Rania Zeriri (born 6 January 1986 in Enschede,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) is a Dutch singer.

Personal life

Rania Zeriri grew up in the Netherlands as daughter of a Dutch mother and an Algerian father who left the family when she was still very young. After finishing school with a

General Certificate of Secondary Education The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private s ...

( Mittlere Reife) she moved at the age of 17 to

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Her ...

to study Spanish. Later she acquired a hotel animation diploma and then worked mainly on Ibiza and

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

where she also started to perform as singer in hotels. After she reached the Top 10 of the fifth season of the German television contest ''

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show '' ...

'' (DSDS) she resigned from her job and moved to Gronau- Epe in Germany to live with her mother. Zeriri was born with holes in her

vocal cords In humans, vocal cords, also known as vocal folds or voice reeds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech ...

. Her dark voice is the result of an operation which was necessary to close the inborn holes using laser treatment. This caused her difficulties to sing high notes and in the

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...

register. In 2010 Zeriri started to study at the Enschede Conservatory a branch of ArtEZ. She also works as a reporter with the regional broadcaster ''TV Enschede FM''.

Music career

Rania Zeriri gained national recognition as contestant and 'Top 5' finalist in the 2008 German " Idol" version ''

'' (DSDS) broadcast by RTL. She finished in fifth place. After the DSDS show Zeriri performed throughout Germany and performed before the final of the European Football Championship at the fan area at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, in front of several hundred thousand visitors. Zeriris debut solo

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, " In the Summertime" was t ...

Crying Undercover "Crying Undercover" is the first solo single by Rania Zeriri. The maxi single contains three versions and the video of the title song as well as the song "Cursed and Blessed" written by Zeriri in 2006. The single reached position 86 in the Germa ...

'' was released on 14 November 2008 by the record label '' Kontor Records''. The title song was written for the singer by Achim Jannsen, a writer who produced several cover-songs for Jan Wayne, together with the musician Claas P. Jambor, a member of the ''

Zeichen der Zeit Zeichen der Zeit ("Sign of the Times") was a music project by various German pop musicians. Their common goal was to express their Christian belief and to make an issue out of it in the secular media. An album of the same title appeared in 2004, ...

'' project. The CD contains also the song ''Cursed And Blessed'' written by Zeriri in 2006 and the video of the title song.

DSDS controversies

Although Rania Zeriri started the last phase of the competition as one of the favourites she received later controversial press coverage, especially from the German newspaper ''

Bild ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, which ...

''. On 24 April 2008 ''Bild'' appeared with an article suggesting that contestants of the show might have used

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

in the dressing room area singling out Zeriri as potential culprit. However, the accusation was never proven and Zeriri made new headlines when she publicly voiced her opinion that a requested drug test should not only include the contestants but also the jury, openly stated her increasing discomfort in participating in the show and directly criticised the juror

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen, 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous German ...

.Zeriri räumt das DSDS Feld

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

Discography

Sampler

* 2008 ''Fly Alone'' (joined release of all finale participants of Deutschland sucht den Superstar)

Maxi single

* 2008 ''

References

External links

Biography at agency site
*
Official fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeriri, Rania 1986 births Living people Dutch people of Algerian descent Deutschland sucht den Superstar participants Dutch pop singers People from Enschede 21st-century Dutch women singers 21st-century Dutch singers