| Parafora Παράφορα | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 14 December 2010[1] | |||
| Recorded | October 2009–16 November 2010 Vox Recording Studios, Studio Workshop, Studio Odeon, and Studio C&C, Athens, Greece | |||
| Genre | Pop, rock, electronic, R&B, dance | |||
| Length | 51:08 | |||
| Language | Greek | |||
| Label | EMI/Minos | |||
| Producer | Playmen, Beetkraft, Leonidas "Freakchild" Chantzaras, Thodoros Darmas, Nektarios Kokkinos (co-exec), Dimitris Kontopoulos, Alex Leon, Sakis Rouvas (exec.), Soumka | |||
| Sakis chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Parafora | ||||
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Parafora (Greek: Παράφορα, pronounced [paˈrafora]; English: Madly) is the 13th studio album by Greek recording artist Sakis Rouvas and 15th album overall. It was released by Minos EMI in Greece and Cyprus on 14 December 2010 and distributed digitally ten days later to all Eurozone countries and elsewhere. Along with the standard retail edition, a special edition was also sold, which included a bonus pictorial fan magazine with lyrics.
Recording dates for the album lasted over one year and concluding in November 2010. Rouvas collaborated with several songwriters and producers, including previous collaborators Dimitris Kontopoulos and Natalia Germanou and the rest mostly new collaborators, including recent hit makers Freakchild, Playmen, and Beetkraft. Rouvas continues to serve as executive producer and financier, a role he had adopted since 2006. The release offers new sounds and themes for Rouvas, while still focusing on his established pop, rock, and electronic genres. There are a total of 15 tracks as well as four music videos of the first three singles all on an Enhanced CD. The album was inspired by Rouvas' upcoming 20th anniversary as an entertainer in 2011; he drew inspiration from his experiences, the relationship with his fans, and the music and messages he had created during the past two decades and combined all of these elements into one album, which he described as the best of his career. The album represents the turn Rouvas is taking in the next phase of his career.
Trident resumed its role as album sponsor and in promotion held a contest, the largest ever of its kind in Greece. Samples of the songs were uploaded by Rouvas leading up to the release, causing unprecedented traffic on the internet for such uploads by a Greek artist. The initial reaction from the mass consumer audience and professional music critics was largely favourable. Rouvas supported the album through his winter 2009–2010 resident show The S Club, a spring 2010 summer resident show at Politia Live Clubbing and a simultaneous national tour, as well as his 2010–11 resident show Face2Face. He later embarked at The S Club at Thalassa in 2011 and Underworld S Club at Athens Arena in 2011–2012. Parafora debuted at number two on the Greek IFPI Top 75 Albums and topped the chart for two consecutive weeks. It has so far spent ten non-consecutive weeks in the top ten. After one week of sales it was announced by Rouvas himself that the album's initial shipments were enough to warrant a double platinum certification. The album sold thousands of digital copies and became the most successful albums of the year. It is awaiting a multi-platinum certification on 7 December 2011. Prior to its release, the album had already generated three chart-topping singles: "Spase To Hrono", "Emena Thes", and the title track, while "I Dio Mas" followed and "Nekros Okeanos" was confirmed as a future single. "Kalokairi Kai Fos" was also released as a promotional single while "Gia Mas" also charted. The album and its singles have earned Rouvas several awards. The first single was nominated for a record-breaking five MAD Video Music Awards, winning three—including Artist of the Year—and a Balkan Music Award. Rouvas also won an MTV Europe Music Award and two Status Men of the Year Awards, while he won three MAD Video Music Awards in 2011, including the two most coveted prizes, Video of the Year and Artist of the Year for "Parafora" and "I Dio Mas", respectively.