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Constantine Maroulis

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Constantine Maroulis

Constantine James Maroulis (born September 17, 1975 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock singer, actor, and writer who was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Pray for the Soul of Betty and the 6th-place finalist on the fourth season of the reality television series American Idol. He was the sixth finalist eliminated from American Idol on April 27, 2005.

Early career

Maroulis was born in Brooklyn to Greek parents, James Constantine Maroulis and Constance P. Maroulis (born 1938). Both maternal and paternal grandparents immigrated to the States from Greece in the 1920s.[1] He was brought up in the Greek Orthodox religion,[2] and he can speak Greek[3]. His older brother, Athanasios Demetrios Maroulis (born 1964), is a record producer[4] and his sister, Anastacia P. Maroulis (born 1968), is a New York schoolteacher. They also have 20 cousins, one of whom is George Economos. Constantine "Gus" Economos died in the September 11, 2001 attacks from the fall of the World Trade Center. When Maroulis was five years old his family moved to Wyckoff, New Jersey, an affluent suburb of New York City, where he grew up. At that time he developed an interest in music, following the lead of his older brother who was performing in professional bands and pursuing a career in the record business; Constantine was also influenced by the piano and records his family listened to[5]. By age eleven he was studying the trumpet at Eisenhower Middle School. He later sang in high school garage bands, including Lady Rain and Milkbone. In high school, he claims to have been shy and nerdy; he went by the name "Dean" and always sported a turtleneck. He graduated from Ramapo High School in 1993 and moved on to The Boston Conservatory of Music. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2002, majoring in musical theater with a minor in voice performance at Berklee College of Music.

He was in the cast recording of the 2000 musical, Suburban Dreams, which was produced by composer Stephen Thompson, Richard Kenner, and Jesse Merz.[6]

Some years before appearing on Idol, Maroulis competed on the dating show Elimidate[7] and was an extra in NBC's Law and Order: SVU and the WB's Astro Boy.

He has a cavalcade of off-Broadway roles from the Conservatory, along with a series of independent films. After graduating the Conservatory, Maroulis trained as a director's apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival[8] in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and toured in the Broadway international touring company of Rent as the lead role Roger Davis[9]. His role as Roger was non- equity. Since he had no agent representing him, he was allowed to appear on American Idol. As of 2006, Maroulis is represented by the Creative Artists Agency.

American Idol

In August 2004, supposedly upon an ex-girlfriend's suggestion, Maroulis traveled to Washington DC to audition for the television show American Idol. During the semifinals and finals of Idol, he was the subject of an internet meme, the Vote for the Worst online campaign provided by the Internet community, "Survivor Sucks" [10] before the website switched focus to Scott Savol as a result of fan complaints.

For the 2005 season, Idol producers raised their required age limit from 16-26 to 16-28. Along with Bo Bice, Constantine was one of the oldest contestants to audition and participate on American Idol; as well, the two were the oldest contestants to progress so far in the singing competition. Maroulis and Bice are also notable for being among the first contestants to compete using the rock idiom.

On April 27 2005, Maroulis, who received over 35 million votes over the course of the season, was voted off American Idol after he performed Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" during the 2000's music round. He was in the bottom three behind Vonzell Solomon and Anthony Fedorov. Until April 27, Maroulis and season 4 winner Carrie Underwood were the only contestants among the rest of the Top 6 who were never in the bottom 3. His sixth-place ouster surprised some aficionados, including a tearful Paula Abdul. Less than a week before his elimination, Maroulis's pre-Idol band, Pray For The Soul Of Betty, announced the May 10 release of their epynomic debut of their pre-recorded, self-produced audio compact disc on their own record label, Baby Julius, through a distribution deal with Koch[11]. Maroulis was featured on the American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers compilation with "My Funny Valentine" on the American Idol RCA record label, a division of Sony BMG. His rendition of the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" also earned him the praise of judges, including that of the usually harsh Simon Cowell. Maroulis later recorded a studio version of the track for Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen,[12] which was released on August 9, 2005 on Queen's label, Hollywood Records, a division of Universal.

Betty frontman

Main article: Pray for the Soul of Betty

Maroulis was added to the band in 2003 as the lead vocalist after winning over 150 auditioners. For three years, he contributed lyrics and songs for the band. The band rose to national attention when Maroulis appeared on Idol. His audition clip showed him "quitting" the band, a claim he had denied at the time. On March 20, 2006, Maroulis announced his departure with the band due to creative and business differences, which really meant he felt he was much bigger and better than the band...just another case of his ego getting bigger than it should be.

Solo artist

He is working on an upcoming solo album. Before the album release date, he performed in four live shows in Manila, Philippines and New Jersey, USA. His set list included well-known songs he did in the past, from Hedwig and the Angry Inch[13], Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar,[14] and American Idol.

A debut solo LP is to be announced September 2006.

On June 28 and June 29 Constantine released 2 singles on his myspace from his debut album. The singles are called Everybody Loves and Girl Like You

Acting

In the fall of 2005, he was in negotiations to star in a television sitcom that is loosely based on his upbringing as the youngest of three in a large Greek-American family of New York. Disney's ABC network bought rights to the show, courtesy of Grammnet (of Paramount, owned by former Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer). On February 16, 2006, he announced in his blog an involvement with a film production contract. Both projects are currently in development hell.

List of American Idol performances

Semifinals

Finals

Discography

Year Title Label Other notes
2004 Pray for the Soul of Betty Baby Julius/Koch Vocals, writer, producer
2005 American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers RCA "My Funny Valentine"
2005 Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen Hollywood "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Public Activity

Film and television appearances, jobs and tours:

Year Title Role
1999 Elimidate Himself (Participant)
2002 The Strangler's Wife Detective's Assistant
2004 Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Extra
Rent Roger Davis
Pray for the Soul of Betty Lead Vocalist/Songwriter
2005 American Idol (Season 4) Himself (Sixth Place)
U-Pick Live Himself
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Himself (2x)
Live with Regis and Kelly Himself (2x)
The Tony Danza Show Himself
The Ellen DeGeneres Show Himself
American Idol Live Tour 2005 Himself/Performer
2006 Betty Winter Tour 2006 Himself/Performer
American Idol Season Five Himself
Total Request Live Himself

These days, he is just content to sit back and wait for the phone to ring considering that he is such a superstar and acting as Grand Marshal in several parades (for a price). When he is bored and feels his status as a D-Lister is in jeopardy, he will hang on to the coattails of any A-Lister celebrity doing red-carpet appearances, lurking in the background as the papparazzi snaps photos, hoping someone would recognize him. Some do recognize him, unfortunately it's just the same 4 middle-aged woman who "stalk" him and call themselves ConFans.

Notes

  1. ^ Athan Maroulis's VH1 biography VH1/Viacom., Ellis Island
  2. ^ Wikipedia contributors. "List of Greek Orthodox Christians"
  3. ^ Hellenic News of America URL accessed March 18, 2006.
  4. ^ Athan Maroulis joined the Industrial music group Spahn Ranch in 1993. Spahn Ranch toured throughout the Northern American continent with various other Industrial/Gothic music groups. They also collaborated with David J. (Bauhaus) and Killing Joke members on later albums.
  5. ^ http://www.constantinemaroulisblog.com Constantine Maroulis Blog by 'Rory'
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ Warner Bros. Elimidate episode. January 1999.
  8. ^ Williamstown Theatre Festival cast listing
  9. ^ Kukowski, Anna. "Rent Interview with Constantine" 2003-2004.
  10. ^ Vote for the Worst
  11. ^ Koch Records
  12. ^ Hollywood Records
  13. ^ Hedwig and the Angry Inch
  14. ^ Jesus Christ Superstar

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Constantine Maroulis.


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