Constantine Maroulis Biography (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

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 sixth-place finalist on the fourth season of the popular reality television series American Idol. He was eliminated from American Idol on April 27, 2005.

Biography

Early years

Maroulis was born in Brooklyn to Greek American parents, James Constantine Maroulis and Constance P. Maroulis (born 1938). Both of his maternal and paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from Greece in the 1920s. He was brought up in the Greek Orthodox religion and he can speak Greek. His older brother, Athan Maroulis (born 1964), is a record producer and his sister, Anastacia P. Maroulis (born 1968), is a New York / New Jersey schoolteacher.

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.

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. He graduated from Ramapo High School in 1993 and later attended the The Boston Conservatory of Music. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theater from The Boston Conservatory of Music and a minor in voice from the Berklee College of Music in 2002.

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

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

He has appeared in a number 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 in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts and toured in the Broadway international touring company of Rent as the lead role Roger Davis. His role as Roger was non-equity. Since he had no agent representing him, he was allowed to appear on American Idol. After American Idol Maroulis was briefly represented by the Creative Artists Agency, but as of October 2006, he is no longer represented by the agency. As of 2006, Constantine has created his own independent label, Sixth Place Records, a branch of Sixth Place Productions, will Release his album on August 7th, 2007.

Maroulis will also sing the national anthem and play at the Reality All-Star Soccer Festival (organized by Survivor: Africa winner, Ethan Zohn) by spring of 2007.

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 memo, the Vote for the Worst online campaign provided by the Internet community, "Survivor Sucks" before the website switched focus to Scott Savol as a result of fan complaints.

For the 2005 season, Idol producers changed the age range of contestants from 16-26 to 16-28. Along with Bo Bice, Maroulis was one of the oldest contestants to participate on American Idol. Maroulis and Bice are also notable for being among the first contestants to compete using the rock idiom.

On April 27 2005, Maroulis was eliminated from American Idol after he performed Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" during the 2000s music round. He was in the bottom three with Vonzell Solomon and Anthony Fedorov. 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 self-titled debut on their label, Baby Julius.

Maroulis was featured on the American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers compilation with "My Funny Valentine". 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, which was released on August 9, 2005 on Queen's label, Hollywood Records, a division of Universal.

Betty frontman

See Pray for the Soul of Betty for more information 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.

Solo career

In November and December 2005, Maroulis performed four live shows in Manila, Philippines and New Jersey, USA. His set list included well-known songs he has performed previously, including songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, and American Idol. In August, 2006, Constantine completed a solo tour of 13 cities throughout the Northeast, where he debuted material that will be featured on his upcoming CD, including various self-penned compositions. Constantine confirmed that he will do a coast to coast tour in the U.S. in the fall of 2007 in support of his new cd. On August 7th, 2007 Constantine released his 2-years-in-the-making CD with 12 tracks.

Acting career

In the fall of 2005, he was in negotiations to star in a television sitcom called "Brooklyn" that was to be 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). However, later ABC passed on the project before it passed the script stage.

On August 22, 2006, it was announced by MTV that Maroulis joined the cast of the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer alongside Stephen Lynch. On August 23, 2006, it was announced that he is performing the role of Sammy, originally performed by Matthew Saldivar. He is to join the show for an 8-week stint beginning September 8, 2006. Beginning on January 9, 2007, Maroulis will take over the role of "Young Soldier" in the Off-Broadway musical revue, "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" for six weeks.

Maroulis joined the cast of the CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful on May 15, 2007 for a limited run as Constantine Parros, a singer and record producer. He signed a 13-week contract.

List of American Idol performances

Semi-finals:

February 22 2005 (Men) "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal
March 1 2005 (Men) "Hard to Handle" by The Black Crowes
March 8 2005 (Men) "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police

Finals:

March 15 2005 - "You've Made Me So Very Happy" by Blood, Sweat & Tears
March 22 2005 - "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family

March 29 Top 10 2005 - "I Can't Make You Love Me" by George Michael/Bonnie Raitt
April 5 2005 - "My Funny Valentine" by Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart
April 12 2005 - "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
April 19 2005 - "Nights On Broadway" by Bee Gees
April 26 2005 - "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback (eliminated)

Discography

Pray for the Soul of Betty (2005) [Koch Records] Recorded with his band; Peaked at #125 on the Billboard Charts; #2 on Top Heatseekers; #7 on Top Independent Albums.
Constantine (Album) (2007) [6th Place Records] Constantine's first solo endeavor; Debuted at #75 on the Billboard Chart and #9 on Top Independent Albums. It sold just under 9,000 copies in its first week of release.

Constantine Billboard Chart Sales

Week #	Position	Week Sales	+/-	Cumulative Sales
1	75	9,000	100%	9,000
2	198	4,000	57%	13,000
3	Off	2,000	50%	15,000

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