Mehrzad Marashi

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
Origin	Hamburg, West Germany
Genres	Pop, soul
Occupation	Singer
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Sony Music Germany
Website	mehrzad-marashi.tv

Early life

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

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

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

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

Albums

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

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"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—