'Rise Up'

"Rise Up" is all but guaranteed to get the Eurovision audience on their feet - much like Greece's 2013 entry, "Alcohol is Free," that finished in sixth place.

This year, the country's clubby ESC track, performed by the duo Freaky Fortune with rapper RiskyKidd, will stand out in a contest where the buzz so far has centered on a ballad-heavy group of frontrunners, including "Rise Like a Phoenix" from Austria's Conchita Wurst and "Not Alone" by Armenia's Aram Mp3.

Greece's "Rise Up" may give contest viewers just the party anthem they're looking for. With its lines about shot-taking, dancing and sex, it's easy to imagine the hip-hop infused track thumping in Mediterranean clubs this summer.

Launched by Perez Hilton

Freaky Fortune is made up of Nikolas Raptakis (24) and Theofilos Pouzbouris (23), who have already seen some chart successes at home in Greece. The Athens-born musicians came to national and international attention in 2012 after winning a song cover contest hosted by infamous gossip blogger Perez Hilton. The competitors each covered Katy Perry's "Part of Me," and the Greek duo stood out from the pack with a tightly-produced song and video.

Bringing some pan-European flair to the group is the rapper RiskyKidd (19), who was born in London to a German father and a Jamaican mother before the family later moved to Greece. Eurovision will put the aspiring hip-hop artist in front of huge audiences for the first time. No signs of stage fright, though, as he bounces and bounds around the stage before grabbing the spotlight with his verse.

A small victory

Speculation mounted last year that Greece would be unable to compete in this year's ESC following cuts and closures within its public broadcasting system. It seemed as if the crisis-stricken country wouldn't have the infrastructure in place to prepare for Eurovision.

Entering "Rise Up" in the contest at all represents a small triumph, and the song's title can easily be taken as a slogan of encouragement to Freaky Fortune's homeland. That positions the duo to rake in votes from sympathizers throughout Southern Europe.