Sakis Rouvas

Biography:
Sakis Rouvas was born in Corfu and it wasn’t long before music and song became a part of his life. His classmates will certainly remember the unforgettable graduation party where Sakis’ rendition of Elvis and The Beatles’ greatest hits made him the undisputed star of the show.
Artistic gymnastics was his other passion and he has won exceptional national awards. He also excelled at pole vaulting and, being the exceptional talent that he was, became a member of the Greek National Team.
In 1991, Sakis makes his first professional appearance at the Show Centre in Athens where he is discovered by Polygram and offered his first record contract.
Just a few months later, he makes his unbelievable debut through a performance at the Thessaloniki Song Festival. The song “Parta” (“Take Them”), with music by Nikos Terzis and lyrics by Georgos Pavrianos, wins first place and Sakis gets his first taste of enthusiastic fans who immediately feel that a new star is being born!
Since then, things have been progressing quickly for the young performer. His first solo album titled “Sakis Rouvas” is released the day after the festival and young people from across Greece show him their love by making his album an incredible success and sending it to No. 1!
Stands and posters of Sakis Rouvas fill girls’ bedrooms and the Greek mass media buzzes about a new star! Quickly, sighs turn to screams and his live performances receive central or at least huge coverage in the press.
The release of Sakis’ second album in September 1992 entitled “Min Antistekesai” (“Don’t Resist”), which is also composed by Nikos Terzis, establishes Sakis as a top performer on the music scene.
In October 1993, his third album is released, featuring music by Alexis Papadimitriou and lyrics by Eleni Giannatsoulia. The love of his fans turns to obsession and the press is now featuring Sakis on a daily basis as he has become a must for all publications.
The winter of 1994 finds Sakis collaborating with Nikos Karvelas and Natalia Germanou. The result of this collaboration is the smash hit “Aima, Dakria, ki Idrotas” (“Blood, Sweat, and Tears”). Songs like “Ela Mou” (“Come To Me”) and “Ksana” (“Again”) become unbelievably successful.
Sakis is called to do his military service, which is given unbelievable dimensions by the media. A few months later, Sakis releases his new album. Given the huge success of his previous album, he collaborates with Nikos Karvelas and Natalia Germanou again in order to create his next hit album “Tora Arhizoun ta Diskola” (“Now the Difficult Times Begin”). That is when he begins his live appearances with Anna Vissi at Chaos, which were unforgettable shows!
For four consecutive years, he monopolises the Greek Music Awards “Pop Corn”, winning the award for Best New Artist, Best Song, Best Stage Presence and many more.
The artist with the best stage presence collaborates with some of the biggest names in the business, like Tolis Voskopoulos, Anna Vissi, and Katie Garmpi.
On 19 May 1997, Sakis takes a step toward peace and reconciliation by appearing with the Turkish pop star, Burat Kud, in a “binational” concert on the Green Line in Cyprus.
The concert, for which Sakis won the Ipeksi Award for understanding and cooperation, becomes the leading global news story, triggering political repercussions. Georgos Papandreou and Konstantinos Mitsotakis won the same award that year.
Sakis and Burak also record the duet together for the Walt Disney movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. Since 1996, Sakis has had the largest fan club in Greece, “SRFC”, which has thousands of members from countries in all parts of the world.
Following on the heels of two gold and one platinum album, Sakis transfers to Minos-EMI. In December 1998, his last album “Kati Apo Mena” (“Something From Me”) becomes a huge hit and goes gold two months later.
The release is followed by a live performance at one of the biggest record stores, Virgin Megastores, where thousands of fans create a traffic problem on the busiest street in Athens.
His last album only adds to his success! He wins – yet again – the award for stage presence at the “Pop Corn” Music Awards.
Always striving to give impressive live performances, Sakis – dressed in a skirt made especially for him by the internationally renowned designer Valentino – uses all of his vocal and dance abilities to give a first-of-its-kind appearance in October 1998.
Sakis not only gives an amazing performance of his new album, but the fact that Valentino himself designed all of the costumes especially for Sakis becomes the focus of all magazines and front covers.
The new millennium finds Sakis in the studio recording his new album “21st Akatallilos” (“21st X-Rated”), which was released in March 2000. Once again, it reaches the top of the chart on its first day of release.
Sakis continues with live performances in Athens following an amazing show with Katie Garmpi in Thessaloniki. He performs all of his hits (new and old!) at Bio Bio in Athens.
While performing in Athens, Sakis is asked by Pepsi to star in their new summer advertising campaign. This received huge media attention as no other Greek artist had ever been made such an offer. The spot was produced by a British team that travelled to Greece specifically for this reason. The result was excellent as the script had been written specifically for Sakis in order to match his image. On 25 October, Sakis, Antonis Remos, and Peggy Zina begin their extremely successful collaboration at the Apollonas, which wraps up at Easter 2001.
Sakis closes out 2000 on the 10th of December with the “I Nihta ton Aggelon” (“The Night of the Angels”) concert in Thessaloniki. He gives an impressive performance in front of thousands of Thessalonikians in celebration of the lighting of the Christmas tree.
The collaboration with Pepsi continues with a second television spot airing in May and a Sold Out tour of seven large Greek cities called the “Pepsi Tour 2001”. In autumn of the same year, the Athens nightlife scene welcomes the “act” of the winter, “Despina Vandi – Sakis Rouvas”, at Rex. Sakis closes out the year with the release of the gold album “Disco Girl”.
At the first Arion Awards in March 2002, Sakis wins the award for Pop Singer of the Year for the CD “Disco Girl” and performs his as yet unreleased “Ola Kala” (“Everything is Fine”) for the first time. During the same period, he is working feverishly toward the release of the album “Ola Kala” in Greece and France. The French welcome the Greek phenomenon and Sakis gives interviews to all of the country’s large radio stations and magazines. The release of the album is supported by a summer tour. The French’s love for the Greek phenomenon, Sakis, is demonstrated in a unique way at the large concert that he gives on 24 October in Olympia!!! The album “Ola Kala” is released in Greece in June and goes gold within 11 days and platinum within 4 months. On a fabulous evening in September, Sakis’ third Pepsi spot is aired.
In April 2003, Sakis appears at the Arion Awards with Antonis Remos and they perform with the evening’s honouree, Nana Mouskouri. 2003 constitutes a landmark year for the ultimate Greek star as he begins his momentous cooperation with Vodafone. The first spot is filmed at Elouda in July and Sakis gives concerts across Greece, culminating in a final deifying performance at Lykavitos on 11 October. December 2003 finds Sakis Rouvas performing his new album “To Chrono Stamatao” (“I Stop Time”) at Fever with Georgos Tsalikis.
2004 – The Year of Eurovision. Everyone is dancing to the beat of “Shake It”, which is heard for the first time on the radio in mid-March. At the end of the month, Sakis rouses the audience by performing “Shake It” live for the first time at the third Arion Awards. The same night, he wins his second Pop Singer award for the album “To Chrono Stamatao”. In mid-April, the CD single “Shake It” is released and the Greek Eurovision contingent immediately begins touring. Lots of travel, many shows and tons of optimism! On 18 May, Sakis finishes third place at Eurovision 2004 in Konstantinoupoli, but everyone considers him the real winner. This was also evident by his reception at the first Mad Video Music Awards a month later where he sang “Shake It” and the audience went wild. The same night, he wins the Sexiest Appearance award for the video “Pes Tis” (“Tell Her”) whose director, Xavier Gens, wins Best Direction for the same video. Sakis, of course, could not be left out of the huge organisation of the Olympic Games. He participates in the torch relay that takes place in the centre of Athens and performs at the Closing Ceremony along with the biggest names in Greek song. Sakis arrives in the centre of the Olympic Stadium by air and gives an exceptional performance of “Karapiperim”. The same year, he also does a duet of “Se Thelo San Trelos” (“I Want You Like Crazy”) with the famous Russian singer, Philip Kirkorov, in Greek and Russian. The CD single is a huge hit in Russia and is supported by a video of the same name that was filmed in Saint Petersburg.
In October 2004, Sakis appears as a guest in three large concerts given by his friend and ultimate Greek performer, Nana Mouskouri. Sakis appears for the first time at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall (4/10) as well as at the Athens Concert Hall (“Megaro Mousikis”) (10-11/10), making an excellent impression. Two months later, he begins performances with Georgos Mazonakis and Elena Paparizou at Fever in one of the winter’s most explosive acts.
April 2005 proves to be an extremely creative month. At the 4th Arion Awards held on 5 April, Sakis makes an original appearance on stage by dancing a breathtaking tango. The same evening, he receives the award for “CD Single with the Highest Sales/2004” for “Shake It”, demonstrating just how popular the Eurovision success was. The next day (6/4) and with the support of Vodafone, Sakis presents his new album titled “S’Eho Erotefthei” (“I’m in Love With You”), in an unprecedented manner. The presentation is carried out on the same day in four Greek cities. Heraklion, Corfu, Thessaloniki, and Athens are the four cities–stops that Sakis visits to give a live presentation of his album. It was an event that was discussed by everyone and that will go down in history. Five months later, the album goes platinum. On 24 September, Sakis is deified by 18,000 spectators at a huge charity concert he gives at the Athens Olympic Stadium (“OAKA”). He receives the same welcome in Patras on 1 October.
Given that he is not performing in Athens during the 2005-2006 winter season, the one appearance that he makes at Athens College on 14 February, in cooperation with Vodafone and Rythmos 94.9, is the talk of the town. The live performance is recorded and videotaped, providing material for the first live CD-DVD of Sakis’ fifteen year career entitled “Live Ballads”. “Live Ballads” is released two months later with the support of Vodafone. On 28/03, at the 5th Arion Awards, Sakis performs his new song “Horis Kardia” (“Without a Heart”), which is included on “Live Ballads”. The same evening, he wins two awards; one for “Pop Album” and one for “Pop Singer” for the album “S’Eho Erotefthei”. The same month, Sakis renews his enormously successful collaboration with Vodafone, and Village Roadshow announces that he will star in its new film.
Eurovision 2006 gives Sakis the opportunity to develop yet another talent. Sakis and Maria Menounos are the two presenters of the Semi-Finals (18/05) and Finals (20/05) that, of course, take place in Athens. The challenge is great, but the result completely justifies his decision as the next day everyone is taking about his flawless presentation. At the Semi-finals, Sakis opens the evening by singing the English hit “Let the Sun Shine” with Maria Menounos. A little later on, he performs “S’Eho Erotefthei” in English by himself. At the third Mad Video Music Awards on 14 June, Sakis performs two ballads “Agapa Me” (“Love Me”) and “Na m’Agapas” (“You Should Love Me”) from the album “Live Ballads”, which has already gone gold, and wins two more awards: Best Video by a Male Artist for “Na m’Agapas” and “Best Dressed Artist in a Video” for “Mila Tis” (“Talk to Her”). In June, Sakis also finished dubbing for the new Disney movie called “Cars” that premiers in September. The summer is expected to be hot as filming starts for the movie “Alter Ego”, which stars Sakis.
AWARDS
Arion :
5th Awards Ceremony Pop Singer (CD “S’Eho Erotefthei”)
Pop Album (CD “S’Eho Erotefthei”)
4th Awards Ceremony Highest CD Single Sales (CD Single “Shake It”)
3rd Awards Ceremony Pop Singer (CD “To Chrono Stamatao”)
1st Awards Ceremony Pop Singer (CD “Disco Girl”)
Mad Video Music Awards :
2007, Best Dance Video ("Ola gyro sou gyrizoun")
2006, Best Video by a Male Artist (“Na m’Agapas”)
Best Dressed Artist in a Video (“Mila Tis”)
2004, Sexiest Artist in the Video (“Pes Tis”)
Lykavittos concert (Athens) - 10th of September