'SING TO ME'
RACHEL McAdams showed off her singing prowess in the movie Eurovision Song Contest - but her vocals were fused with Sweden’s Molly Sandén.
The actress said she made herself “hoarse” while preparing for the performance.
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Here is more about the movie and how the cast prepared.
What is the Netflix film Eurovision?
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a musical comedy on Netflix featuring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams.
The film follows the life of two Icelandic singers Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdóttir as they are given an opportunity to represent Iceland in a singing competition.
Both Lars and Sigrit are in a band called Fire Saga and sign up for the contest.
Eurovision is an actual competition since 1956 and features famous singers from around the world who represent their country.
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The contest was established to promote peace in Europe after WWII.
Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio, then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the winner.
When it comes to voting, you cannot vote for your own country.
The film was set to come out on Netflix coincidentally at the same time of the televised contest, however, because of COVID-19, the contest was canceled.
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Netflix released the movie on June 26.
Does Rachel McAdams really sing in Eurovision?
Rachel did sing in the movie as she portrayed Sigrit Ericksdottir, an Icelandic school teacher.
Her voice was blended with that of Swedish singer Molly Sandén’s.
Ironically, Molly was a contestant on the actual Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.
“I was singing all the songs and then [director] David [Dobkin] would kind of lift bits of my performance," McAdams told the AV Club in an interview.
She also said she watched Björk to help with her performance as an Icelandic singer.
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"The bulk of the music was done by Swedish singer Molly Sandén. Our voices were quite similar," she added.
What is the movie about?
The movie centers on the Fire Saga band and the contest.
Sigrit and Lars apply and are selected to take part in Söngvakeppnin - the Icelandic pre-selection part of the Eurovision Song Contest.
They lose the pre-selection to another singer because their performance is a disaster.
Feeling bummed that they lost, Lars and Sigrit watch a boat party going on with all the contestants.
Suddenly, the boat explodes and kills everyone on board.
Fire Saga, as the only surviving contestants, automatically become Iceland's entry to the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest.
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Can Rachel McAdams really sing?
While the actress prepared for the role, she is not a professional singer.
However, the final song that Rachel sings when she's at the piano in the hotel room is said to solely be her voice.
Molly told Vanity Fair in an interview that she was unsure if the vocals had actually been mixed.
"If they say so, maybe that’s the truth. But I just know that I didn’t really hear [myself] in the soundtrack...maybe it’s mixed in somewhere," she revealed.
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