The ‘Play Jaja Ding Dong’ guy and unlikely star of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga read out Iceland’s results at last night’s (May 22) 2021 Eurovision Song Contest – see footage below.
Prior to the ceremony, which saw Italy emerge victorious and the UK fail to pick up a single point, Hannes Óli Ágústsson was confirmed to appear in character as Olaf Yohansson at the event.
In Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams’ 2020 Netflix film, the pair performed the original song ‘Jaja Ding Dong’, and were consistently hounded to do so by Yohansson.
For his appearance last night, Yohansson was asked to read out Iceland’s scores for other nations in the competition.
Asked to reveal who Iceland gave their 12 points to – the highest amount available – he replied: “Our 12 points go to ‘Jaja Ding Dong’!”
See footage below.
Ahead of last night’s Eurovision, Iceland’s entrant Daði Freyr spoke to NME about his thoughts on the Fire Saga film and the virality of the ‘Play Jaja Ding Dong’ guy.
“I met him like seven years ago or something when I was boom operating for an Icelandic movie,” Freyr told NME of Ágústsson. “I can’t remember if we had a conversation then, but he seems like a really nice guy.”
He added of the film: “I think Icelanders think it’s funny. It’s also not a very accurate portrayal of Icelanders! We come off as very aggressive and very incest-y, which is maybe not the way we want to be portrayed, but nobody really cares. Icelanders are very sarcastic, so we see through it.”
Watch the full interview below.
Reviewing last night’s Eurovision Song Contest, NME wrote: “Like this month’s Brit Awards, the whole thing adds up to a welcome reminder of the joys of live performance on a grand scale. Graham Norton’s affectionate irreverence is comfortingly familiar; past winners including Duncan Laurence and Lordi pop up during the interval; and the Dutch presenters do a thoroughly decent job.”