Greece's Freaky Fortune are looking at the bigger picture with their Eurovision contender Rise Up.
The duo will take to the stage alongside British-born rapper RiskyKidd in Thursday's second semi-final in Copenhagen.
Producer Theofilos took time out of his busy schedule to tell me about their track, ideas and their thoughts on Eurovision.
"To us, Rise Up is more than a song… It is a movement! We wanted to write a song and convey a message to the young people and urge them to be positive and jump out of all the things that keep them down.
We, the young people of Europe and beyond, are mostly influenced by the financial crisis and in some cases by the political imbalances. Are we going to let all those things put us down? Our answer is RISE UP. We “Rise Up” by looking things from the positive side, by looking things through the prism of youth, through the prism of creativity," Theofilos explained.
That Greece are even competing this year is a surprise to some in itself. National broadcaster ERT was shut down last year and there were real doubts whether a Greek entry would make it to Copenhagen.
It wasn't until November last year the new broadcaster, NERIT, was confirmed and Greece were able to participate.
Several countries, including Cyprus, Bulgaria and Serbia have withdrawn due to financial restraints as the Eurozone continues to struggle.
"I don't know how close it came to Greece having to pull out. Of course, in a country with issues in the economy, the cost is always a significant factor when it comes to the realisation of a project.
On the other hand we could say that “whenever there is a will there is a way”… and besides presenting something nice don’t necessarily mean that a lot of money should be spent.
But as we said before this is what Rise Up is all about… its about being creative, positive and jumping out of what keeps us down. In our case this could be the financial crisis and the possible lack of budget," said Theo.
Their self-written track features RiskyKidd, a London-born rapper and Greek resident. How did the two acts come to work together?
"When we were composing Rise Up and long before we even know that the Eurovision Song Contest was even an option we decided that we would like to add a rap part. Our management and our record company proposed that we work with RiskyKidd. We really liked the idea and we started working on it! Our associates liked the result so much that they proposed we participate in the Greek national final," Theo said.
It was a collaboration that proved successful, with the trio taking victory in a four-way national final, ahead of nearest rival Kostas Martakis.
Whilst on the promo trail, they decided to record a medley of recent Eurovision winners, including compatriot Helena Paparizou's My Number One. The medley is impressive, and shows their versatility taking on songs as different as Hard Rock Hallelujah and Running Scared.
"All those songs are favourites. If we had to pick our top three, Helena would be first because she made Greece proud by winning. Next, would be Loreen, because we think Euphoria is one of the best songs ever presented in Eurovision. Finally, we pick Satellite because it's closest to our personal taste."
Helena's victory in 2005 remains Greece's sole victory in Eurovision to date, but the country's record in the last decade is one any country would envy.
They have only finished outside the top ten once since 2003, and have finished third twice in that time, and boast a 100% qualification rate since the introduction of semi finals. So can they keep this impressive record going?
"We are working really hard and we are confident that we will give 200%! We are really positive. However, it is up to the juries and the people to decide how good this whole thing will go," said Theo.
"We like a lot of songs this year. Not in order of preference, here's our top five. France's moustache people, Twin Twin, are really crazy and rhythmical and we like that! Armenia's combination of epic ballad and the dub element, we like that too. Molly's Children of the Universe is also in our top five, and so are the Netherlands and Norway," he said.
RiskyKidd follows in the footsteps of Sarbel, a British-born act who went on to have big success for Greece and on the continent following his entry Yassou Maria coming seventh in 2007.
Better known to his parents as Shane Schuller, 19-year-old RiskyKidd will surely pick up some votes for his entry from the UK, who in any event usually give Greece good points every year.
Would he like to represent the country of his birth in future years?
"So far my short experience in the Eurovision Song Contest is amazing! I would be more than happy to represent UK in with a good song and the necessary support of the British people, of course.
But for now I am just focusing on our Rise Up project that seems to be going so well. I would like to invite everybody on the 8th and 10th of May to join us, rise up and vote for Greece!", he said.
You can buy Rise Up on iTunes internationally, and you can vote for Greece in the second semi final if you live in the UK, Germany, Italy or any of the other competing countries on that night.
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| RiskyKidd, Nick and Theo. Photo: Maria Delakou |
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