Mehrzad Marashi

Mehrzad Marashi; (born 20 September 1980)[1] is an Iranian-German singer and winner of Deutschland sucht den Superstar season 7.[2]

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 (Promiboxen 2013)

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 Debut studio album Released: June 11, 2010	5	3	9	7	GER: - AUT: - SWI: -
2011	Change Up Second studio album Released: June 24, 2011	—	—	—	—	GER: - AUT: - SWI: -

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

1. "Mehrzad Merashi DSDS Top 10 Biografie" (in German). RTL.de. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
2. "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" (in German). RTL.de. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
3. "Voting-Ergebnisse DSDS" (in German). RTL.de. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
4. Bild: Ungleiche Paare beim Promi-Boxen (in German)
5. "Mehrzad Marashi - German Charts". charts.de.
6. "Mehrzad Marashi - Austrian Charts". austriancharts.at.
7. "Mehrzad Marashi - Swiss Charts". hitparade.ch.

External links

• Mehrzad Marashi at IMDb