Constantine Maroulis Biography

Constantine James Maroulis, better known as Constantine (born September 17, 1975 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Greek-American rock singer, musical theatre actor, and television actor.
He was a finalist on the reality television series American Idol. He has also appeared in Elimidate[1] as well as having very small roles in NBC's Law and Order: SVU and the WB's Astro Boy.
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Maroulis makes a living singing, acting, and songwriting. He is currently the frontman of the rock band Pray For The Soul Of Betty. 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.

Maroulis was born in Brooklyn, New York to James and Constance Maroulis, however, most of his childhood was spent in Wyckoff, New Jersey. He is the youngest of three, behind an older sister and older brother. Maroulis attended Eisenhower Middle School, Ramapo High School and graduated from The Boston Conservatory in 2002 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in musical theater with a minor in voice performance from Berklee College of Music. He has a cavalcade of off-Broadway roles in college stock productions, along with a series of independent feature films. After graduation, Maroulis trained as a director's apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival[2] and toured in the Broadway International Touring Company of Rent as the lead role Roger. Maroulis was asked to leave Rent after giving insufficient attention to his role and too much to the band, unpredictable hyperactivity, and for physically abusing crew members. His role as Roger was non-equity and since he had no agent representing him, he was allowed to participate in 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 on American Idol. He was the first contestant of the season supported by the Vote for the Worst 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 sing a rock song on the show, Maroulis and Bice were the first finalists to dedicate much 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, Disney's Hollywood Records, a division of Universal. For more about his songs on the show, see American Idol Season Four songs.

CONSTANTINE MAROULIS PICTURES

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CONSTANTINE MAROULIS BIOGRAPHY