Watch This Before You See Eurovision | Netflix

Starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as a pair of Icelandic pop singers, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is full of everything that Eurovision fans love: power ballads, elaborate costumes, over-the-top production numbers, and more than a little national pride.

Don't jump right in, though. The Story of Fire Saga is even better if you know a little bit about how the actual Eurovision Song Contest itself works, as well as the people who brought the movie to life. Before you watch, here's everything you need to know.

The real-life Eurovision Song Contest may not be that well known in America, but it's a huge deal across the Atlantic. Over 182 million people tuned into Eurovision's 2019 contest, which was almost double the number of people who watched that year's Super Bowl. So, yeah, it's pretty big.

It's relatively simple, too. Any nation that's part of the European Broadcasting Union can submit a song to the Eurovision Song Contest. All submissions must be completely original — no covers, remixes, or samples allowed — and can't have debuted before September 1 of the previous year.

During the three-day broadcast that follows, participating nations perform their songs on television for the world to see. Then, pre-selected jurors from the countries in the competition and the general public vote for their favorite songs. The votes are tallied up, a winner is announced, and history is made.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a great showcase for some supremely talented singers, but the music is only half of the show. In 2006, Finnish metal band Lordi dressed up as demons before taking the stage and ultimately won the whole thing. In 2009, a group of Russian grandmothers baked cookies in between synchronized dance steps. In 2015, Austria's representatives, The Makemakes, set their piano on fire. Sure, Eurovision is a musical competition, but it's also a visual spectacle and a heck of a lot of fun.

Make sure you watch this before you see Eurovision.

What is the Eurovision Song Contest? | 0:00
Meet Fire Saga | 1:50
Volcano Man | 3:15
The rest of the team | 4:26

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Watch This Before You See Eurovision | Netflix

Two small-town singers chase their pop star dreams at a global music competition, where high stakes, scheming rivals and onstage mishaps test their bond.

[Beastmlc]

Saying no one in iceland liked them is a bit of a stretch, cause jaja ding dong is a banger and everyone knows it

[bramjoziasse]

Netflix: 'It's like twice the size of the Super Bowl!'

Me, a European: 'What the heck is the Super Bowl?'

[bonnybabymace]

Let’s be honest everyone saw this video after watching the movie

[keomafernandes]

This movie was surprisingly good. 15 minutes in and I was totally invested.

[redc]

"the elves went too far" this one liner made me laugh my butt off 😂😂😂

[musicxxa]

Rachel Mcadams was perfect. She outdone herself with this movie.

[jennycoyle]

I live in Northern Ireland and I’m so glad ferrel took a love for Eurovision. The film is an instant classic it left me super warm and fuzzy 🥰 thanks to everyone involved in this movie you all rock 🙏🦋💖

[eddydyno]

As an American, I love that we aren’t involved in this. We don’t have to have EVERYTHING guys. I’m a fan of Eurovision as it is. Also it was a great movie!

[g.r.u.g.]

I loved the cameos from all the previous Eurovision contestants. Also loved seeing Demi in it.

[Brandon-tkrw]

Best comedy I've seen in a while.

[davidunderwood]

“The elves went too far.” – Sigrit .... hahahaha

[snipehunter]

I'm just here for Husavik! (Most unexpected breakout song of the year)

[aherosquest]

“I don’t care about this video. All I want to hear is Ja Ja Ding Dong! PLAY JA JA DING DONG! PLAY

[mimamo]

Release a full-length version of Volcano Man, you cowards! >:(

[DRMEEKS]

The best thing about Eurovision is there are no Americans involved. its our thing.

[glyph]

Like many others here may have mentioned, Graham Norton is in the movie portraying himself, as he does actually do the same job in real life. He commentates the BBC broadcast live from Eurovision on location each year.

[funny-video-YouTube-channel]

Great comedy film.
Top movie in 2020.
The Eurovision is represented very realistically.

[darrenc]

Will Ferrell is not one of my favorite actors, but he won me over after watching this with my mom. Reading the back story oh how he researched the role, made me rethink my opinion of him. I was worried he would spoil the movie a bit with his over the top performance, but based on his respect for eurorvision and his research, made me a fan. Movie is pretty much fun! Worth a watch!

[ksra]

I really loved this movie, as a Eurovision Fan I think the Song-Along was epic

[everetth-top]

No mention of JaJa Ding Dong? That is one of the funniest songs I have heard in quite some time.