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Constantine Maroulis

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Constantine James Maroulis (born September 17, 1975 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock singer, actor, and writer. He was a finalist on the reality television series American Idol. He has also appeared in Elimidate[1] and was an extra in NBC's Law and Order: SVU and the WB's Astro Boy.

Early years

Maroulis was born in Brooklyn, New York to James and Constance Maroulis. Five years later his family moved to Wyckoff, New Jersey, a suburb of NYC. The Maroulises are Greek-American/Greek Orthodox and Constantine is the youngest of three, behind an older sister and older brother. At five years of age Maroulis started to develop an interest in music education: following in his sixteen-year-old brother's footsteps, who was performing in professional bands and pursuing a career in the record business; being influenced by the piano; and exposed to records his family listened to. By age eleven he studied the trumpet at Eisenhower Middle School and later sang in high school garage bands (i.e, Lady Rain). Upon graduating from Ramapo High School in 1993, Maroulis auditioned for the original Rent cast, but only made it to the semi-final round. Hence, he did not earn a role. Later, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The Boston Conservatory in 2002, majoring in musical theater with a minor in voice performance from Berklee College of Music. He has a cavalcade of off-Broadway roles from the Conservatory, along with a series of independent feature films. After graduating the Conservatory, Maroulis trained as a director's apprentice at the Williamstown theatre festival[2] in Boston and toured in the Broadway international touring of Rent as the lead role Roger. His role as Roger was non-equity and since he had no agent representing him, he was allowed on the show American Idol. Since Idol, Maroulis has been represented by the Creative Artists Agency.

Betty

Maroulis is currently the frontman of the hard rock band Pray For The Soul Of Betty, a band he has been singing in since 2003. Contrary to what was portrayed on the reality television series, he did not quit his band. Instead, he only took a temporarily leave of absence during the run of American Idol, returning after he was the seventh finalist voted off.

American Idol

In August 2004, upon an ex-girlfriend's coercion, Maroulis traveled to Washington DC to audition for the television show American Idol. Since the age limit was raised from 26 to 28 for the fourth season, Maroulis was the oldest person to ever audition and participate in American Idol. He was the first contestant of the season supported by the Vote for the Worst online campaign[3] before the campaign switched focus to Scott Savol, as a result of fan complaints. Throughout the entire season, he and Bo Bice were nicknamed "the two rockers" since their long hair and the songs they used in the competition made them stand out from the more conservative images of contestants up to that point. Although Nikki McKibbin was the first finalist to perform a rock song on the show, Maroulis and Bice were the first finalists to dedicate emphasis and concentration to it, truly acknowledging rock as a separate genre. 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. His sixth-place ouster surprised some aficionado, including a tearful Paula Abdul. Less than a week before his elimination, Pray For The Soul Of Betty, through a distribution deal made with Koch[4], 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. Maroulis was also recorded 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 the usually harsh Simon Cowell. Constantine later recorded a studio version of the track for Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen[5], which was released on August 9, 2005 on Queen's label, Hollywood Records, a division of Universal. For more about his songs on the show, see the list of songs performed on American Idol.

Television Show

Template:Future tvshow Maroulis is currently in negotiations to star in a teleivison sitcom that is loosely based on his upbringing as the youngest of three in a large Greek-American family of New York City. Disney's ABC network bought rights to the show, courtesy of Grammnet (of Paramount, owned by former Cheers star Kelsey Grammar).

On December 30, 2005, Maroulis performed at the 25th Annual Orlando citrus parade in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The event was televised on several US markets.

Solo album

Maroulis is currently working on an upcoming solo album (spring/summer).

References

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American Idol 2005
Anwar Robinson - Constantine Maroulis - Scott Savol

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