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

Mehrzad Marashi
Background information
Born (1980-09-20) 20 September 1980 (age 44)
Tehran, Iran
OriginHamburg, West Germany
GenresPop, soul
OccupationSinger
Years active2006–present
LabelsSony Music Germany
Websitemehrzad-marashi.tv

Early life

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Born in Tehran, Iran[3] 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

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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 10 April 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

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Theme (date) Song Original artist Percentage/Place[4]
The Top 15 — Now or Never (13 February 2010) Und wenn ein Lied Xavier Naidoo 27.3% (1/15)
Top 10 - Mega Hits from today (20 February 2010) Broken Strings James Morrison 14.6% (2/10)
Top 9 — The biggest pop songs(27 February 2010) One U2 9.2% (5/9)
Top 8 — Happy Holiday Hits (6 March 2010) Fresh Kool & the Gang 18.7% (2/8)
Top 7 — 80s (13 March 2010) Hello Lionel Richie 14.0% (2/7)
Top 6 — German vs. English (20 March 2010) Flugzeuge im Bauch Herbert Grönemeyer 21.9% (2/6)
Beggin' Madcon
Top 5 — Ballermann vs. Balladen (27 March 2010) Boombastic Shaggy 18.4% (3/5)
Hard to Say I'm Sorry Chicago
Top 4 — Old vs. New (3 April 2010) Unchained Melody The Righteous Brothers 24.2% (2/4)
Crazy Gnarls Barkley
Top 3 — Boy bands, Music Heros & Number 1 Hits (10 April 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 (17 April 2010) Endless Love Lionel Richie 56.4% (1/2)
Fresh Kool & the Gang
Don't Believe Mehrzad Marashi

After DSDS

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Marashi at a 2013 celebrity boxing event

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 Netherlands. 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, he was also involved in Promiboxen (celebrity boxing) with an initial fight against Daniel Aminati.[5]

Discography

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Albums

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Year Information Chart positions IFPI certifications
GER
[6]
AUT
[7]
SWI
[8]
EUR
2010 New Life
  • Debut studio album
  • Released: 11 June 2010
5
3
9
7
  • GER: -
  • AUT: -
  • SWI: -
2011 Change Up
  • Second studio album
  • Released: 24 June 2011
  • GER: -
  • AUT: -
  • SWI: -

Singles

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Year Single Chart positions Album
GER
[6]
AUT
[7]
SWI
[8]
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

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  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. ^ "DSDS: Der Checker hat ausgecheckt". bz-berlin.de. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Voting-Ergebnisse DSDS" (in German). RTL.de. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  5. ^ Bild: Ungleiche Paare beim Promi-Boxen (in German)
  6. ^ a b "Mehrzad Marashi - German Charts". charts.de.[dead link]
  7. ^ a b "Mehrzad Marashi - Austrian Charts". austriancharts.at.
  8. ^ a b "Mehrzad Marashi - Swiss Charts". hitparade.ch.
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Preceded by Deutschland sucht den Superstar
Winner

Season 7 (2010)
Succeeded by