USA – Netflix’s Eurovision movie is already a big hit on the streaming service, although not in the world of critics. The movie, which stars Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as aspiring musicians Lars and Sigrit, who are given the opportunity of a lifetime to represent their country at the world’s biggest song competition. The film also stars Dan Stevens and Demi Lovato and features a ton of cameos from real Eurovision singers.
After watching the movie, JustJared.com picked up on a few Easter Eggs throughout the movie that you probably didn’t even see.
- Denmark’s Rasmussen (2018): In the Iceland Song Contest, one of the bands featured is 21st Century Viking, who had long flowing hair, which is a direct reference to Denmark’s 2018 entry, “Higher Ground.” That band, called Rasmussen, included five men, each with longer hair than the last, singing a battle anthem while getting blasted in the face with a wind machine and mist. They ended up in 5th place.
- Portugal’s “Amar Pelos Dois”: In the film, as Sigrit and Lars arrive in Edinburgh, you’ll spot a street performer singing a song – that’s actually jazz singer Salvador Sobral, who in 2017, performed the ballad, called “Amar Pelos Dois”, during the contest. Usually, Eurovision is known for its’ outlandish performances, but Portugal was a wild card that year and the very normal performance WON the contest.
- ABBA: The biggest and most successful winner of the Eurovision contest are ABBA. They won the competition in 1974 with “Waterloo”. The nod to the infamous Swedish band in the film happens when Lars watches their performance and is inspired to want to enter the competition. Plus, the 2020 contest opens with a group rendition of their song.
- Moon Fang: The film features a crazy band from Belarus, who appears as a demon Viking band. The band is a reference to Finnish hard rock group Lordi, who performed “Hard Rock Hallelujah” at the 2006 contest in full head-to-toe creature makeup. If you’re wondering if where they placed in the competition, we’ll spoil you: Lordi WON.
- The Hamster Wheel: In the semi-final performance, Lars ascends to their performance from above in what looks to be a hamster wheel. This was an actual thing that happened too – with Ukraine’s 2014 entry, where the singer is upstaged by a man doing flips and tricks in one.
