About Star Musician
Star Musician is a culturally focused talent competition, seeking the best amateur Persian singers and musicians between 15 - 35 years of age, and providing them with a unique platform to perform. It aims to be the leading talent competition for the Persian Diaspora, with dual goals of preserving the musical heritage of Iran and nurturing the growth of new singers and musicians, by exposing all forms of Persian music to a broader audience.
Our panel of distinguished judges, which include Persian pop icon Andy Madadian, legendary producer Farokh "Elton" Ahi, Grammy nominated guitarist Ardeshir Farah, renowned lyricist Paksima Zakipour and the highly sought after Director Siros Kerdouni, will narrow the list of contestants to 40 quarter-finalists (20 vocalists, 20 instrumentalists). These 40 contestants will be featured during a broadcast program on Ti TV, the largest Persian Television Network as well as RadioJavan.com – the premiere Internet Radio Station for Persians.
The quarter-finalists will have their submission video posted on StarMusician.com. From then on, the contestants' fate is in the hands of the public, who will vote to narrow the list to 20 semi-finalists (10 vocalists, 10 instrumentalists). The semi-finalists will then submit a second video performance as the public is asked once again to vote, to determine the Finalists.
The 10 Finalists (5 Vocalists, 5 Instrumentalists) will then submit their third and final video performance and the public will vote one last time for their favorite contestant. The Finalists will be invited to Los Angeles, California, where they will perform before a live audience of 2000 guests, at the Saban Theatre on June 9th, 2012. At the Awards Ceremony, the two winners from each respective category will be announced based on their cumulative average of all three videos as voted upon by the public. The Ceremony will be aired on Ti TV, RadioJavan.com along with StarMusician.com.
The winner of Star Musician in each category will go on to record a song and music video written, produced and directed by our judges, and aired on Ti TV and RadioJavan.com.
Star Musician is produced by Iman Huschmand, an Iranian-American entertainment entrepreneur, who has over a decade of experience starting and running various entertainment businesses targeting the Persian diaspora.
Born and raised in Germany, Iman began his entertainment career as a DJ at the age of 17. Since then, he has turned that interest into a successful full-service entertainment company in the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA called Exclusively Entertainment. He has deep social and cultural ties within the Persian community in the USA and Europe.
His interest in preserving and nurturing the musical heritage of Iran, has led him to bring his academic business knowledge, international work experience and entrepreneurial spirit to produce Star Musician.
Iman currently lives in the Washington DC Metro area, and speaks fluent German and of course Farsi.
