Greece

__**//Artist Information//**__ Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas was born on [|January 5th, 1972] in Corfu, Greece. [|Rouvas] is a popular Greek singer who specializes in pop rock, rock, dance-pop, and some occasional composing. He has also tried his luck as a [|film actor] and a "television presenter." The 37 year old Greek artist released his first album in 1991 titled "Anastasios 'Sakis' Rouvas."


 * //"This is Our Night"//**

He witnessed some success after the release of his self titled album. In 2004 he took 3rd place in [|Eurovision]. A year later in 2005, Rouvas won the World Music Award for World's [|Best-Selling Greek Artist]. He followed that accomplishment by co-hosting [|Eurovision] in 2006. In addition to these accomplishments Rouvas also won the Ipekci International Award for Understanding and Cooperation after concert on the [|Green Line] in Cyprus.

Rouvas has been chosen to participate in Eurovision twice. He is considered Greece's most successful pop artist. Rouvas appears in music, movies, television, magazines, commercials (especially for Vodafone), etc. The people universally agree that he is what a Greek man should be - making him very popular with woman of all ages. He has a self-proclaimed wife (not actually married) and a daughter. He doesn't drink, smoke, or seem to get in any kind of trouble. In 1994, however, Rouvas has to fulfill his service with the Greek military, but asked to delay it because he had an album release that coincided with it. The delay was refused and he was forced to enlist into the army. However, around that time, press releases said that the artists suffered from agoraphobia (the fear of having a panic attack in a setting with there are no easy means of escape) - which the government thought was odd for an entertainer. The artists had to be taken in for psychiatric evaluation and even attempted to commit suicide while in their care. Rouvas was also involved in a drug scandal that the media had blown out of proportion. Rouvas and many other celebrities were on a boat vacationing around Greece with many expensive narcotics. Rouvas paid the bail after being convicted, and immediately after, t-shirts that said "I was on the boat too!" started to emerge into the public.
 * __Rouvas' Controversy__**


 * __Song Information__** The song that will be sung by Sakis is “This is Our Night”. The song was written by Graig Porteils and Cameron Giles-Webb. Also, the song was composed by Dimitris Konopoulos. The song is sung in English. There is little controversy over Sakis's performance and Greece's choice of him. Some people/media believe that Sakis was mostly picked because of his popularity in Greece. However, some people are happy with Greece's choice and do support Sakis in Eurovision. The song is an up-beat kind of dance song. It is all electronic type sounds, no real instruments can be heard or distinguished. The sound in the song is just supposed to be background noise, this song was meant for the lyrics to be clearly heard. If it had to be put into a genre, it would be pop/dance. The song is about rising up and taking control of your life, overcoming obstacles in life and living life.

Greece has been involved with Eurovision since 1974. The country, however, has not participated every single year since then, for multiple reasons. In 1974, they had withdrew from the competition held in Sweden to protest a Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus have always had close ties. The majority of people in Cyprus are from greece, or are of greece decent, and there for they share not only historical, but also linguistical, backrounds. The two contries also share the same musical industry, which allows the artists chosen to compete in the Eurovision contest not only popular in greece, but in Cyrus as well. Every year, Greece has awarded Cyprus 12 points, and vise versa. In 82, they had broken the rule of song originality - and actually had to pay a fine. they also chose to not participate, because the artist chosen to write the song, was not up to par. Other reasons for not participating also included things like the country's economy. When Greece does participate, they usually make it into the the top 10 semi-finals according to [|wikipedia]. Since 2004, the country has been ranked number 3 (2004), 1 (2005) (also by Sakis), 9 (2006), 7 (2007), 3 (2008). They people are very serious about the competition and expect the artist to make in into the semi-finals. therefor Greece chooses its best artists to compete. Eurovision is the highest watch show in the country. the country uses its most famous artists to participate, and in 2005, the country had won the competition. the 2006 Eurovision contests were held in Athens.
 * __Greece and Eurovision__**