Hey! So we haven't seen each other in a while for obvious reasons. Coronavirus happened, and caneled our favorite contest, leaving us all helpless and disoriented in May when we found ourselves with absolutely nothing worthwhile to watch. Thankfully, the USA chimed in and saved the day. Yep, you read that right, the USA!

... Okay, okay, who am I kidding, you obviously know that the movie was made by Americans, nothing new here. And honestly, I think I wasn't the only European thinking 'oooooh noooo this is going to be a disaster of a movie...' And... it kinda was? But not in a bad way, though. More in a Fire Saga way, a big mess, but an enjoyable one. In other words, I enjoyed the movie waaaay more than I thought I would.

Needless to say, this review will contain multiple spoilers, so if you haven't watched the movie already and plan on doing so in the near future, stay away from here. You have been warned.

Where to even begin? There's so much to cover here. I just finished the movie a few minutes ago (at the time of writing most of this, so two days ago now), so it's all still fresh in my head, but there are so many topics I want to talk about that I don't know where to start. I think I will cover three essential points in this article:

1. The Contest aspects — how it compares to the original we know and love?

2. The songs, because it's a song contest, after all

3. The story line and the characters

1. THE CONTEST

Honestly, it almost felt real. Everything from the camera movements, to the way the songs were announced/presented, as well as what happens behind the scenes. You could tell that the EBU was involved and that they had done some research beforehand. The only thing that I wasn't too happy about was the fact that the semi finals were a bit messed up. Like you had Spain, France and all... nope. Unnecessary. But it's such a small insignificant point that it's not big deal. I also like the fact that the national selection process has been respected and that it was called Söngvakeppnin, and not something else. Obviously, some stuff is gonna be cut out, like interval acts and such, but again, no big deal. I know that a lot of eurofans watched the movie with a checklist of stuff they had to get right, and unless at least two thirds of the checklist was completed, they were gonna get pissed. I don't think it's the right approach, however. The aim of the movie was not to get everything right, but rather, to use Eurovision as a background for entertainment. That said, I appreciated that they disqualified Iceland after they changed the song in the final. If they hadn't it would have been waaay too easy and plot-convenient. So I'm glad they stuck to the rules.

2. THE SONGS

Alright, now, before you sue me, this is a comedy. And to be frank, they quite nailed the various cliches surrounding ESC songs. My brother, who watched the movie with me, kept on commenting how the songs sounded 'typically Eurovision', and I have to agree. The songs themselves, the staging, the dancers, it all reminded me of some cheap (or not so cheap in fact) ESC songs so that was pretty spot on. But the songs were supposed to be cliche. I know that some of you will find that they should have on the contrary given the contestants decent songs, but it would not have felt as... familiar as it was in the movie. Maybe some of the songs, like the Russian one, feel too low compared to the usual standards, but I say 'so what'? They're poking fun at the contest, but not in a mean way, and I think that we, as eurofans, have to know how to laugh at ourselves, otherwise we'll look like killjoys who don't know how to take a joke. You know, maybe the movie will make some people who otherwise dub the contest to be stupid because the songs suck watch Eurovision next year because they realized it's not just about the songs, but more about the fun. Honestly, a big part of why I watch Eurovision and follow it so much isn't because of the songs. I don't like a big chunk of them, actually, and almost 99% of them are not what I listen to outside of the contest anyway. I watch the contest mainly because it's fun, and because it's international. I also watch it for the songs, but it's not the most important element to me. I mainly want to have fun, and that's what those songs were. Fun. Except for the ballads. No wonder I don't like ballads haha!

3. THE STORYLINE

Well... I'd say it's the weak point? I mean, there's nothing groundbreaking there, it's basically a (wholesome?) love story. With a love triangle. Maybe even square. And a predictible ending. I mean, obviously Lars and Sigrit were going to end up together (although they're half-siblings, but hey, it's Iceland lol). But then again, it's a comedy and comedies often rely on cliche tropes, it's not as annoying as when the same tropes as used in action movies, to me at least. Personally, I think the highlight was definitively Lemtov, though. Quite a cliche character too, but usually the funny parts involved him in some way. Also, his Russian accent was quite spot on, he has my Russian-speaking seal of approval! I do like the plot twist with the bank director killing the other contestants in Söngvakeppnin, seeing the boat blow up was pretty unexpected. Obviously, it had to be the bank director who set that up haha! Him getting killed by elves was also pretty funny. Didn't see that one coming, it was better than the cliche sudden heart attack thing. Overall, I didn't get bored so it's all that matters.

As final thoughts, I'd say that this movie is not a documentary, so it's not supposed to be 100% accurate, and it succeeded in doing what it wanted to do, so I don't consider it to be wasted time.

I wouldn't have minded more cowbell, though (I really hope someone, anyone, will get that joke).