Arash | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | Arash Labbaf (1977-04-23)23 April 1977 (age 48) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | Singer,DJ |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Warner Music Scandinavia (WEA) |
| Website | arash.com |
Arash Labbaf (Persian:آرش لباف,pronounced[ɒːˈɾæʃɛlæbˈbɒːf],Azerbaijani:Arəş Ləbaf; born 23 April 1977) is anIranian-Swedish singer, entertainer, and producer.[1]
Herepresented Azerbaijan along withAysel in theEurovision Song Contest 2009, finishing third with the song "Always". He is also one of the judges ofPersia's Got Talent, a Persian franchise of the British talent showGot Talent.[2]
Arash Labbaf was born inTehran, Iran. He and his parents lived nearMellat Park. At age ten, he and his family moved toSweden, where he still resides. In an interview withBBC Persian Television, he mentioned that his mother and father are from the Iranian cities ofShiraz andIsfahan, respectively.[3][4]
Arash Labbaf has stated in his interviews that he is interested in association football. Accordingly, he released songs about association football.[4] Also, in an interview withDeutsche Welle, Arash stated that he had been interested in singing since childhood, and he even formed an informal band with his friends.[5]
Arash Labbaf said that the reason he chooses to sing in hisnative language is because of his "deep attachment toIran andPersian culture."[6]
His debut album,Arash, was released byWarner Music Sweden in June 2005, after he had completed his college studies. His singles, "Boro Boro" ("Go Away") and "Temptation" (featuringRebecca) made it to the hit lists aroundEurope. Their respective videos garnered significant airplay on more than 20 MTV outlets worldwide. In addition to successes in his home countries' music charts, namely Sweden and Iran, the platinum-selling singer and producer Arash has had hits notably in Eastern European and South-East European charts like Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey and in Asian music charts like in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and throughout the Arab Middle Eastern countries. His singles have been charted many times on the Swiss and Finnish charts, and he is especially famous in Poland.
Arash's records were certified gold in 5 countries: his albumArash in Germany, Russia, Slovenia, and Greece and the single "Boro Boro" inSweden.[7] This song was also featured in the HindiBollywood filmBluffmaster!, and he was the featured Artist of the Month onMTV India.
Helena did not take part in the music video of "Pure Love", although her voice was featured in it. The video starred Arash, together with theVenezuelan beauty queen,Marianne Puglia.[8]
Arash has produced, along withThomas G:son,Robert Uhlmann, and Johan Bejerholm the Swedish entry to theJunior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 "Allt jag vill ha" that was performed byJosefine Ridell.[9][10][better source needed][11]
In early 2009, it was revealed that theAzerbaijani entry for theEurovision Song Contest 2009 would be the song "Always" which was written and composed by Arash. The song was performed byAysel Teymurzadeh and Arash in a duet in Semifinal 2 of theEurovision competition.[12][13] The song qualified for theEurovision Song Contest final which took place on 16 May 2009, and was placed third. In one of his interviews, Arash explained his decision to represent Azerbaijan in this contest: "Why did I participate? I'm originally [ethnically] Azeri, and I would like to have a part in this country's confident ascent in the history of Eurovision."[14]
Labbaf married his longtime fiancée, Behnaz Ansari, inDubai in May 2011.[15][16]
Studio albums
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest (withAySel) 2009 | Succeeded by |
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