Touraj Keshtkar (; born 26 May 1987), known professionally as Tooji, is an Iranian-born Norwegian singer, painter, model and television host. He represented

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song "Running Scared (Ell & Nikki song), Running Scared" by Ell & Nikki, El ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan and finished 26th (last) in the final.

Career

Tooji Keshtkar was born in

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

, Iran, and moved to Norway when he was one year old. His mother is author and political commentator Lily Bandehy. At the age of 16, he started modelling. Afterwards, he started working on

MTV Norway MTV Norway was a music and entertainment channel broadcasting to the Norwegian market. The channel replaced MTV Nordic on September 18, 2005, however on February 22, 2019 it was replaced by the return of MTV Nordic. History *MTV Norway launch ...

where he presented "Super Saturday" and "Tooji's Top 10". He was also educated as a social worker and has worked in asylum reception centres. He won

Melodi Grand Prix 2012 Norway was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Stay" written by Tooji, Peter Boström and Figge Boström. The song was performed by Tooji. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) organised the national final ''Melo ...

and was given the opportunity to represent Norway in the

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

with his entry "

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tr ...

." Since 2012, Tooji presents, with

Margrethe Røed Margrethe Røed (born 10 December 1976) is a Norwegian television presenter on NRK Barne-TV and Super Barne-TV on the television and radio channel NRK Super. In 2009, she took part in the TV programme ''Skal vi danse? ''Skal vi danse'' () is ...

, the

Melodi Grand Prix Junior Melodi Grand Prix Junior, also spelled as MGPjr, is a Norwegian television song competition for aspiring singers between the ages of 8 and 15 that was held annually between 2002 and 2022. The competing songs are written by the participants themse ...

in Norway. In 2013, he released a single entitled "Rebels". Tooji himself describes ‘Rebels’ as "dramatic pop-dance, with new organic elements blended in with hard electronica". He moved to Stockholm prior to the release of the song "Packin' Guns". His songs often express a political and social message. Tooji's single "Cocktail" deals with the gender roles in today's society. The music video starts with a quotation from

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

: "We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters". After coming out, he released his The Father project. Tooji's single and EP ''Father'' emanating from the project is about sexual relationships in the church and the hypocrisy in the public positions of the church. The music video for his following single "Say Yeah" tackles homophobic hate crimes.

The Father Project and single

His EP and single "Father" was part of his coming out process by tackling the subject of sex and the church. The music video, filmed inside an Oslo church, received criticism.

Ole Christian Kvarme Ole Christian Mælen Kvarme (born November 11, 1948, in Molde) is a Norwegian prelate of the Church of Norway who served as Bishop of Oslo from 2005 and 2017. As Bishop of Oslo, Kvarme was the personal prelate of the Norwegian royal family. He gr ...

, the Bishop of Oslo of the Lutheran

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

, condemned the video as "totally unacceptable" and "a gross misuse of the church", accusing the video's producers of misinforming the church's administration prior to filming about the video's actual contents. Tooji said he lost his job as a host to ''Melodi Grand Prix Junior'', a version of Eurovision for younger performers as a result of the "Father" video and the Father Project. Tooji called this project as "the most important thing I've done in my life."

Personal life

Tooji is a supporter of Green Wave, Iran's democratic reform movement. Tooji wore a Free Iran green bracelet during his performance in the

held in

, Azerbaijan. In June 2015, Tooji

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as gay to the Norwegian website Gaysir, stating that he hoped he could make it easier for young gay people by being open about his own sexuality. He was praised for his decision by the Norwegian

National Association for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender People The Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity (Norwegian: ''FRI – foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold'') is the oldest, largest and preeminent Norwegian member organization representing the interests of gay, lesbian, bi ...

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

Tooji's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tooji 1987 births Norwegian television presenters Living people Norwegian social workers English-language singers from Norway People from Shiraz Naturalised citizens of Norway Iranian emigrants to Norway Gay singers Iranian LGBTQ singers Iranian gay musicians Norwegian LGBTQ singers Norwegian gay musicians 21st-century Norwegian male singers 20th-century Norwegian LGBTQ people 21st-century Norwegian LGBTQ people 21st-century Norwegian artists Eurovision Song Contest entrants