Will Ferrell on the origins of "Jaja Ding Dong," Eurovision Song Contest's catchiest cut

By Marah Eakin | June 29, 2020 | 5:30pm

Film Features Will Ferrell

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Will Ferrell isn’t just the star of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga. He’s also its writer and producer. He even birthed the initial idea for the story after a late ‘90s viewing of the contest with his wife’s Swedish family. Entranced by the club pop and out-there characters, Ferrell fell in love with the massive, but somehow missed by the U.S. contest, and thus a film was born.

The A.V. Club talked to Ferrell about what the people who make Eurovision actually happen said when he approached them with the idea, whether he’s at all worried Americans won’t catch all the cameos, and just where the film’s catchiest hit, “Jaja Ding Dong,” was born. Ding dong!