love Peace Peace.
And i’m at peace with that. 🙂
Okay fine, I’ll watch this for a shirtless Matthew Crawley.
Is it Panayotov? 😀
kinda…after being “George Michael”-ized xDDDDDD