A compendium of the infectious tunes in Will FerrellsEurovision Song Contest.
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He envisioned the films songs walking the fine line between satire and homage.
Its okay if its funny, but it has to be really good music.
(Besides, nobody pokes fun at Eurovisionbetter than Eurovision itself.)
So Ive just always been smitten with it.
Serious songwriters in the big pop-music world kind of make fun of things like Eurovision, Kotecha says.
But when you have to do it, you realize its actually a craft in itself.
To help with the process, Kotecha assembled other writers some newcomers, some legends, nearly all Scandinavian.
(There are some spoilers for the film.)
(Its about to erupt again, apparently, says Dobkin.)
And they just came up with Volcano Man!
Holter and Persson imagined the song as something from a bad superhero film.
Or as Persson puts it, Its like a German childs idea of something really amazing.
While recording the song, Ferrell needed some time to find the right balance between satire and tribute.
It was feeling a little bit without personality, he recalls.
I started messing around with it, singing a little more with Larss intonation.
That ten-degrees difference just made it come to life.
Will knows exactly how far to bend the comedy of it.
Behind the music:Ferrell remembers crying when he first heard the demo of Double Trouble.
I was laughing to hide the tears because I couldnt believe how perfect it was, he says.
One of my close friends Arnor Birgisson, is Icelandic.
Me, him, and Rami Yacoub actually had a bunch of hits together like eight years ago.
He was about to fly in, and Rami was there, and I was like, No pressure.
Lets just have some fun and have a go at come up with something.
Once Dobkin heard the song, he asked Kotecha to produce the films entire soundtrack.
And we couldnt think of anything better.
Should we just do the hamster wheel?
The performance required some savvy choreography as well, since it also furthers the lead characters relationship.
After Dobkin told them that he wanted Lemtov to be able tosing, however, something clicked.
We were just laughing to ourselves.
(One stated inspiration for Lemtov:the Russian singer Philipp Kirkorov, who competed at Eurovision 1995.
Another possible inspiration:Romanias 2013 contender, Cezar.)
For Lemtovs highly sexualized moves with his male dancers, Tabitha Dumo wanted to go over the top.
Lets dance with whips!
Lets tear his shirt off!
Lets think things theatrically, and well lean into that and have fun.
I had a blast choreographing this.
And the actor was not afraid to go there as well.
We did wonder whether wed gone too far.
Doing all that in post was not an option.
Something else the filmmakers couldnt really fake: the crowd.
Eurovision is performed in massive stadiums, and Dobkin didnt want to go forBohemian Rhapsodystyle CGI crowds.
Lion of Love was one of the two songs that the production played for the crowd at Tel Aviv.
This was a great opportunity to bring back some writers who I loved growing up, says Kotecha.
Lyrically, its really this funny song about a girl whos so self-centered and doesnt even know it.
Its a wink at being a pop star, says Dobkin.
And at the same time, when you listen to it, its so beautiful.
When we were on stage shooting it, Demi was like, I love this song.
I think I want to perform it when I go on tour again.
The director had the title in his head, but little else.
We knew it had to be a call-and-response to feel like a pub song, says Kotecha.
Its all about that chorus.
We wanted it to be super-cheesy, but also incredibly catchy at the same time, says Persson.
Stupid-catchy, we call it.
The results are weirdly irresistible.
I played it one time in my house one time!
and my 11-year-old and 8-year-old were singing it for weeks, says Dobkin.
Kotecha says that people genuinely mistake it for a traditional song now.
Ive had a few people tell me, Thats like an Icelandic pub song or something?
Thats a new song.
And we tried so many times to create a rockabilly song that would have big pompadour haircuts and stuff.
He gets a little musical theater in there.
The guitar lights up and looks like its made of volcanic lava.
We created beer kegs that could be bashed for percussion.
For the choreography, Tabitha Dumo opted to keep the dancing on point.
We wanted to make it feel as current as possible, she says.
That style of dance and movement sometimes you cant fake.
Behind the music:Mita became a bigger and bigger character as we developed the script, says Dobkin.
(Spoiler alert: She seduces Lars.)
Mitas performance involves giant floating jellyfish, dancers with huge bubbles on their heads, andAvatar-like projections.
David was like, I want her to come out of the ground and shes in a spacesuit!
I said, How can I be sexual and sensual in space?
What she calls the money shot is in the movie.
Behind the music:This was a song the filmmakers did not have to create from scratch.
That song is that bands original song.
Still, Dobkin and team did give the piece some Eurovision-y oomph.
We added a little bit of music to it.
During the choruses, we did our own little twist on it with the theremin.
The band even got to play themselves in the film.
The whole band and their look was great, says Dobkin.
I saw their video and Im like, Lets just do that.
Theyre these three amazing studio musicians and touring musicians.
They were competing for the Double Trouble spot.
They sent in that song, and we loved it so much its a true hidden gem.
But why San Marino?
So why not a teary-eyed R&B crooner this time?
Husavik
The films emotional climax.
Kotecha had called friends in Sweden and others who had written for Eurovision and given them assignments.
This was the hardest nut to crack, he says.
It could change the story if you get it right; it adds so much heart to the story.
You have to see the movie, but it ties their relationship together.
Of all the songs in the film, Husavik is the one Dobkin is most proud of.
The way that works in the movie is what you as a filmmaker hope for, he says.
It needed to work for the movie in a very specific way in my head.
Were playing the scene very earnestly and very straight, because the movie gets you there, says Dobkin.
And his backup vocals are beautiful in that song, actually.
And his harmonies, which he writes, are great.
For that performance to happen against a completely dark screen would be very jarring, says Inglis.
Then, as the song builds, it’s possible for you to get away with more.
Because its a slightly fantastical thing thats happening anyway.
Then, as the song builds, the lighting gets more passionate and enthusiastic to fit the material.
Finishing with this lovely foil drop explosion at the end.
(He notes that he got farther with Dion than he did with ABBA.)
He says his wife suggested using Chers Believe, which became the backbone to the medley.
Again, however, it took a while to get it right.
A bunch of people took a swing at this thing, Dobkin says.
And I was feeling like I wasnt expressing what I wanted.
It was supposed to be easy.
All these versions that were coming up were too complicated.
By the time I got home, she had edited it and its what you hear in the movie.
Producing the actual song, of course, was a nightmare.
Lemtov can basically have anything he wants materially, even though obviously he cant have everything he wants emotionally.
It was an expression of flamboyance.
Part of the reason we liked Knebworth is that theres a really good flow from room to room.
