Zoltán Mujahid (born 8 August 1979) is a Pakistani-Hungarian singer and music teacher. He is most notable for coming in 10th place in the first series of ''

Megasztár ''Megasztár - Voice of the Year'' was a Hungarian a music talent show that started in 2003 on TV2. While it is widely considered an unlicensed clone of the British television show ''Pop Idol'' (and sometimes even referred to as ''Hungarian Id ...

'' and participating in '' A Dal 2015''.

Personal life

Zoltán Mujahid was born on 8 August 1979 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Pakistan to Iqbal Mujahid and Klára Somogyi. He has three siblings: Tamás (Altamash), Atilla, and Aneela. In 2012, he publicly came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. He first studied South Asian music in Karachi for five years, and held many high positions in local talent shows. At age eleven, he, his mom, and his siblings moved to

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in his mother's native country, where he learned Hungarian. During his time in primary school, he learned classical piano. In 1995, he became involved with major plays at the Petőfi Musical Studio. At age seventeen, Zoltán began to take vocal lessons with the help of fellow teacher Zsuzsa Kósa. He graduated from Petőfi Sándor secondary school in 2000, and was admitted to the Lauschmann Gyula Conservatory of Jazz Music, which he graduated from in 2003. He went onto the Jazz department of the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

, where he graduated in 2008.

Professional career

In 2003, he was in the top 10 of the

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

-esque show ''

'', in its first season. In December 2014, Mujahid was one of the names announced to partake in A Dal 2015, the Hungarian national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, with his song ''Beside You''. He passed through the third heat on 14 February 2015, and the first semi-final on 21 February. He progressed to the final, and on February 28, was one of the entries which the juries voted to be eligible to go to the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

, but fellow contestant

Boggie Boglárka Csemer (, born 30 November 1986 in Budapest, Hungary), professionally known as Boggie, is a Hungarian pop vocalist and songwriter. Globally, Boggie is best known for her 2014 hit single entitled "Nouveau Parfum" ( hu, Parfüm) from her ...

was chosen by the televote to go to the Eurovision. In December 2016, Mujahid was announced again to be participating in A Dal, this time in A Dal 2017 with the song ''On My Own''. He was eliminated in the second heat.

Discography

* Első vallomás (LP, 2005) * Első hó (single, 2008) * Túlélő (single, 2010) * Három év (single, 2012) * Beside You (single, 2015) * On My Own (single, 2016)

Sources (in Hungarian)

Hivatalos honlap

joyride.hu

allmusic.hu

blikk.hu

bulvar.ma.hu

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mujahid, Zoltan 1979 births Living people Gay singers Pakistani musicians 21st-century Hungarian male singers 21st-century Pakistani male singers Pakistani emigrants to Hungary Pakistani people of Hungarian descent Hungarian LGBT musicians Pakistani LGBT singers Hungarian pop singers Pakistani pop singers Musicians from Karachi Musicians from Budapest 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people