Nikos Sofis

Nikolaos "Nikos" Sofis[1] (Greek: Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Σοφής; born 10 May 1992 in Munich, Germany), is a Greek sports manager and lyricist, from Larissa, Greece.[2] He used to serve as vice president for Greek Superleague club AEL.[3] Since 2011, he also is engaged in songwriting, best known for his bids in the Eurovision Song Contest.[4] In 2019, together with Sebastian Ekstrand, he formed the EDM and electronic pop project VoColor.[5]

Nikos Sofis
Born (1992-05-10) May 10, 1992
Munich, Germany
Nationality Greek
Alma materAmerican College of Greece
Occupation
Years active
  • 2011–present (songwriter)
  • 2014–present (sports manager)

Personal life

Born in Munich, Germany, and growing up close by to Frankfurt, he attended the Frankfurt International School from where he graduated in 2011. In 2013, he attended the EU Business School in Barcelona, Spain, where he began his sports management studies. In 2014, he continued his studies at the American College of Greece in Athens from where he obtained a bachelor's degree in 2018.[2] He is fluent in Greek, German, and English.

Sports management

AE Vounaina

2014–2015

Sofis was appointed as second vice president at the beginning of the sixth tiered B' EPSL 2014–15 season, due to his sports management studies. Having been relegated in the previous season, the aim of the team and the new governing body was to return the team to the fifth tiered A1 EPSL. The team quickly managed to deliver results, assuring Vounaina winning the B' EPSL at the end of the season, returning to A1 EPSL as planned.[6] Sofis resigned from his position on 9 March 2015.[7]

2016–2019

For the 2016–17 A1 EPSL season, Sofis returned to the board of AE Vounaina. In his first season back with the team, Vounaina barely missed out, finishing third, on promoting to the fourth tiered A' EPSL. However, on 10 August 2017, it got announced that Vounaina got promoted to the A' EPSL, due to another team not submitting their license. This marks the first time Vounaina will be playing in the highest amateur league.[8]

In the A' EPSL 2017–18 season, and as newcomers to the highest Greek amateur division, AE Vounaina faced several issues throughout the whole season and were relegated back to the A1 EPSL, after going through the relegation playoffs.

Back in the A1 EPSL, the 2018–19 season was meant to bring the team back up to the A' EPSL, which also looked like a goal to be achieved, but during the second half of the season things didn't work out as planned. The team ended up in fourth position, thus barely missing out on the three promotion spots.

During the 2019–20 season, the focus was heavily set on returning the team to top amateur division. On 7 June 2019, it was announced that Sofis took charge as caretaker president.[9] Vounaina, as the big favorite of the category, started the season as expected and won match after match. With the team performing steadily, Sofis announced his resignation from the position he was holding on 11 November 2019, stating that the team is on a secure path and that it's "the right time to step down and give on the presidency".[10]

AEL

2016–2018

On 9 September 2016, Greek Superleague team AEL proposed the inclusion of Sofis into the executive board to its stakeholders.[11] As of 24 September 2016, Sofis has been elected and announced as third vice president.[12] The team managed to reach the goals set by the administrative board, which expected the team to not get relegated and remain in the Superleague.

During the 2017–18 season, AEL managed an impressive run in the Greek Cup, making it to the semifinals. The team was eventually eliminated by AEK Athens through the away goals rule. On 4 October 2017, Sofis announced his resignation as vice president.[13] However, on 24 November 2017, Sofis got announced as member of the newly formed executive board. On 23 September 2018, Sofis announced his resignation from the position he was holding at the club.[3]

Songwriting
Songwriting
Genres
Occupation(s)Lyricist
Years active2011–present
Associated acts

Since 2011, Sofis also has been engaged in songwriting, best known for his bids in the Eurovision Song Contest.[4] During the years he has collaborated with a variety of composers and artists from across Europe.

Entries in Eurovision Song Contest pre-selections
Year Country Artist Song Songwriters Result
2014 Romania Ovidiu Anton "Love Will Find a Way" Primož Poglajen, Erik Mjörnell, Michael Gunnarsson, Nikos Sofis –
2015 Belarus Alen Hit "Alive" Will Taylor, Nikos Sofis
Moldova Anewta C "Unshakable" Will Taylor, Nikos Sofis
Switzerland Ryan Axisa "C'est Moi" Alex Leu, Ryan Axisa, Nikos Sofis
2016 Moldova Anna Gulko "Never Let Go" Will Taylor, Georgios Kalpakidis, Nikos Sofis 12th (Semifinal) [14]
Switzerland Omar Naber "Take Me Far" Will Taylor, Nikos Sofis –
2017 Belarus Alen Hit "Let's Make a Party" Alen Hit, Nikos Sofis
Lithuania Audrius Janonis "Run" Georgios Kalpakidis, Mickey Huskic, Nikos Sofis 8th (First Round) [15]
Moldova Dana Rogovski "Gave You Everything" Mattias Törnell, David Gällring, Nikos Sofis –
Moldova Max Fall "If I Could" Georgios Kalpakidis, Sebastian Ekstrand, Nikos Sofis
2018 Lithuania Valdas Lacko "Dying Inside" Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson, Nikos Sofis 10th (First Round) [16]
Moldova Vera Țurcanu "Black Heart" Vera Țurcanu, David Gällring, Karl Sahlin, Nikos Sofis 2nd [17]
2019 Belarus Angelika Pushnova "Stop Breathing" Georgios Kalpakidis, Sebastian Ekstrand, Nikos Sofis – [18]
Iceland Ívar Daníels "Þú bætir mig" ("Make Me Whole") Stefán Þór Steindórsson, Richard Micallef, Nikos Sofis 3rd (Semifinal) [19]
Moldova Vera Țurcanu "Cold" Vera Țurcanu, David Gällring, Karl Sahlin, Nikos Sofis 3rd [20]
Poland Clödie "Devil in Disguise" Linda Dahl, Jimmy Glavå, Peter Dahl, Nikos Sofis – [21]
2020 Belarus Angelika Pushnova "True Love" Oleg Sidorov, Anastasia Belyavskaya, Nikos Sofis 6th [22]
Belarus July "Every Hour" Niklas Bergqvist, Simon Johansson, Nikos Sofis – [23]
Moldova Catarina Sandu "Die For You" Dimitri Stassos, Jennifer Aalto Kallunki, Nikos Sofis 4th [24]
Moldova Maxim Zavidia "Take Control" Maxim Zavidia, Alexey Streltsov, Nikos Sofis 3rd [25]
2021 Belarus Kazna "Braids" Ekaterina Shokhina, Alexey Streltsov, Nikos Sofis [26]

Additional contest participations
Year Contest Location Artist Song Songwriters Result
2014 New Talent Song Contest Sweden Ryan Axisa "C'est Moi" Alex Leu, Ryan Axisa, Nikos Sofis 3rd
2015 Summer Hit Song Contest Valletta, Malta Ryan Axisa "C'est Moi" Alex Leu, Ryan Axisa, Nikos Sofis 16th
YourSong Online Contest Russia Alen Hit "Alive" Will Taylor, Nikos Sofis 1st

Further songwriting credits
  • 2016: "Stand" by Adrian Aron
  • 2016: "Come To Me" by Sebastian Ekstrand
  • 2017: "Hold On" by Sebastian Ekstrand feat. Tobias Österblom
  • 2017: "The Whole World" by Litesound
  • 2017: "Gravity" by Dana Rogovski feat. Invaders
  • 2017: "Conquer My Heart" by Alen Hit
  • 2018: "Don't Leave Me Out" by Tomasz Trzeszczyński
  • 2018: "Breaking the Tide" by Escape the Day
  • 2018: "Invisible" by Phrenia
  • 2018: "Hypnotized" by Samra
  • 2018: "Pretty Little Liar" by OTREYA
  • 2019: "Tears & Blood" by Michael W.
  • 2019: "Fire Burns Within" by Clödie
  • 2019: "Let Me Go" by Clödie
  • 2019: "Savior" by VoColor
  • 2020: "Contagious" by Kristel Lisberg
  • 2020: "Until the End" by VoColor feat. Eldar
  • 2020: "Against the World" by Clödie
  • 2020: "Come To Me (2020 Pop Edit)" by Sebastian Ekstrand
  • 2020: "Shake It" by Sunstroke Project feat. Fox Banger

VoColor
VoColor
Origin
Genres
Years active2019–present
Associated acts
Members

VoColor are a Swedish-Greek EDM and electronic pop project formed in 2019, consisting of Swedish singer-songwriter Sebastian Ekstrand and Greek lyricist Nikos Sofis.[5]

Ekstrand and Sofis first met and started working in early-2016, resulting in Ekstrand's solo single "Come To Me".[27] With both sides being satisfied with the collaboration, Sofis involved Ekstrand on the song "If I Could" for Moldovan artist Max Fall, a song that was submitted to represent Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The same year, the two worked on Ekstrand's next solo single, "Hold On". During the same year, Ekstrand involved Sofis into the writing process of Escape the Day's comeback single "Breaking the Tide", released in early-2018.[28] Ekstrand and Sofis have also worked together on the song "Hypnotized", released in 2018, by popular Azerbaijani pop star Samra.[29] In 2019, Ekstrand and Sofis collaborated once again and wrote the song "Stop Breathing" for Angelika Pushnova, who tried to represent Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.[30]

In late-2019, Ekstrand and Sofis decided to form VoColor and released their debut single "Savior" on 6 December 2019. Following the release of the debut single, on 10 April 2020 VoColor released the remix EP, Savior: Remixed, containing five alternate versions of the song. The orchestral version of "Savior" peaked at #62 on the Hungarian Apple Music Classical Charts.[31] On 22 May 2020, they released their second single, "Until the End", featuring Eurovision Song Contest 2011 winner Eldar from Azerbaijan.[32] The song peaked at #28 in the Azerbaijani iTunes Pop charts and reached #49 on the Azerbaijani iTunes charts.[33] On 2 October 2020, the group released the first of two remix versions for "Until the End", by Dutch producer Zerotonine. As announced on the groups Facebook page, a second remix of "Until the End" by US producer Austin Leeds, followed on 30 October. The "Until the End (Zerotonine Remix)" peaked at #97 on the Swiss iTunes Dance charts. An orchestral remix of "Until the End" was released on 4 December. On New Year's Eve, Vocolor released the Until the End EP, containing all of the previously released versions of the song as well as the previously unreleased instrumental version.

Members

Extended plays
  • 2020: Savior: Remixed
  • 2020: Until the End

Singles
  • 2019: "Savior"
  • 2020: "Until the End" (feat. Eldar)

Promotional singles
  • 2020: "Savior (RÆVHEN Remix)"
  • 2020: "Until the End (Zerotonine Remix)" (feat. Eldar)
  • 2020: "Until the End (Austin Leeds Remix)" (feat. Eldar)
  • 2020: "Until the End (Orchestral Remix)" (feat. Eldar)

References
  1. "Nikos Sofis". Facebook.
  2. Γκατζούλη, Βάσω. "Ο ταλαντούχος Νίκος Σοφής ανοίγει την καρδιά του…". athleticlarissa.gr.
  3. "Σοφής: "Δεν επιθυμώ να συνεχίσω ως μέλος του Δ.Σ. της ΠΑΕ ΑΕΛ"". athleticlarissa.gr. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
  4. "Nikos Sofis - Lyricist". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  5. "VoColor". facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  6. "Τα Βούναινα έπαιξαν και βραβεύτηκαν". athleticlarissa.gr. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  7. "Παραιτήσεις στην διοίκηση των Βουναίνων". athleticlarissa.gr. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
  8. "Στην Α' ΕΠΣΛ τα Βούναινα, ιστορικές στιγμές για την ομάδα". athleticlarissa.gr.
  9. "Παραίτηση Κώστα Μερτζανίδη από τη προεδρία των Βουναίνων, τη θέση του παίρνει ο Νίκος Σόφης". ArenaLarissaGr (in Greek). Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  10. "Προσωπική δήλωση Νίκου Σοφή". athleticlarissa.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  11. "AEL FC | Official Site | Larissa - Greece - Ανακοίνωση ΠΑΕ ΑΕΛ". Retrieved 2016-09-10.
  12. "AEL FC | Official Site | Larissa - Greece - Ανακοίνωση ΔΣ ΠΑΕ ΑΕΛ". Retrieved 2016-09-26.
  13. "Παραίτηση Σοφή από την ΠΑΕ ΑΕΛ". athleticlarissa.gr. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  14. "Moldova: Semi-finalists selected for O Melodie Pentru Europa 2016". Eurovisionworld. 2015-12-19. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  15. "Lithuania: Participants and song titles revealed for "Eurovizijos"". ESCXTRA.com. 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  16. "Eurovizijos atranka 2018: LRT reveals all the acts in Lithuania's national selection". wiwibloggs. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
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  19. "Iceland: RÚV discloses the participants of Söngvakeppnin 2019! - ESCToday.com". Eurovision News, Polls and Information by ESCToday. 2019-01-26. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
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  21. Argyriou, Giannis (2019-01-23). "Στις επιλογές της Πολωνίας, Μολδαβίας και Λευκορωσίας συμμετέχει ο δημιουργός Νίκος Σοφής". Eurovision News | Music | Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  22. Bogiannos, Apostolos (2020-01-27). "Λευκορωσία: Οι 12 φιναλίστ του εθνικού τελικού | Μεταξύ των υποψηφίων η συμμετοχή του Νίκου Σοφή!". Eurovision News | Music | Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  23. Herbert, Emily (2020-01-22). "Belarus: 49 Artists to Through to Eurovision 2020 Auditions Round". Eurovoix. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  24. Argyriou, Giannis (2020-01-19). "Μολδαβία: Οι Δημήτρης Στάσσος και Νίκος Σόφης φιλοδοξούν να βρεθούν μαζί με την C. Sandu στο Ρότερνταμ!". Eurovision News | Music | Fun (in Greek). Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  25. "36 Songs submitted in Moldova's selection!". ESCBubble. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
  26. "ΛΕΥΚΟΡΩΣΙΑ: Ο Νίκος Σοφής ενώνει τις δυνάμεις του με την Kazna! -". OGAE Greece (in Greek). 2021-01-30. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  27. "🇦🇿 Eldar Gasimov releases new single "Until the End" in collaboration with VoColor". ESCXTRA.com. 2020-05-30. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  28. "https://twitter.com/etday/status/968015211172188160". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-07-28. External link in |title= (help)
  29. "From Cyborg to Human: Azerbaijan's Samra finds love in "Hypnotized" music video". wiwibloggs. 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  30. Shalom, Nir Raz (2019-01-23). "Angelika Pushnova Returns To Belarussian National Finals". ESCBEAT. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
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  32. "🇦🇿 Eldar Gasimov releases new single "Until the End" in collaboration with VoColor". ESCXTRA.com. 2020-05-30. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
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