Mehrzad Marashi
| Mehrzad Marashi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 20 September 1980 |
| Origin | Hamburg, West Germany |
| Genres | Pop & Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2006 – present |
| Labels | Sony Music Germany |
| Associated acts | Dieter Bohlen |
| Website | mehrzad-marashi.tv |
Mehrzad Marashi; (born 20 September 1980)[1] is an Iranian-German singer and winner of Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 7.[2]
Beginnings
Born in Tehran, Iran where his father was in the military profession during the Shah's regime. The family immigrated to Germany for political reasons when Mehrzad was just six residing in Hamburg. At 13 he joined a gospel choir and eventually took classes at the Sängerakademie studying voice and piano. Taking the stage name Marasco, he released self-produced recordings finding some limited success. He recorded "She's Gone", a cover of "She's Like the Wind" from Patrick Swayze. He opened a karaoke bar, but the business went bankrupt and he had to live on welfare for a while.
Deutschland sucht den Superstar
Marashi auditioned to the seventh season of the show Deutschland sucht den Superstar initially under his stage name Marasco. Very notably during a live show on DSDS on April 10, 2010, during the Top 3 stage, Marashi proposed to marry his girlfriend. The two married on 7 July 2010 in Hamburg. He eventually won against other finalist Menowin Fröhlich with 56.4% of the public vote.
DSDS performances
| Theme (date) | Song | Original Artist | Percentage/Place[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Top 15 — Now or Never (February 13, 2010) | Und wenn ein Lied | Xavier Naidoo | 27.3% (1/15) |
| Top 10 - Mega Hits from today (February 20, 2010) | Broken Strings | James Morrison | 14.6% (2/10) |
| Top 9 — The biggest pop songs(February 27, 2010) | One | U2 | 9.2% (5/9) |
| Top 8 — Happy Holiday Hits (March 6, 2010) | Fresh | Kool & the Gang | 18.7% (2/8) |
| Top 7 — 80s (March 13, 2010) | Hello | Lionel Richie | 14.0% (2/7) |
| Top 6 — German vs. English (March 20, 2010) | Flugzeuge im Bauch | Herbert Grönemeyer | 21.9% (2/6) |
| Beggin' | Madcon | ||
| Top 5 — Ballermann vs. Balladen (March 27, 2010) | Boombastic | Shaggy | 18.4% (3/5) |
| Hard to Say I'm Sorry | Chicago | ||
| Top 4 — Old vs. New (April 3, 2010) | Unchained Melody | The Righteous Brothers | 24.2% (2/4) |
| Crazy | Gnarls Barkley | ||
| Top 3 — Boy bands, Music Heros & Number 1 Hits (April 10, 2010) | End of the Road | Boyz II Men | 37.7% (2/3) |
| Runaway | Del Shannon | ||
| Ich kenne Nichts | Xavier Naidoo feat RZA | ||
| Top 2 — Finale — Singer's choice, Highlight Song, Winner's Single (April 17, 2010) | Endless Love | Lionel Richie | 56.4% (1/2) |
| Fresh | Kool & the Gang | ||
| Don't Believe | Mehrzad Marashi |
After DSDS
After his win in April 2010, he released "Don't Believe" written and produced by Dieter Bohlen. It topped the German, Austrian and Swiss charts. It was also a hit in the Netherland. The follow-up was "Sweat" a cover of Inner Circle's "Sweat (A La La La La Long)" also featuring season 4 winner Mark Medlock. Both were from his debut album New Life that was released on 11 June 2010. A planned tour was cancelled due to low demand. In February 2011, Marashi opened a dance school and established a recording studio both in Hamburg.
On 24 June 2011, he released a second album Change Up with "Beautiful World" as a single, both with no success. He later released "Eine Nacht", his own composition. In 2012 he also founded his own label M8. In 2013, at age 32, he was also involved in Promi-Boxen (celebrity boxing) with an initial fight against Daniel Aminati.[4]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Information | Chart positions | IFPI certifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [5] |
AUT [6] |
SWI [7] |
EUR | |||
| 2010 | New Life
|
| ||||
| 2011 | Change Up
|
| ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [5] |
AUT [6] |
SWI [7] |
LIT | LUX | NL | EUR | |||
| 2010 | "Don't Believe" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 64 | 2 | New Life |
| "Sweat" (feat. Mark Medlock) | 2 | 7 | 16 | 33 | 24 | — | 16 | ||
| "Bring Me Down" | Promo | ||||||||
| 2011 | "Beautiful World" | 85 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Change Up |
| "Eine Nacht" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
References
- ↑ "Mehrzad Merashi DSDS Top 10 Biografie" (in German). RTL.de. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
- ↑ "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" (in German). RTL.de. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
- ↑ "Voting-Ergebnisse DSDS" (in German). RTL.de. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ↑ Bild: Ungleiche Paare beim Promi-Boxen (German)
- 1 2 "Mehrzad Marashi - German Charts". charts.de.
- 1 2 "Mehrzad Marashi - Austrian Charts". austriancharts.at.
- 1 2 "Mehrzad Marashi - Swiss Charts". hitparade.ch.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mehrzad Marashi. |
| Preceded by Daniel Schuhmacher |
Deutschland sucht den Superstar Winner Season 7 (2010) |
Succeeded by Pietro Lombardi |