Irthes


Irthes is the title of the 12th studio album by Greek singer Sakis Rouvas. The album was released on 3 December 2008 by Minos EMI and is his first new album since 2006. The album features 10 songs primarily composed by Dimitris Kontopoulos. 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, and once again Vodafone Greece.
In April, the album was repackaged to include Rouvas' 2009 Eurovision Song Contest entry "This Is Our Night", 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 Dimitris Kontopoulos. 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 Dimitris Kontopoulos, 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"
"Irthes"
"This Is Our Night"
"Ksehna To Prin Kai To Meta"

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 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 at number five, only coming behind Michalis Hatzigiannis' 7, Alkistis Protopsalti's Ki Eimaste Akoma Zondani, Antonis Remos' Alithies & Psemata, and Eleftheria Arvanitaki'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's album Apagorevmeno. 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

ChartPeak
position		Weeks on chartCertification
Greek Albums Chart218Platinum
Cypriot Album Chart110–
Top 50 Greek Albums of 200824--
Top 50 Greek and Foreign Albums of 200829--

Awards

Eurovision Song Contest
MAD Video Music Awards
Status Men of the Year Awards
Tashir Armenian Music Awards