Sakis Rouvas

Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas (Greek: Αναστ?σιος "Σ?κης" Ρουβ?ς; IPA: /sakis ruvas/; born January 5, 1972 in Mandoukion, Corfu, Greece), known professionally as Sakis Rouvas or simply Sakis, is a popular Greek pop rock, dance-pop singer, occasional actor, composer, and television presenter. He is known mainly in Greece and Cyprus with some international success as well, mainly in Europe and North Africa. Rouvas is recognized as one of Greece's first pop singers, being known for his sexualized image, elaborate stage shows and music videos, as well as having a mass fan base. He is considered to be among Greece's best-selling artists with sales of an estimated two million records, while he helped popularize Western music elements in Greece in the early 1990s. All of Rouvas' albums have achieved certifications of gold or higher.
While having become known in neighboring countries since the mid-1990s, Rouvas first gained international publicity in 2002 through his collaboration with famous American record producer Desmond Child. He is best known internationally for his participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 where he represented Greece with the song "Shake It" with a third place finish, as well as having hosted the 2006 contest in Athens. In 2005, Rouvas won the World Music Award for "World's Best-Selling Greek Artist", becoming only the third Greek artist in history recording and residing in Greece to receive the award, and to date only male. Rouvas will also be Greece's representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, taking place from May 12–16 in Moscow, Russia with the song "This Is Our Night".

Biography

Early life

Sakis Rouvas was born on January 5, 1972 in the village of Mandoukion, near Corfu City on the Greek island of Corfu, the eldest son of Konstantinos "Kostas" Rouvas, an ambulance driver, and Anna-Maria Panaretou, a worker at the Duty Free shop at the local airport. He has one brother fully-related by blood, Tolis, three years his junior, while he has a total of three brothers overall.
His talents were revealed from a young age; at age four, his athletic abilities began to show. Both his parents had some background in theater, and at age ten, Rouvas starred in his first major theatrical production An I Karharies Itan Anthropi (If sharks were people), which quickly sold out in local theaters in Corfu. His much older co-stars were impressed at his talent and they labeled him "The Miracle Child". Soon after, Rouvas discovered his second great love after athletics: music. He soon learned to play guitar by himself and was inspired by international music and artists such as Elvis Presley.
Unfortunately for Rouvas, his family went through troublesome times. In 1984, his parents were divorced, and due to strained relationships between the two, Rouvas and his brother Tolis were forced to move to the village of Potamos, whereby they were raised by their paternal grandmother, Elpiniki, and grandfather, Anastasis, who is Rouvas's namesake. His father remarried almost immediately, and Rouvas inherited younger stepbrothers. At the age of twelve, Rouvas was forced to go to work in order to support his father's new family, as well as his mother who was all alone. He also needed money for his academic studies at school and the pursuit of his athletic, theatrical, and musical talents.
At age sixteen, he went through the first turning point in his career after being accepted as a member of the Greek National Gymnastics Team. His scores were very high, and he won numerous national and international awards. However, Rouvas still held onto his love of music. He decided to leave acting, and soon started to do performances at local clubs. He became a member of the Corfu Band. The first time he sang in front of a public audience was at the night of his graduation where he performed his rendition of all of the hits of Elvis and The Beatles.
After graduating, he started working at hotels and night clubs as a singer. At one of these venues, To Ekati, future manager Elias Psinakis would see him perform for the first time, however, they never spoke. Unfortunately, there were too many problematic situations in his life in Corfu and at the age of 18, he left his native island and moved to Patras alone in hope of a better future.

1991-1993: First albums
Upon going to Patras, Rouvas continued to look for performance opportunities, until he met Dakis, a popular Greek artist of the era, who was the first person to help him professionally. He soon after moved to Athens, and after being given much advice by Dakis, in 1991, Rouvas made his first professional appearance at the Show Centre in Athens, singing a popular Michael Jackson song that gave him the freedom to show both his vocal style as well as stage performance. It was there where he was discovered by executives of the PolyGram record label, who signed him to his first recording contract.[9] A few months later, Rouvas' made his first official début at the Thessaloniki Song Festival. At the competition, Rouvas lost the title for "Best Vocals" to another upcoming artist Giorgos Alkaios by only one point, but ultimately won the competition after he won first place for "Best Composition" with the song "Par'ta" (Take them) with music by Nikos Terzis and lyrics by Giorgos Pavrianos.[1] During the moment that all of the competetors were called on stage there was a brief earthquake.[2]
Rouvas released his debut album titled Sakis Rouvas the day after the festival; it reached number one on the Greek Albums Chart.[8] "Parta" became a number one radio hit, while the second single "1992" also became popular. Following the popularity of the album, media attention arose around his fanatic fans, usually teenage girls, who would go crazy over him.[8]
In September 1992, Rouvas released his sophomore album titled Min Andistekese (Don’t resist), which was also fully composed by Nikos Terzis.[9] The album quickly shot up on the charts, and helped establish him as a top performer in the Greek music industry.
In October 1993, Rouvas released his third studio album titled Gia Sena (For you) with music by Alexis Papadimitriou and lyrics primarily by Eleni Giannatsoulia, as well as Evi Droutsa. The album became Rouvas third consecutive gold album in a time span of only two years. The single "Kane Me" (Make me) became a big radio hit, while the next singles "To Xero Eisai Moni" (I know you are alone), and "Xehase To" (Forget it) also gained airplay.[1]

[edit] 1993-2000: Further success and 21os Akatallilos

In the winter of 1994, Rouvas collaborated with famous singer-songwriter and record producer Nikos Karvelas for the production of his fourth studio album Aima, Dakrya & Idrotas (Blood, sweat, and tears) which was his first album to be certified platinum. The songs "Ela Mou" (Come to me) and "Xana" (Again) became huge radio hits, which he is still known by today, and have become a staple at all of his concerts.[1] The collaboration with Karvelas, one of the most successful and iconic producers of the past two decades with the young artist resulted in mixed reaction by the media. When asked why he had chosen to collaborate with Rouvas, Karvelas simply gave a controversial response, stating that "Sakis is the only star, out of a generation which produces dull artists."[10]
Shortly after, Rouvas was called to do his military service, taking a break from music, which was well covered by the media.[9] A few months later in 1996, Rouvas released his fifth studio album Tora Arhizoun Ta Dyskola (Now the difficult times begin) which went gold. Since his previous album was a big success, Rouvas once again collaborated with Nikos Karvelas with the help of lyricist Natalia Germanou. For the winter season, Rouvas performed live with Anna Vissi at club Chaos in Athens. In the same year, a fan club for him, "SRFC", was founded, which from its start went on to be the largest fan club in Greece.[8] In 1997, he was featured on Anna Vissi's hit album Travma (Trauma), in the duet "Se Thelo, Me Theleis" (I want you, You want me) also composed by Nikos Karvelas.[1]
On May 19, 1997 he performed on stage with Turkish singer Burak Kut at a bi-national concert on the Green Line in Cyprus as a step in the reconciliation of the country with an audience of over 6,000 people. For this, he was awarded the International Abdi Ipekçi Prize for understanding and co-operation.[11] Politicians George Papandreou and Konstantinos Mitsotakis won the same award that year. Rouvas had come into collaboration with Kut the previous year when they recorded a duet together in mixed Greek and Turkish called "Birgün/Otan", a cover of the original "Someday", for the soundtrack of the Greek-language dubbing of The Hunchback of Notre Dame titled I Panagia Ton Parision, where Rouvas made his film début voicing the role of Quasimodo.
Following his album success with PolyGram Greece, Rouvas switched labels and signed with Minos EMI.[8] In December 1998, Rouvas released his sixth studio album Kati Apo Mena (Something from me).[9] The album was composed by Giorgos Theofanous and became a hit, going gold in its first week; the album later reached platinum certification. The song "Den Ehi Sidera I Kardia Sou" (Your heart does not have metal rails) became a massive hit, and even today it remains one of his most popular songs.[1] For promotion of the album, Rouvas performed live at one of the biggest record stores in Greece, the Virgin Megastore in Athens, where thousands of fans created a traffic jam in the center of Athens.[9] For the winter season 1999-2000, Rouvas sang at club Bio Bio in Athens, and performed with Katy Garbi in Thessaloniki in the spring.[12]
In March 2000, Rouvas released his seventh studio album 21os Akatallilos (21+ X-Rated).[13] The album reached 2× platinum status, and reached number one on the charts. On October 25, 2000, Rouvas began appearances with Antonis Remos, and Peggy Zina at club Apollonas for the winter season.[14] That same year, Rouvas was asked by Pepsi to be their spokesperson for their new Greek summer campaign, a first for a Greek singer. The collaboration with Pepsi continued in 2001 with a television advertisement airing in May 2001[15] and a Sold-out tour of seven large Greek cities called the 'Pepsi Tour 2001.[9]

[edit] 2001-2004: Ola Kala, international exposure and To Hrono Stamatao

In 2001, Rouvas' collaborated with music producer and songwriter Desmond Child and Phoebus for the CD single "Disco Girl".[1] The single became a hit in Greece, and went platinum.[16] The CD single was also later released in France with an English version of the song penned by yet another international pop music writer, Andreas Carlsson.[17] At the start of the winter season, Rouvas sang with Despina Vandi at club Rex, which continued until spring 2002.
In March 2002, Rouvas won the award for "Pop Singer of the Year" at the first annual Arion Awards for the CD single "Disco Girl".[18] At the awards, he sang the single "Ola Kala" (Everything is fine) for the first time. [8] Then in June 2002, Rouvas released his eighth studio album Ola Kala.[1] Rouvas once again collaborated with Desmond Child and Phoebus for the album, along with other Greek songwriters Natalia Germanou and Vangelis Konstantinidis. Ola Kala was produced by Universal Music France UML division. The album became an instant hit in Greece going gold in eleven days, and platinum in four months. It settled at 2x Platinum later on. The following month after the Greek release, UML released Ola Kala in many international markets in Europe, Middle East and Asia. In September 2002, Rouvas' third Pepsi commercial aired.
In July 2003, Rouvas furthered his international collaboration under ULM by releasing the CD cover single and music video "Dis lui" in France, originally sung by Mike Brant as a French adaptation of the 1975 Morris Albert song "Feelings". "Dis Lui", as well as a cover of "Feelings", were also added to the international 2003 re-release of Ola Kala.
In April 2003, Rouvas appeared with Antonis Remos together on stage with the evening's honoree, Nana Mouskouri at the Arion Awards.[19] The same year, Rouvas signed a deal with Vodafone Greece to be their spokesperson. For the summer, Rouvas went on tour around Greece, ending with a big concert at Lycabetus on October 11, 2003. In September 2002, Rouvas' third Pepsi commercial aired.
In December 2003, Rouvas released his ninth studio album To Hrono Stamatao (I Stop Time). Songs from the album quickly gained radio airplay, while in the same month, Rouvas started appearances at club Fever with Giorgos Tsalikis for the winter season.[20] A Greek language version of "Feelings" titled "Pes Tis" was released as a single off To Hrono Stamatao and featured the same video as its French and English language international counterparts.

[edit] 2004: Eurovision Song Contest

In March 2004, Hellenic Radio and Television chose Rouvas to represent Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.[21] In mid-march, the song entry "Shake It" composed by Nikos Terzis premiered on Greek radios. At the end of March, Rouvas performed "Shake It" for the first time live at the third annual Arion Music Awards. At the awards, he also won the award for "Best Pop Singer" for the album To Hrono Stamatao.[22] In mid-April, "Shake It" was released as a CD-single and Rouvas began his promotional tour around Europe for the contest.[23] His album To Hrono Stamatao was also repackaged with the "Shake It" CD-single as a bonus. The CD-single ended up achieving 4x Platinum status.[8]
On May 12, 2004, Rouvas took part in the Eurovision Semi-final, performing 10th out of 22 in the running order. He passed the semi-final, and on May 15, 2004, he performed 16th out of 24 in the Final. For the stage show, Rouvas had two female dancers with him, and three backing vocalists. Fokas Evagelinos did the choreography. "Shake It" achieved 3rd place in the final.[1]
In June 2004, Rouvas performed at the first MAD Video Music Awards where he sang "Shake It".[24] At the awards, he won the award for "Sexiest Appearance" for his music video "Pes Tis" (Tell her).[1] In August 2004, Rouvas also performed at the closing ceremony for the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he was lowered on to the stage from the air and sang traditional Greek songs. [8]
In fall 2004, Rouvas did a duet with the Russian pop star Philip Kirkorov in Greek and Russian called "Se Thelo San Trelos" (I want you like crazy). The single became a radio hit in Russia, and a music video was filmed shortly after in Saint Petersburg.[8] Following that, in October 2004, Rouvas was a special guest star at three concerts with Nana Mouskouri. Two months later in December, Rouvas began performances with Giorgos Mazonakis and Elena Paparizou at club Fever for the winter season.

[edit] 2005-2006: S'eho Erotefthi and Iparhi Agapi Edo

On April 5, 2005, Rouvas won the award for "CD Single with the Highest Sales of 2004" for "Shake It" at the fourth Arion Music Awards. Rouvas also appeared on stage dancing the tango.[8] The next day, April 6, Rouvas released his tenth studio album S'eho Erotefthi (I'm in love with you) which went platinum in five months, and settled at 3× platinum.[25] With the help of Vodafone Greece as the main sponsors, release parties for the CD were held in Heraklion, Corfu, Thessaloniki, and Athens all on the same day. The songs "S'Eho Erotefti", "Hilia Milia" (Thousands of Miles), "Mila Tis" (Talk to her), "Na M'Agapas" (Love me), and "Cairo" all became radio hits.[1] That same year, Rouvas also won the "World Music Awards" for "Best selling Greek artist" of 2004.[26]
For the winter season of 2005-2006, Rouvas decided to take a break and moved to Los Angeles.[27] On February 14, 2006, he held a concert for Valentines Day for his fans where he sang some of his popular ballads. The concert was recorded and videotaped, with the main sponsors of the concert being Vodafone Greece and radio station Rythmos 94.9.[8] The live performance was later released as a CD/DVD in April 2006 titled Live Ballads, Rouvas' first live CD/DVD. The CD featured two new studio tracks, "Horis Kardia" (Without a heart) and an English version of "S'Eho Eroteftei" titled "I'm in Love with You".[28]
On April 3, 2006, Rouvas sang "Horis Kardia" (Without a Heart) at the Arion Music Awards, where he also won the award for "Best Pop Album" and "Best Pop Singer" for the album "S'Eho Eroteftei".[29] In the same month, Rouvas renewed his contract with Vodafone Greece, while production company Village Roadshow Productions Greece announced that Rouvas will star in their upcoming film.
In May 2006, the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 is held in Athens, Greece since Greece won it the year before. Rouvas was asked by ERT to host with Maria Menounos the semi-final and final in English, Greek and French.[30] At the semi-finals, Rouvas opened the show by singing Katrina and the Waves' song "Love Shine a Light" with Maria Menounos. For the voting intermission, Rouvas performed his song "I'm in Love With You".[31]
On June 14, 2006, Rouvas performed "Agapa Me" (Love me) and "Na M'Agapas" (You should love me) at the third MAD Video Music Awards.[32] Rouvas also won the awards for "Best Video by a Male artist" for "Na M'Agapas" and "Best Dressed Artist in a Video" for "Mila Tis". That same month, Rouvas also dubbed the Greek version of the Disney movie Cars. In the summer, filming begins on his debut feature-length movie Alter Ego.
On December 6, 2006, Rouvas released his eleventh studio album titled Iparhi Agapi Edo (There is love here). The songs "Ego Travo Zori" (I'm having a hard time) and "18 (Iprahi Agapi Edo)" became radio hits, while the song "Ola Gyro Sou Gyrizoun" (Everything revolves around you) composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos became a mega dance hit on Greek radios, and one of the most listened songs of 2007. All three of the songs peaked at number one on the airplay chart. One of the songs, "Mikros Titanikos (Se Latrevo)" (Little Titanic (I adore you)) was written especially for Rouvas by Greece's most successful singer Yiannis Parios, while his son Haris Varthakouris composed the music. The song eventually was released and became a hit, being used also to promote Rouvas' live album. The album Iparhi Agapi Edo debuted at number one, and reached 2× platinum.[8]

[edit] 2007: Alter Ego and This is My Live

In May 2007, the film Alter Ego by Village Roadshow Productions staring Rouvas was released.[1] It was one of the most expensive productions in Greece, but received mixed reviews. The soundtrack of the film was recorded by the cast and Rouvas, while the theme song to the movie "Zise Ti Zoi" ("Live Life") by Rouvas became a radio hit.[33] On June 29, 2008, Alter Ego was screened in Los Angeles at a Greek festival.[34]
In March, Rouvas started performances at club Boom in Thessaloniki with Despina Vandi.[35] At the end of April, Rouvas held a big concert in Syntagma Square as part of Vodafone Greece's promotional campaign. On September 10, 2007 he gave a concert at Lycabetus as part of a OPAP's campaign for voluntary blood donations. The concert was also recorded, and released as a CD/DVD on December 12, 2007 titled This Is My Live.[36] In the spring of 2008, Rouvas went on tour with Antonis Remos to Australia and North America.

[edit] 2008–present: Irthes and Eurovision Song Contest 2009

On May 19, 2008, Sakis Rouvas started singing with Peggy Zina at club Politia in Thessaloniki. A month later on June 17, Rouvas performed a new song composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos titled "+ Se Thelo" (And I want you) at the MAD Video Music Awards 2008 as the opening act for the show. His performance was dubbed as the best of the night by the Greek media as it included heavy choreography and elaborate lighting, as well as an overall Japanese inspired theme. The same night he won the award for "Male Artist of the Year" amongst three other nominees. In July 2008, the song was released as a digital single and as a radio promo and became a dance hit. It reached number one on the Greek airplay charts where it remained for 10 weeks, becoming one of the biggest hits of the summer. An official music video using footage from the video music awards was released at the end of the year.[37]
In July 2008 it was announced that Rouvas would be the host for the first season of the Greek version of The X Factor. The show premiered on channel ANT1 in Fall 2008,[38] and coincided with his performances with the Maggira sisters in a musical show at club STARZ, for the 2008-09 winter season.[39] On December 4, 2008, Rouvas premiered his winter season shows with the Maggira Sisters at club STARZ.[40][41]
Rouvas had stated in an interview on Nitro Radio in June that he would like to represent Greece in 2009 and on July 15, 2008, Hellenic Radio and Television (ERT) confirmed that Rouvas would once again be Greece's participant in the Eurovision Song Contest[42] and that Dimitris Kontopoulos will be the composer of the song.[43]
The ERT press conference was held on October 14. Sakis Rouvas was present at the conference as well as Dimitris Kondopoulos, Fokas Evangelinos and The Maggira sisters. It was revealed that Evangelinos will once again choreograph Rouvas' ESC performance along with Elias Lidakis. Rouvas also spoke about his girlfriend Katia Zygouli's expectancy in mid-November, hosting The X Factor, and about a film he has made in the United States that is due to be released in theaters in early 2009. Rouvas revealed that the film is a haunting psychological thriller that stars Martin Donovan and that the directors and producers of it have also collaborated with actors such as Jennifer Lopez in the films Enough and The Cell, but kept the rest of the information a secret.[44] For the time being, he is listed as a cast member for the role of "Abner Solvie", a charismatic killer, in an upcoming American thriller called Duress, which recently finished production.[45]
On October 25, 2008, Rouvas was Greece's representative in the OGAE Song Contest that was held in Zaragoza, Spain with the hit "Stous 31 Dromous," claiming the third place with 130 points, placing only behind Croatia and United Kingdom.[46]
On November 20, 2008, Rouvas released the song he wrote for his daughter, "Irthes" (You came) to radio stations.[47] On December 3, 2008, Rouvas released his 12th studio album titled Irthes, written primarily by Dimitris Kontopoulos.
Rouvas performed his three candidate songs at the Greek National Final on February 18, where "This Is Our Night" was the runaway winner with both the jury and the viewers, winning 81% of the vote. The song subsequently debuted at number one on the Greek iTunes chart, while Rouvas officially kicked off his promo tour in Bosnia and Herzigovina. Following that appearance, he went to Serbia where he also met with ?eljko Joksimovi?, a fellow entrant in the 2004 contest and host of the 2008 contest. There he gave many television, press, and radio interviews, while back in Athens, Mayor of Athens Nikitas Kaklamanis gave him his best wishes. On March 7, Rouvas appeared at the Russian National Final where he received positive reactions from the audience. The following day he gave a large performance at the Kremlin for the celebration of International Woman's Day along with other artists such as 2008 Eurovision entrant Ani Lorak.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Personal activities

Rouvas is fluent in Greek, English, and French, having presented the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in a mixture of all three languages.[48] He has previously recorded songs in all three, while he has also studied Turkish and Russian phonetically for recordings, namely for his 1997 collaboration with Burak Kut in Cyprus and for his Russian duet of his hit "Se Thelo San Trelos" with Philipp Kirkorov called "Kak Sumacheshkij Ya", that became a hit in Russia, being recorded in three different versions.
Rouvas has mentioned that personal fitness and health play an important role in his life. He has claimed that he does not drink alcohol or smoke, and does not allow anyone to smoke in his dressing room in order to preserve his voice.[2] He has said that being physically fit is not only important to him for the purpose of physical appearance, but also for the purpose of physical health, while it helps improve his psychological state.[44] In order to maintain a good physical condition, Rouvas participates in water-skiing, surfing, tennis, soccer, and skiing, while also taking part in extreme sports, claiming to have sky-dived from 9,000 feet.[2]
Rouvas has stated that spirituality and God are a very important part of his life, having credited his success to this factor. In an interview with Down Town Magazine, Rouvas stated "I am very thankful. I feel blessed. And everyday I thank God for that. Everyday. That is something that I didn't do in the past. Once, I didn't understand, I didn't value."[49]

[edit] Relationships

When he first moved to Athens, Rouvas rented a small apartment in Dafni, Attica where he lived with an English woman who he had been in a relationship with since he was in Corfu. Their relationship ended briefly after the release of Rouvas' debut album when Elias Psinakis became his manager and his priorities became more oriented towards his rising career.[50] The media has reported extensively on Rouvas' personal life over the years speculating on relationships with model Zeta Logotheti, Sofi Kantarou who was a Corfu local bar manager whom he had known from years earlier, and singer Elli Kokkinou.[50]
Rouvas was in his first public relationship for a little more than two years with Rebecca Wang,[50] an heiress who lived in London, England and was of Taiwanese origin, whose brother was an acquaintance of Psinakis. Many of their friends mentioned how they believed that they would soon get married. In late 2003, they attended a gala together in England, however, the relationship ended officially in mid-2004.[2][50]
Rouvas is currently in a relationship with Greek super model Katia Zygouli. They met in a commercial filming for Rouvas' first ad for Vodafone Greece where Zygouli played Rouvas' girlfriend who became jealous after seeing him pose in a photo with a female fan. Their relationship started subsequently. In 2005, the couple became public about their relationship after Rouvas' split with Wang, and were also rumored but never confirmed to be engaged, while rumors of a secret marriage were also proven false. That year, they also started living together at Rouvas' home in Neo Voutza.[50] They have been rumored to have broken up numerous times over the years. In July 2007, many news sources reported that their relationship was heading for an end, as Rouvas had started a fling with the super model Vanessa Hessler,[50] and as of November 2007, they were reported to have broken up. However, Rouvas ended his relationship with Hessler and was reunited with Zygouli. During that time news of her pregnancy broke out in Greece. In August, the two had a civil ceremony in Corfu not recognized as a marriage in the Greek Orthodox church, but would allow the baby to take Rouvas' surname by law. Zygouli was admitted to an Athens hospital the day prior to giving birth, and on November 2, 2008 she gave birth to the couple's first child, a healthy girl, near the noon hour. The birth of their baby was significant news in Greece, with many channels reporting it moments after its occurence. The media also discussed the fact that in their first appearance coming out of the hospital, Rouvas was the one holding the baby.[51][52] Subsequently, Greek media has sometimes since referred to the couple as being married, calling Zygouli his wife, however, in an interview with Eleonora Meleti on Star Channel during his Eurovision promotional tour, Rouvas stated that marriage is not in his plans with Zygouli, saying that although he understands that marriage is something that has been learned within society, he believes that they are happy enough as they are at the moment.[53]

[edit] Issues and controversy

While generally being very private about his personal life,[2] his fame in Greece has made Rouvas a target of the media, often being associated with numerous scandals. In the early 1990s, as his career was rising to new heights, Rouvas' mental state and well-being were questioned.[2] When he was called to do his military service in 1994, Rouvas had originally asked for a delay as he was about to release his highly anticipated album produced by Nikos Karvelas, Aima, Dakrya & Idrotas,[54] and he needed the time for the promotion of the album.[2][50][54] The startdate of his military service illy coincided with the time of the album's scheduled release date. The delay was denied,[54] while soon news broke out that Rouvas was refusing to fulfill his service. It was initially thought that the artist did not want to pull back from the spotlight during a time when his career was soaring, although the artist himself had claimed he could not fulfill his service at the time due to some psychological trauma that resulted in him suffering from severe agoraphobia, where he was unable to leave his home.[2][50][54] His claims were widely disbelieved: some media commented that agoraphobia was a strange condition for an entertainer,[2] while critics of Rouvas went as far as to accuse him of desertion.[2][54] Although other artists had also delayed their service for career reasons, Rouvas' case became a central news story at the time.[50] Rouvas was then immediately taken to the psychiatric hospital of Penteli for psychiatric evaluation. When he was alone in his room, Rouvas attempted suicide.[2][50][54] News of Rouvas' attempted suicide soon filled all the tabloids and Rouvas was featured on nearly all newspaper covers. This incident caused many to discuss Rouvas' mental health.[2] After the initial reactions by fans and the public subsided, Rouvas was forced to fulfill his military service, with a psychiatrist present on the scene, both to medicate him and make sure he would not cause harm to himself.[2][50] Due to serving in the military, Rouvas was forced to remove his earring and cut his signature long hair, something that is featured at the beginning of the video for "Aima, Dakrya & Idrotas".[2] While on the scene, Rouvas was constantly taunted by paparazzi[54] who would sneak into the campus and photograph and film him for constant television reports.[2][50] While at his service, manager Psinakis blamed Rouvas' psychiatrist for things that occurred in the military, claiming that he was secretly pourring psychotropic drugs into Rouvas' alcoholic beverages because he had a previous quarrel with him.[2][50]
In the summer of 2000,[2] Rouvas and Psinakis went on vacation in Mykonos along with a few other celebrities, namely comedian Lakis Lazopoulos, on a yacht that they were borrowing from a local chief of medicine. They were subsequently accused of drug possession, as the yacht was filled with various expensive narcotics.[2][50] The situation received huge publicity, with many reporters discussing whether Rouvas possibly had a drug addiction.[2][50] The doctor who owned the yacht later claimed that the narcotics belonged to him, however, all of the men were taken into questioning. Wanting to avoid going to court, Rouvas paid bail and did not give importance to the situation.[2][50] This incident would become one of the most infamous situations in Rouvas' career, as thousands of T-shirts were printed with the popular slogan at the time "Imoun ki ego sto kotero!" ("I was on the yacht too!").[2][50][55]

[edit] Current projects

• The filming for Rouvas' English language film Duress has wrapped up. The film will premiere in Poland and Russia in May, while it will be shown in the United States and the rest of Europe in September.[56]
• Rouvas will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 for Greece in May 2009. The public along with a jury will choose from three songs sung by Rouvas during a national final on February 18, 2009. Before the Eurovision semi-final, Rouvas will embark on a promotional tour around Europe to support his chosen song.
• Rouvas will release his first new English-language album since 2002 later in the year after his participation in Eurovision. It will include the song "Keep on Moving", the English version of "+ Se Thelo".[57]