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Jazz singer Angelina Jordan Astar has deep ties to Iran through her maternal grandmother, Mery Zamani. Born in Oslo, Angelina credits her Iranian heritage and her grandmother's background as a significant musical and artistic influence on her life.


She won the 2014 season of Norway´s Got Talent, better known as Norske Talenter in Norway. After this win, and with more than 40 million combined YouTube views, she was featured in People magazine, Time, and other news outlets all around the world.

In 2015, Angelina published the book Mellom to hjerter (Between two hearts) illustrated by her grandmother Mery Zamani. The book tells the story of Angelina’s meeting with a poor motherless girl in Iran to whom Angelina gives her shoes. In return the girl promises to always pray for Angelina. It’s based on a true story which Angelina cites as reason for always performing barefoot.

"They were sea green ankle boots. I loved those boots. Right then and there, I felt as if a door in my heart opened up and it was filled with lots of light. It was as if there was, from earth to heaven, staircase. I climbed up the stairs. To be able to do something for another human being, it was such a big thing, hard to describe really."

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