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Sakis Rouvas (born January 5, 1972 in the island of Corfu) is a Greek singer and gymnast. Rouvas was signed in 1991 by record company Polygram. A few months later, he performed at the Thessaloniki Song Festival. His first single was called Parta. He has won several awards at the Hellenic Music Awards including Best New Singer, Best Song and Best Stage Performance. He has also played a role in reconciliation efforts with Turkey. In 1997, he performed on stage with Turkish singer Barat Kud in a concert in UN-controlled territory on Cyprus. For this, he was awarded the International Abdi Ipekci Prize for understanding and co-operation. He has represented Greece in the pole vault. In 2004, he was selected to represent Greece in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, performing the song Shake It by Nick Terzis. Clearly learning the lesson from the previous two winners of the contest Marie N and Sertab Erener that, in an era of televoting, a Eurovision entry must now also be a visual spectacle in order to succeed, Sakis produced a raunchy display in which he at one stage ripped the clothes off his two attractive female dancers, leaving them only in shimmering attire that barely covered a tenth of their bodies. The dancers then repaid the compliment by ripping off his jacket, all of which held the attention of the viewing public long enough for them to vote the catchy "Shake It" into third place, equalling Greece's best ever result by Antique in 2001. He will be the host for Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, along with Maria Menounos As a pop culture Rouvas is the first Greek male pop singer and possibly the only famous for attracting 'fangirls' driving them in extreme (compared to Greek standards) reactions. They are considered extreme and often compared to how foreign girls of the same age react for world-wide pop stars like Michael Jackson, like shouting, crying, pulling clothes etc. This singularity makes Rouvas a pop culture symbol in Greece, and an object of satire among mimes and comedians. They often impersonate him, mimicing in a crude way his over-performance, or satirising the over-reactions of his fans. Rouvas is often criticised or even hated by enemies of the mainstream, like intellectuals and is often referred as a typical example of this trend. His sexual preferences have been debated, and often was considered to be a homosexual although he never indicated or admitted anything concerning this. This ambiguity is said to be intentional as a merchantising trick. At a time urban legends have been flaring up, like that he had a secret marriage with his manager, Elias Psinakis. This also led to an insulting, according to him, question concerning his 'preference towards boys' in an interview for a French magazine. In recent years however, Rouvas openly makes appearances accompanied by his girlfriends, Rebecca Wang and the Greek model Katia Zygouli.
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