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Constantine Maroulis

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Constantine Maroulis

Constantine James Maroulis (born September 17, 1975 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Greek-American rock singer, actor, and writer. The lead vocalist of the hard rock band Pray for the Soul of Betty, he was a finalist on the fourth season of the reality television series American Idol.

Biography

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]. 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. When Maroulis was five years old his family moved to Wyckoff, New Jersey, an affluent suburb of New York City. At that time he developed an interest in music, following his older brother's lead who was performing in professional bands and pursuing a career in the record business, and being 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. In high school, he claims to have been shy and nerdy. 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 from Berklee College of Music.

Some years before appearing on Idol, Maroulis competed on the dating show Elimidate[6] 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[7] in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and toured in the Broadway international touring company of Rent as the lead role Roger Davis[8]. 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 now 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" [9] before the website switched focus to Scott Savol, as a result of fan complaints. Both contestants Savol and Maroulis received slightly more votes than expected by the judges which allowed the two to advance to the final six, to Simon Cowell's dismay.

For the 2005 season, Idol producers raised their required age limit from 16-26 to 16-28. Along with Bo Bice, he was one of the oldest contestants to audition and participate on American Idol, as well as being the oldest contestants to have progressed the farthest 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 with Vonzell Solomon and Anthony Fedorov. His sixth-place ouster surprised some afficionados, 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[10]. 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 the usually harsh Simon Cowell. Maroulis later recorded a studio version of the track for Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen[11], which was released on August 9, 2005 on Queen's label, Hollywood Records, a division of Universal.

Performances

Pre-semifinals

Semifinals

Finals

Post-Idol career

Maroulis currently fronts the hard rock band, Pray For the Soul of Betty, based in New York. Contrary to what was portrayed in the fourth season debut, he did not quit his band. He only took a temporarily leave of absence, returning after he was the seventh finalist voted off. He is also 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[12], Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar[13], and American Idol.

In the fall of 2005, he was 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. Disney's ABC network bought rights to the show, courtesy of Grammnet (of Paramount, owned by former Cheers star Kelsey Grammar).

A debut solo LP is to be announced September 2006.

Discography

Collaborations

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"

References

  1. ^ Athan Maroulis's VH1 biography VH1/Viacom.
  2. ^ Wikipedia contributors. "List of Eastern 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. ^ Warner Bros. Elimidate episode. January 1999.
  7. ^ Williamstown Theatre Festival cast listing
  8. ^ Kukowski, Anna. "Rent Interview with Constantine" 2003-2004.
  9. ^ Vote for the Worst
  10. ^ Koch Records
  11. ^ Hollywood Records
  12. ^ Hedwig and the Angry Inch
  13. ^ Jesus Christ Superstar

Also See

Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen

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