''Irthes'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ηρθες''; English: ''You arrived'') is the title of the 12th studio album by

singer

Sakis Rouvas Anastasios "Sakis" Rouvas (, ; born 5 January 1972), also known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Sakis, is a Greeks, Greek singer, actor, businessman and former pole vaulter. Born in Corfu, Rouvas won medals with Greece's U18 and U20 national sp ...

. The album was released on 3 December 2008 by

Minos EMI Minos EMI is a record label, record company based in Athens, Greece. The company serves as the Greek record label and offices of the multinational Universal Music Group. EMI is credited for founding the record business in Greece in the 1930s, b ...

and is his first new album since 2006. The album features 10 songs primarily composed by

Dimitris Kontopoulos Dimitris T. Kontopoulos (; born November 9, 1971) is a Greek composer. Personal life Dimitris Kontopoulos was born in Athens, Greece on November 9, 1971. After graduating from the Ziridis school, he continued his studies in film scoring at Berkle ...

. The title track of the album, ''Irthes'', was written as a dedication to Rouvas' newborn baby girl. The main sponsors of the album are

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

, and once again

Vodafone Greece Vodafone Greece (officially known as Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company S.A, formerly Panafon) is the Greek subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc. In 2004 it was the leading mobile operator in Greece. Its headquarters are in Chal ...

. In April, the album was repackaged to include Rouvas' 2009

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

entry "

This Is Our Night "This Is Our Night" is a song by Greek singer Sakis Rouvas, from the album '' Irthes''. The song music was composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos and it lyrics were written by Craig Porteils and Cameron Giles-Webb. It in the Eurovision Song Contest ...

", along with the two other songs he sang at the Greek national final, which are included in English and in Greek. The album was subsequently renamed ''This Is Our Night''. The album was ranked as the fourth best Greek album of 2009 by '' Ethnos''.

Conception

Background and recording

''Irthes'' marks Rouvas' 12th studio album in his career and first new album in two years. Rouvas began working on the album in the summer 2008, collaborating mainly with

. The title track of the album was written for Rouvas' daughter. It is expected that the album will be repackaged in Spring 2009 with Rouvas' Eurovision songs. The album is mainly composed by

, with Sanny X making a contribution to one song. Lyricists on the album include Giannis Rentoumis, Giannis Doxas, Nikos Gritsis, Thanos Papanikolaou, Vicky Gerothodorou, and Pigi Konstantinou.

Track listing

Original release

''This Is Our Night'' (2009)

Singles

"+ Se Thelo" :The lead single of the album titled " + Se Thelo" (Kai Se Thelo; And I want you) was released in July 2008 as a digital download. It is a dance song composed by

and was first presented live by Rouvas on 17 June 2008 at the '' MAD Video Music Awards 2008''. The performance featured complex choreography and lighting, as well as an overall Japanese inspired theme on the background video screen and with the dancers' costumes. Footage from the performance was later used for the official video clip of the song. After its digital release, the song became a dance hit and has reached number one on the Greek airplay charts as well as the Greek iTunes chart for many weeks. "Irthes" :The second single, and title track of the album, is the ballad "Irthes", not to be confused with the same named

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

track of the previous album '' Iparhi Agapi Edo''. "Irthes" was released to radio stations on 20 November 2008, and has music by

with lyrics by Yiannis Doxas. The song became a moderate hit, peaking at number 18 on the Greek Airplay Chart, however, it is one of Rouvas' lower charting songs. The first music video, directed by Kostas Kapetanidis, premiered two days later and features Rouvas singing in front of a microphone in the studio. A second, more sophisticated music video was released shortly after, directed by La Boo, portraying Rouvas on a dark rural road running away from a woman who is slowly approaching him in a car. The driver shifts into high gear to run him over, although Rouvas super-physically performs a backward flip while propelling himself off the car in midair, thus landing securely behind the car feet-first and fully intact. The driver then turns around and once again chases Rouvas. "This Is Our Night" :The third single from the album and the first released after the re-release is Rouvas'

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Eu ...

entry "

". The song peaked at number one on the Greek Airplay Chart and Greek/International Airplay Chart and for three and two consecutive weeks, respectively; it remained in the top 10 of the former for 10 weeks. "Ksehna To Prin Kai To Meta" :The final single from the album is "Ksehna To Prin Kai To Meta". The music video will premiere on MAD TV in September.

Releases

Release history

Promotion

Sakis Rouvas was the host of the Greek "The X Factor". On 28 November 2008 episode, Rouvas performed the title track "Irthes" live on the show. He also performed "Vimata" and "Hamogela" in subsequent episodes. On 4 December 2008, Sakis Rouvas premiered his winter season shows with the

Maggira Sisters Betty Maggira () and Mathildi Maggira (), also known as the Maggira Sisters (), are two Greeks, Greek television presenters and comedians. They are known for hosting the Greek Eurovision Song Contest selections and also being the commentators at ...

at STARZ where he performed songs off of the album. The show was a commercial success and extended to late February. A special presentation of the show was held on Love Radio called "Sakis Live in Love". Rouvas was also Greece's Eurovision participant for 2009.

Reception

Critical response

As with Rouvas' last studio album '' Iparhi Agapi Edo'', ''Irthes'' received generally favorable reviews, although the general consensus was that it was not one of Rouvas' biggest efforts. The album earned Rouvas a number of awards and nominations, including wins at the MAD Video Music Awards for "Male Artist of the Year" and "Artist of the Year" in 2009, and the "Singer of the Year" at the Status Men of the Year Awards in 2010.

Commercial performance

''Irthes'' debuted on week 50 of IFPI's

Greek Albums Chart International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece, or simply IFPI Greece, is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification ...

at number five, only coming behind

Michalis Hatzigiannis Michalis Hatzigiannis (; born 5 November 1978) is a Greek Cypriot singer. He served as the Deputy Minister of Culture for Cyprus under President Christodoulides, from March 1, 2023 until July 11, 2023. From 2000 to 2010 he received over 30 s ...

' '' 7'', Alkistis Protopsalti's ''Ki Eimaste Akoma Zondani'',

Antonis Remos Antonis Remos (, ; born Antonios Paschalidis, ; 19 June 1970) is a Greek singer. Biography Early life He was born in Düsseldorf, West Germany. Later his family moved back to their native Thessaloniki, Greece, where he finished school. During h ...

' '' Alithies & Psemata'', and

Eleftheria Arvanitaki Eleftheria Arvanitaki (Greek: Ελευθερία Αρβανιτάκη) (born 17 October 1957 in Piraeus) is a Greek folk singer. She originates from the island of Icaria. Arvanitaki has worked with musicians such as Cesária Évora, Arto Tunç ...

's ''Kai Ta Matia Kai I Kardia'', where it also remained for a second week. The album moved up to number two in its third week on the chart, behind

Anna Vissi Anna Vissi (, , ; born 20 December 1957) is a Greek Cypriot singer. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos EMI#Merger with Minos Matsas ...

's album ''

Apagorevmeno ''Apagorevmeno'' (Greek alphabet, Greek: ''Απαγορευμένο''; English: ''Forbidden'') is Greeks, Greek singer Anna Vissi's 25th studio album, released in Greece and Cyprus on December 9, 2008, by Sony BMG, Sony BMG Greece. It is Vissi's fi ...

''. In its fourth week, the album dropped to number 15, where it remained for its fifth week as well, however, it moved back up to number 6 in its sixth week. It was certified gold after its fourteenth week, denoting shipments of 15 thousand copies, and as of the week 11/2009 charts, it has charted for 15 weeks. From March 2009 to October 2010, IFPI Greece closed operations, making it impossible to track the album's sales through its database after that point. In 2009, IFPI lowered its thresholds to 12 thousand for platinum status, meaning ''Irthes'' would have automatically been converted to platinum status as its previous certified shipments had surpassed that amount, although any further sales are unknown. The album placed at number twenty-four on IFPI's Year-end chart for ''Top 50 Greek albums of 2008'', and number twenty-nine on the ''Top 50 Greek and Foreign Albums of 2008''.

Charts

Awards

Eurovision Song Contest * 4th place, 110 points – Semi-final ("This Is Our Night") * 7th place, 120 points – Final ("This Is Our Night") MAD Video Music Awards * Best Pop Video ("Irthes" — Nominated) * Male Artist of the Year ("This Is Our Night") * Artist of the Year ("This Is Our Night") * Best Direction (La Boo for "Irthes" — Nominated) * Fashion Icon of the Year ("Irthes" — Nominated) * Best Line that Became a Quote ("This Is Our Night" for the line "this is our night" — Nominated) Status Men of the Year Awards * Singer of the Year Tashir Armenian Music Awards * Award of Hope ("This Is Our Night")

Notes

{{Authority control 2008 albums 2009 albums Albums produced by Dimitris Kontopoulos Albums produced by Sakis Rouvas 2000s Greek-language albums Minos EMI albums Sakis Rouvas albums