"Oh What a Circus" is a song from the 1976 musical Evita, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

 and lyrics by Tim Rice

Tim Rice

Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...

. The song is the first song after the introductory "Requiem for Evita" from the musical, as Ché (the narrator) critically ponders the life of Eva Perón

Eva Perón

María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...

 and the reaction to her death, finally coming to the conclusion "She did nothing for years."

The song shares its tune with the better known "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina

Don't Cry for Me, Argentina

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" is a song from the 1978 musical Evita with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Sung by the title character Eva Perón, it was titled “It's Only Your Lover Returning” before Rice settled on the eventual name...

" from the same show, but has a faster tempo and completely different lyrics. The song includes a choral chant in Latin, based on the Catholic anthem "Salve Regina

Salve Regina

The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...

". Alternative lyrics to "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" appear as a prelude to the song from Act 2, sung either by a young girl who resembles the character Eva, or Eva herself via voice-over, as in the film.

David Essex

David Essex

David Essex OBE is an English musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Since the 1970s, Essex has attained nineteen Top 40 singles in the UK , and sixteen Top 40 albums...

, who starred as Ché in the London stage production of the show, recorded a hit version of the song, reaching no.3 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in 1978.

Mandy Patinkin

Mandy Patinkin

Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...

 played Ché for the American premiere production and recording, and sings the song. Subsequent performers include Colm Wilkinson

Colm Wilkinson

Colm Wilkinson is an Irish tenor, best known for originating the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and for playing the title role in The Phantom of the Opera .Due to his association with these musicals, he reprised the role of...

, Nicholas Rodriguez, Raul Esparza

Raúl Esparza

Raúl Eduardo Esparza is an American stage actor, singer, and voice artist noted for his award winning performances in Broadway shows...

 (no recording) and, for the 2012 Broadway season, Ricky Martin

Ricky Martin

Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...

.

In the 1996 film Evita

Evita (film)

Evita is the 1996 film adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone. It starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce...

the song is sung by Antonio Banderas

Antonio Banderas

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...

 and Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

. In the film, Ché muses while in an empty bar following the lavish funeral procession for Eva Peron, and then on the streets of Buenos Aires as the community mourns and later riots. Eva's lyrics come during a pan over her funeral casket and is not sung directly by Eva.

Hank Marvin

Hank Marvin

Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...

did an instrumental version of the song on his 1997 album Hank Marvin and the Shadows Play the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.