Eurovision can be treated differently. However, this competition, during its long history, made famous many artists who later became stars not only in their own country, but also abroad. The latter include the Greek singer Sakis Rouvas, whose biography is devoted to this article.
Parents
The singer was born in 1972 on the Greek island of Corfu, in the family of Kostas and Anna-Maria Rouvas (maiden name Panaretu). The boy's father worked as a driver, and his mother worked as a saleswoman in a duty-free shop at the local airport. After the birth of Sakis, Kostas and Anna-Maria had another boy, who was named Tolis.
Early years
At the age of 10, Sakis Rouvas (biography, personal life are presented below) made his first debut on the theater stage in the production of I Karharies Itan Anthropi. This work was followed by others. In addition, the boy taught himself to play the guitar and became interested in foreign pop music.
When Sakisexperienced the difficulties of adolescence, his parents divorced. He and his brother were forced to move to another part of the island of Corfu, where their paternal grandparents lived. Soon Kostas married for the second time, and Sakis Rouvas (about the biography, wife and children information is available below) had to go to work so as not to be a burden on his family.
Choice of profession
Problems in the family did not prevent the young man from becoming a member of his country's national pole vault team. But the scene attracted the young man, and he decided to devote himself to music.
Already in high school, singer Sakis Rouvas, whose biography today inspires success in thousands of Greek boys and girls from poor families, began to perform in front of classmates, performing world-famous hits of the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
After school, the young man sang for a while in hotels and nightclubs, and at the age of 17 he left for Patras, hoping to become a famous artist.
Career start
In 1991, Sakis Rouvas (see above for his childhood biography) performed for the first time on the stage of the Athens Show Center. He was noticed by representatives of the record company PolyGram and offered to sign a contract. A few months later, Sakis Rouvas made his debut at the music competition in Thessaloniki with the song Par ta and became the winner. Around the same period, the singer's debut album was released, which immediately took first place in the Greek chart.
In September 1992, the singer's fans receivedthe opportunity to buy his 2nd album Min Antistekesai, which took Rouvas' popularity to even greater heights.
In November 1993, the singer released his third album. It was called Gia Sena Sakis Rouvas and later won the title of gold. Of the songs included in it, the single Kane Me received special recognition from the audience, which became a radio hit and held high positions in the charts for several weeks. The songs To Ksero Eisai Moni and Ksehaseto were also successful.
The singer's work from 1993 to 2000
Sakis Rouvas, whose biography you already know as a child, recorded his 4th album in 1994 together with famous Greek performers Natalia Germanou and Nikos Karvelas. It was released under the name Aima, Dakrua kai Idrotas and went platinum. The album included songs by Ela Mou and Ksama, which later became very popular. They are included in the programs of almost all Rouvas concerts to this day.
Scandal
Interestingly, while working on Aima, Dakrua kai Idrotas, Rouvas was called up for military service. The young man asked the military department for a delay in order to be able to complete work on this project. However, his request was denied. Then information was leaked to the press that Rouvas demanded to be released from military service, referring to the fact that he suffers from a rare mental illness - agoraphobia. The singer was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Penteli for an evaluation of his mental he alth, where he was rumored to have tried to commit suicide. Be that as it may, Sakis still had to repay his debt to the Motherland, while he was veryworried that he was forced to part with long hair and remove the earring. Throughout his military service, he was closely followed by the paparazzi, and he gave interviews to the press several times.
After the army
Fortunately, a short stay in the ranks of the Greek armed forces did not affect the career of Sakis Rouvas, whose biography is always the object of close attention of journalists. In 1996, he released his next music album Tora Arhizoun Ta Diskola, which went gold. He was invited to perform in one of the prestigious nightclubs in the Greek capital together with Anna Vissi, and his fans opened the SRFC fan club, which became one of the largest in Greece.
In 1997, Rouvas recorded the song Se Thelo, Me Thelis. This duet with Anna Vissi was included in the singer's album called Travma and was a great success.
In the spring of 1997, Sakis Rouvas (see below for biography, children and wife) became a participant in a UN action organized to reconcile the warring parties to the smoldering territorial conflict in Cyprus. Rouvas performed on the same stage with Turkish singer Burak Kut, urging people to forget about enmity.
The result of this event was the awarding of the international Ipeksi prize to Sakis, which had previously been awarded to many prominent politicians. However, some Greek organizations and media accused Rouvas of betrayal.
The end of the 90s was marked for the singer by the release of his fifth album and collaboration with the Minos Amy record company.
The real event in the musical life of Athens in 1998 wasrelease of the album Kati apo Mena. For its presentation, a live concert was organized in one of the largest and most popular music stores in Athens. The album went gold and later went platinum.
Career in the early 2000s
In March 2000, Sakis Rouvas released his next album 21st Akatallilos, which was certified double platinum and topped the charts for a long time.
An important milestone in the singer's career was in 2004, when the singer took 3rd place at the next Eurovision Song Contest held in Istanbul.
Greek singer Sakis Rouvas, whose biography in his homeland is known to every fan of pop music, in 2004 participated in various events as part of the Olympic Games in Athens. The singer took part in the relay race and performed at the closing ceremony, where he, along with other stars of the Greek scene, performed several well-known folk songs.
At the end of 2004, Rouvas first sang a duet with Russian pop king Philip Kirkorov. The song became popular not only in Greece, but also in Russia. A clip was filmed for it, which included scenes against the backdrop of the monuments of St. Petersburg.
In March 2006, at the 5th Arion Awards, Sakis Rouvas won 2 awards at once for his new album S'Eho Erotefthei in the nominations "Best Pop Artist" and "Best Pop Album".
A year later, the singer became one of the jury members of the Greek version of "People's Artist", which raised his popularity rating to a new level.
Creative achievements of the singer over the past decade
The Istanbul performance of the singer at Eurovision was not the only one. In May 2009, in Moscow, Sakis Rouvas took part in the 54th Eurovision Song Contest and took 7th place, presenting the song This is Our Night to the audience. For the singer, the maximum score was given by viewers from Albania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. From Armenia, he received 10 points, and from Romania - 8. In addition, in 2009, Rouvas gave a big concert at the Panathinaikos stadium.
In December 2010, Sakis Rouvas (biography, wife and children were repeatedly discussed in the media) released the Parafora music album, which immediately took the lead in the Greek chart and became platinum. After the release of this song collection, Sakis Rouvas focused on organizing his concerts and took part in several popular television shows.
Business
In 2010, Sakis Rouvas started investing. For investing his money earned in the musical field, he chose the field of entertainment. First, the singer opened The S Club, which subsequently burned down, most likely as a result of the intrigues of competitors, and then the EDO sushi club. Somewhat later, the artist became the owner of the franchise, as well as 25 percent of the shares of one of the well-known Greek brands.
Sakis Rouvas (biography): marital status
In 2003, while shooting an advertisement for the Vodafone brand, Rouvas met a popular Greek actress andmodel Katya Zyguli. Soon, young people began to live together, but tried their best to hide their relationship from the media. Several years passed before Sakis announced that he and Katya were a couple.
In the spring of 2008, it became known that Ziguli was pregnant, and on November 2 she gave birth to a girl named Anastasia. Sakis chose Emmanuel Pavlata as the godmother for his daughter. Although in an interview given after the birth of his first child, Rouvas said that marriage was not part of their couple's plans, a year later it was not hidden from the attentive gaze of journalists that a diamond engagement ring sparkled on Katya's finger.
October 15, 2011 Sakis and his faithful and incredibly beautiful girlfriend became parents for the second time. They had a son, who was named Alexandros. The couple had two more children (a son and a daughter) in 2013 and 2016, and on July 3, 2017, 14 years after they met, Sakis Rouvas finally married Katya Ziguli.
The wedding celebration was lavish and covered by all the Greek media.
Now you know what creative path brought the popular Greek singer Sakis Rouvas to the pop Olympus. Biography, family and details of the artist's personal life are also known to you. It remains to be hoped that the singer will continue to delight his fans with new hits that will be popular even far beyond his native country.
