Seyed Behrang Miri (Persian: بهرنگ میری; born in Iran on 17 January 1984) is a Swedish rapper, songwriter and actor of Iranian origin.

Behrang Miri in a debate, 2014.

Early life

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He moved to Sweden with his parents in 1987 when he was just three. He grew up in Lund. In 2008, he took part in theater production Zlatans leende in Malmö City Theatre. The same year, he was picked as the face for MKB, Räddningstjänsten featured in City Malmö newspaper and named "Årets glädjespridare" by Malmö Municipality.[1] In 2011 he won the Nationalencyklopedin's annual Kunskapspriset (Knowledge Awards) alongside Emerich Roth.

Career

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He has been involved in a number of youth projects, in Skåne and later in Stockholm. In 2011, he became an artistic director of cultural activities for children for Kåldolmens Day events in Stockholm working with various cultural groups. On September 25, 2012, he used his position to demand removal of a number of books he deemed objectionable (racist, homophobic, etc.) including his suggestion to transfer the Tintin series from the children's section of the library at Kulturhuset (Culture House)[2][3][4] His campaign backfired and he was widely criticized prompting him to announce his withdrawal from responsibilities as artistic director. He has also worked with Swedish Kurdish stand-up comedian Özz Nûjen.

Melodifestivalen

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On 23 February 2013, Miri competed as an artist in Melodifestivalen 2013 in a bid to represent Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest 2013 to be held in Stockholm. His song was "Jalla Dansa Sawa" (meaning Come on and dance together) with Loulou Lamotte and Oscar Zia as backing vocal artists.[5][6] It was co-written by Behrang Miri, Anderz Wrethov, Firas Razak Tuma and Tacfarinas Yamoun. The song came 3rd/4th in the semi-final, he moved to "Second Chance" round where on 3 March 2013, he faced Anton Ewald and his song "Begging" and was eliminated.

Despite his failure to reach the finals of Melodifestivalen, his song proved very popular and was released as a single entering the Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Singles Chart at number 8 just one week after elimination. Eventually it climbed up to number 4 in the chart.

In 2015, he took part again in Melodifestivalen 2015 and qualified to Andra Chansen (Second Chance) round through the first semi-final on 7 February 2015,[7] but failed to make it to the Melodifestivalen final.

Discography

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Singles

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Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
SWE
[8]
"Jalla Dansa Sawa" 2013 4 Non-album singles
"C'est comme ça / Jag ser dig"
"Det rår vi inte för"
(featuring Victor Crone)
2015 69
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

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  1. ^ Sydsvenken: Behrang Miri får ungdomar att lyssna (in Swedish)
  2. ^ DN.se: Kulturhusets konstnärlige ledare kastar ut Tintin (in Swedish)
  3. ^ Aftonbladet: Tar timeout efter Tintin-bråket (in Swedish)
  4. ^ Bang.se: Blog by Behrang Miri Archived 2013-03-18 at the Wayback Machine (in Swedish)
  5. ^ Svt.se: Behrang Miri Melodifestivalen page
  6. ^ Aftonbladet: Behrang Miri får hjälp i Melodifestivalen – av Oscar Zia och Loulou Lamotte (in Swedish)
  7. ^ "Här är artisterna i Melodifestivalen". DN.SE. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  8. ^ SwedishCharts.com Behrang Miri discography
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