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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.
ollowing 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!!!
he 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.
On 6 December 2006, Sakis' new CD entitled
“Yparhi Agapi Edo” (“There is Love Here”)
was released with the support of Vodafone
and in collaboration with EMI.
The songs “Travao Zori” (“I’m Having a Hard
Time”), “Yparhi Agapi Edo”, and “Ola Giro
Sou Gyrizoun” (“Everything Revolves Around
You”) immediately stand out making the album
number one on the Chart List.
Among those who contributed to the CD were
Nikos Antypas, Eleanna Vrahali, Yiannis
Parios, Haris Varthakouris, Lakis
Papadopoulos, and Pigassos.
The album, which contains both pop and rock
elements, is considered to be Sakis’ best to
date.
2007: a rather productive year for Sakis
Rouvas. He starts shooting his first film,
"Alter Ego", one of Village Roadshow
Productions’ most expensive productions. The
film is released at the beginning of May and
wins us all over. The soundtrack of the
film, including the great hit "Zise Ti Zoi"
(Live Life), is also released in January,
2007. A unique performance is given by Sakis
Rouvas during the Oscar Night event, with
the support of Nova. The famous singer,
accompanied by a multi-piece orchestra,
performs a selection of Oscar-winning songs.
In March, he performs at the Boom, one of
Thessaloniki’s most-frequented nightclubs,
next to Despina Vandi. Success is
unprecedented. At the end of April, he holds
a big concert in Syntagma Square as part of
Vodafone's great celebration. In May, OPAP's
advertising spot for blood donation is
released, while, in the same spirit of
social offering, Sakis Rouvas gives a
one-off concert at the Lycabetus theatre on
September 19th to promote the concept of
voluntary blood donation.
Arion Awards:
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 clip of the year: “Ola
Giro Sou Girizoun” (Everything Revolves
Around You)
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”) |
