Here's Con at the AI Launch party on Feb. 18th, 2006! Hott as evah!!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Valentine's day Part II
Here's the article from AI Mag! Enjoy!!!
Since he was voted off American Idol last spring, Constantine Maroulis has done anything but fade away. His natural gifts as an entertainer have taken him to high places - and his fans scream for more.
Eros...move over! There's a new Greek God of Love in town: tall, dark, exotic. He comes at you with sultry eyes and a mystique that could curl your toes.
Constantine Maroulis is considered by many to be the most authentic rocker from American Idol Season 4. Some claim he's "the sexiest man alive" or even "the slickest dude walking the planet;" People magazine even weighed in by naming him one of the 30 Sexiest Men. Now he's preparing to star in an ABC television sitcom for Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer's Production Company.
Either way you swing it, the 6'3" Greek Adonis kept fans glued to their television sets for months, then strutted his stuff in three dozen cities on the American Idols Tour this past summer. His fans embrace every move he makes, yet Constantine continues to be left speechless when he's bombarded with tokens of appreciation.
Four months later, Constantine was back on a black leather couch, once again needing a break. Only this time, his world whirled in a cyclone of opportunities. New York City's glitzy Biltmore Room provided the backdrop as Constantine supplied and sought answers to the big question: how did this American Idol finalist manage to grab a coveted brass ring without making it to the Top 5?
The crowded restaurant glowed with candlelight, and rhythmic chatter filled the dining room - until 7:00 p.m. At that point, intrigue quieted the diners as Constantine strode through the massive ornamented iron gates from the smoky Manhattan Street. All heads turned to spy the 30-year-old paragon with the chestnut hair, ripped and tattered jeans, and weathered black cowboy boots. It was clear: this Idol could capture the souls of all who came upon him just by being himself.
Old-World Beginnings
Constantine's foundation is as solid as the Parthenon, with strong wisdom handed down from trusted family members, which include two older siblings. "My parents were born right out of the depression and I've always had strong values," he says.
Born in Brooklyn, much of his character was cleaved by his grandmother, who without speaking any English built a small empire from a single diner. She did so despite being widowed at 40 and left to raise six children by herself. "I was very young when my grandmother died, but I know what great people my grandparents were from stories my parents tell. I share my grandfather's name, Constantine. My mother is also named after him. She is Constantina."
When Constantine was five, he and his family moved out to the suburbs of New Jersey. His father worked on big machinery and computers. "My father worked the graveyard shift and crazy hours. I didn't know him much when I was a kid. my parents worked really hard. We didn't go on big vacations. We didn't have a lot," he says.
A Voice Appears
While flipping favorite baseball cards and gazing into skies, cutting lawns or shoveling snow, Constantine could be heard imitating voices from radio and television favorites. "My mother wasn't into it at all," he laughed, while tossing his locks from his unshaven face. "They wanted no part of that! I would mimic voices like Nat King Cole's 'Unforgettable,' in that real character sort of voice he had. I would do Sinatra and even tunes from The Wizard of Oz."
Constantine recalled, without hesitation, those teachers in his life that inspired and encouraged him to develop his concealed gift. He did so with a focus that emanates from deep within his soul. "I will never forget Mr. Thompson in elementary school. The first day of his class, I walked into this big music room and he had wraps of keyboards set up with big amplifiers. I was really blown away! He put a huge show together called The History of Rock and Roll, and I was cast as Paul McCartney in the Beatles segment," he says.
As his early teen years unfolded, Constantine struggled as his personal shortcomings hindered him greatly. “I was so shy and awkward. I was very geeky, skinny, and ugly too. I had no confidence.” Setting out to gain self-assurance and popularity against the often cut-throat, cliquish high school mentality, Constantine Maroulis became the bad boy, with a bad attitude. He topped it off with bad grades.
However, he kept his musical focus. Constantine played trumpet in school, but he was hardly a front-runner. “My band teacher didn’t like me. He had no faith in me.” And so, Constantine left the band and his trumpet behind…not knowing that beyond the closed door was a superhighway to his future. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me, though, because I joined chorus and met Mrs. Birdsill,” he says.
A Guardian Angel Nurtures Her Student
As the face of a big, jolly white-haired woman crossed his memory, Constantine smiled. “I remember how (Mrs. Birdsill) would sit at her piano. She took me aside one day and said, ‘you have a real talent, Constantine, and you need to focus and do better in school because this could be something you could pursue professionally one day.’ She encouraged me to do shows and theater and she wanted more than anything for me to be a part of that and audition for plays, but I never did.”
Pausing, his eyes filled with tears. “Mrs. Birdsill passed away the day before the big opening of the show at school. It was a shock. And exactly one year later on opening night of another show, a gigantic owl with huge white feathers perched itself on the telephone pole outside of the school and sat there all day. I remember just staring at it for hours, and I just knew it was a sign. That owl was there for me. Mrs. Birdsill truly changed my life because after that I started auditioning for the plays – it changed everything. She really believed in me. She saw it in my eyes. I believe in many ways she is my guardian angel.”
And so it began. Constantine auditioned for West Side Story and was cast as one of the Jets. Being a part of the show, working with fellow performers and learning about the theater was all he needed for his spark to ignite: “This is when I knew what I wanted to be.”
By his senior year of high school, Constantine snagged all the leads in school productions while rockin’ with his first band, lady Rain. “It was my senior year that I started to get the rock star thing going,” he recalls. “People like me all of a sudden. I was the guy who could sing really well and I was finally accepted. I started to grow my hair long, go into my room, slam the door, and blast my music. My mother hated it!”
Moving Forward: A Performer’s Journey
At 21, Constantine moved forward, with rock and roll tucked safely in his back pocket. He wanted to perform; his journey led to the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in Nyack, NY. “I felt no one understood me. I was so insecure, but I saw that owl in my head and I kept moving forward,” he says. “I got a job in the chorus of Jesus Christ Superstar. There was one technically trained actor I really admired. He had it all.”
A year later, Constantine packed his bags and headed north to the Boston Conservatory. The fun and games were over. Constantine’s chosen path now centered on one of the most respected performing arts colleges in the nation. Constantine was thrown into a world of die-hard instruction in an environment that has broken plenty of talented but undisciplined artists and dreamers. His studies were strenuous; he learned about theater, dance, and music from consummate pros. Constantine embraced their merciless behavior in a way that only those raised in old-school homes and those determined to reach the top could understand. “I had hard-core teachers. They made Simon Cowell look like nothing,” he said, laughing out loud. “They knew I had potential. They never gave up on me.”
Constantine performed in many shows, including the lead in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. “That was huge for me. It was my big acting breakthrough from a technical standpoint. I was able to mask myself, and I was believable as a completely different person.”
After completing an apprenticeship at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Constantine graduated from The Boston Conservatory in 2002. He now possessed the ingredient to complete his magical formula of success: confidence.
A Chameleon and a Singer
When Constantine returned home to New York City, he had it all – the talent, the look, the confidence…and the lead in Rent. He’d undertaken a hero’s journey – not the athletic kind, which is defined by a good jump shot and media attention, but the Joseph Campbell variety, in which a person dives deep into his darkest corners and feelings of inadequacy, burns through them, and transforms through the fires of trials. In Constantine’s case, the Boston Conservatory provided wood and flame for those fires.
He performed in New York theaters and played with various bands before leaving with Rent’s touring company. Still, he was restless; his rock music needs weren’t being met.
A year later, in 2003, Constantine heard that three guys were looking for a lead singer. He hopped a train and swaggered into a studio in the increasingly artistic Williamsburg district of Brooklyn. With charisma established and vocals strong and sure, he auditioned for Taylor, C.R., Joao Joya, and Hamboussi, now known to millions as Pray for the Soul of Betty. “He just had it,” recalled bassist Taylor, C.R. “We auditioned over 150 singers, and with Constantine, we all just jammed.”
Pray for the Soul of Betty played all summer in the sweltering studio, as Constantine dropped his calculated strategy into the laps of three zealous musicians: “I’m the lead in Rent and I have a rock and roll band from NYC that will kick you in the face.” The dichotomy was perfect: Playing Roger fed his acting desire, and being Betty’s lead vocalist fulfilled the bad boy. “The band gives me a chance to be more of a hard-edged, sloppy, rock and roll guy. I don’t have to smile when I’m that guy. That’s my alter ego who’s up there in that band,” he admitted with a grin. In September 2003, Pray for the Soul of Betty hit the road for a year with Rent’s lead man fronting the band and captivating audiences from coast to coast.
“I’m Auditioning for American idol and You’re Coming With Me”
In the summer of 2004, after returning home from Betty’s successful tour, Constantine’s fate shifted again. A dear friend, Jessica, put it bluntly: “Constantine, I’m auditioning for American Idol and you’re coming with me.”
The multi-talented ace simply said, “No, I’m not!”
She persisted. “Yes you are, Constantine. You’re a star. You just need an opportunity.”
Constantine pondered the challenge. He accepted, auditioned, and played to win a game that would change his life. “I approached Idol from day one like it was a job interview or gig,” he says. “I brought experience and knowledge to the table.”
Constantine arrived in Hollywood. Only this time, 35 million television viewers held front-row tickets. He sprung into homes twice a week with loaded guns firing unstoppable talent and appeal. Constantine sang “My Funny Valentine” into California cameras with a crooning style that became his signature. “I approached all the songs from an acting standpoint and approached the lyrics as I would Shakespeare text,” he recalls.
Fro six week, audiences were riveted. Fans and judges alike braced for a collision course showdown between Constantine, Southern rocker Bo Bice, country queen Carrie Underwood and soul maven Vonzell Solomon. When Constantine unleashed Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a most difficult two-measure song, he showed the world his range and that he meant business. His efforts were sincere, his focus unshakable, his execution brilliant. Later in the year, he would reprise Freddie Mercury’s tour de force on Hollywood Records’ tribute album Killer Queen. It was the album’s definitive performance.
Then the votes were counted: A curve ball had been thrown. On a dark Wednesday night, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest read the unthinkable: "America, Constantine is going home."
A lesser performer would have been crushed. Not Constantine.
‘The Bad Guy You Would Still Let Your Daughters Date’
An industry giant followed Constantine out of town and reeled him right back to Hollywood. Steve Stark, President of Grammnet Productions, remembered that evening well. "When Constantine got voted off the show, my house went upside down! My children and wife were calling friends, neighbors, classmates... it just didn't stop! I immediately knew there was a lot more to this guy than just being a singer. It was time to talk."
Constantine was ready to talk. More importantly, he was ready to listen. Within a short time, a new sitcom comedy project went into full development, with Constantine at the wheel of his own destiny. “He’s a big personality with charming appeal. He’s the ‘bad’ guy you would still let your daughters date,” Stark says. The show idea, based on Constantine’s life, was presented to networks; ABC Touchstone snapped it up.
Today, Constantine Maroulis holds the golden key; his vision, hard work, and talent earned him that honor. His days are consumed. This past December, he played before sellout crowds at New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom and The House of Blues. With plans for a solo album underway (a collection of personal favorites) and a Pray for the Soul of Betty tour on the docket, Constantine continues to challenge himself to become a better person and artist. Underneath his suit of drama, he admits, “I’m still a dork and just me! I represent all the struggling artists out there. If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
Since he was voted off American Idol last spring, Constantine Maroulis has done anything but fade away. His natural gifts as an entertainer have taken him to high places - and his fans scream for more.
Eros...move over! There's a new Greek God of Love in town: tall, dark, exotic. He comes at you with sultry eyes and a mystique that could curl your toes.
Constantine Maroulis is considered by many to be the most authentic rocker from American Idol Season 4. Some claim he's "the sexiest man alive" or even "the slickest dude walking the planet;" People magazine even weighed in by naming him one of the 30 Sexiest Men. Now he's preparing to star in an ABC television sitcom for Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer's Production Company.
Either way you swing it, the 6'3" Greek Adonis kept fans glued to their television sets for months, then strutted his stuff in three dozen cities on the American Idols Tour this past summer. His fans embrace every move he makes, yet Constantine continues to be left speechless when he's bombarded with tokens of appreciation.
Four months later, Constantine was back on a black leather couch, once again needing a break. Only this time, his world whirled in a cyclone of opportunities. New York City's glitzy Biltmore Room provided the backdrop as Constantine supplied and sought answers to the big question: how did this American Idol finalist manage to grab a coveted brass ring without making it to the Top 5?
The crowded restaurant glowed with candlelight, and rhythmic chatter filled the dining room - until 7:00 p.m. At that point, intrigue quieted the diners as Constantine strode through the massive ornamented iron gates from the smoky Manhattan Street. All heads turned to spy the 30-year-old paragon with the chestnut hair, ripped and tattered jeans, and weathered black cowboy boots. It was clear: this Idol could capture the souls of all who came upon him just by being himself.
Old-World Beginnings
Constantine's foundation is as solid as the Parthenon, with strong wisdom handed down from trusted family members, which include two older siblings. "My parents were born right out of the depression and I've always had strong values," he says.
Born in Brooklyn, much of his character was cleaved by his grandmother, who without speaking any English built a small empire from a single diner. She did so despite being widowed at 40 and left to raise six children by herself. "I was very young when my grandmother died, but I know what great people my grandparents were from stories my parents tell. I share my grandfather's name, Constantine. My mother is also named after him. She is Constantina."
When Constantine was five, he and his family moved out to the suburbs of New Jersey. His father worked on big machinery and computers. "My father worked the graveyard shift and crazy hours. I didn't know him much when I was a kid. my parents worked really hard. We didn't go on big vacations. We didn't have a lot," he says.
A Voice Appears
While flipping favorite baseball cards and gazing into skies, cutting lawns or shoveling snow, Constantine could be heard imitating voices from radio and television favorites. "My mother wasn't into it at all," he laughed, while tossing his locks from his unshaven face. "They wanted no part of that! I would mimic voices like Nat King Cole's 'Unforgettable,' in that real character sort of voice he had. I would do Sinatra and even tunes from The Wizard of Oz."
Constantine recalled, without hesitation, those teachers in his life that inspired and encouraged him to develop his concealed gift. He did so with a focus that emanates from deep within his soul. "I will never forget Mr. Thompson in elementary school. The first day of his class, I walked into this big music room and he had wraps of keyboards set up with big amplifiers. I was really blown away! He put a huge show together called The History of Rock and Roll, and I was cast as Paul McCartney in the Beatles segment," he says.
As his early teen years unfolded, Constantine struggled as his personal shortcomings hindered him greatly. “I was so shy and awkward. I was very geeky, skinny, and ugly too. I had no confidence.” Setting out to gain self-assurance and popularity against the often cut-throat, cliquish high school mentality, Constantine Maroulis became the bad boy, with a bad attitude. He topped it off with bad grades.
However, he kept his musical focus. Constantine played trumpet in school, but he was hardly a front-runner. “My band teacher didn’t like me. He had no faith in me.” And so, Constantine left the band and his trumpet behind…not knowing that beyond the closed door was a superhighway to his future. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me, though, because I joined chorus and met Mrs. Birdsill,” he says.
A Guardian Angel Nurtures Her Student
As the face of a big, jolly white-haired woman crossed his memory, Constantine smiled. “I remember how (Mrs. Birdsill) would sit at her piano. She took me aside one day and said, ‘you have a real talent, Constantine, and you need to focus and do better in school because this could be something you could pursue professionally one day.’ She encouraged me to do shows and theater and she wanted more than anything for me to be a part of that and audition for plays, but I never did.”
Pausing, his eyes filled with tears. “Mrs. Birdsill passed away the day before the big opening of the show at school. It was a shock. And exactly one year later on opening night of another show, a gigantic owl with huge white feathers perched itself on the telephone pole outside of the school and sat there all day. I remember just staring at it for hours, and I just knew it was a sign. That owl was there for me. Mrs. Birdsill truly changed my life because after that I started auditioning for the plays – it changed everything. She really believed in me. She saw it in my eyes. I believe in many ways she is my guardian angel.”
And so it began. Constantine auditioned for West Side Story and was cast as one of the Jets. Being a part of the show, working with fellow performers and learning about the theater was all he needed for his spark to ignite: “This is when I knew what I wanted to be.”
By his senior year of high school, Constantine snagged all the leads in school productions while rockin’ with his first band, lady Rain. “It was my senior year that I started to get the rock star thing going,” he recalls. “People like me all of a sudden. I was the guy who could sing really well and I was finally accepted. I started to grow my hair long, go into my room, slam the door, and blast my music. My mother hated it!”
Moving Forward: A Performer’s Journey
At 21, Constantine moved forward, with rock and roll tucked safely in his back pocket. He wanted to perform; his journey led to the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in Nyack, NY. “I felt no one understood me. I was so insecure, but I saw that owl in my head and I kept moving forward,” he says. “I got a job in the chorus of Jesus Christ Superstar. There was one technically trained actor I really admired. He had it all.”
A year later, Constantine packed his bags and headed north to the Boston Conservatory. The fun and games were over. Constantine’s chosen path now centered on one of the most respected performing arts colleges in the nation. Constantine was thrown into a world of die-hard instruction in an environment that has broken plenty of talented but undisciplined artists and dreamers. His studies were strenuous; he learned about theater, dance, and music from consummate pros. Constantine embraced their merciless behavior in a way that only those raised in old-school homes and those determined to reach the top could understand. “I had hard-core teachers. They made Simon Cowell look like nothing,” he said, laughing out loud. “They knew I had potential. They never gave up on me.”
Constantine performed in many shows, including the lead in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. “That was huge for me. It was my big acting breakthrough from a technical standpoint. I was able to mask myself, and I was believable as a completely different person.”
After completing an apprenticeship at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Constantine graduated from The Boston Conservatory in 2002. He now possessed the ingredient to complete his magical formula of success: confidence.
A Chameleon and a Singer
When Constantine returned home to New York City, he had it all – the talent, the look, the confidence…and the lead in Rent. He’d undertaken a hero’s journey – not the athletic kind, which is defined by a good jump shot and media attention, but the Joseph Campbell variety, in which a person dives deep into his darkest corners and feelings of inadequacy, burns through them, and transforms through the fires of trials. In Constantine’s case, the Boston Conservatory provided wood and flame for those fires.
He performed in New York theaters and played with various bands before leaving with Rent’s touring company. Still, he was restless; his rock music needs weren’t being met.
A year later, in 2003, Constantine heard that three guys were looking for a lead singer. He hopped a train and swaggered into a studio in the increasingly artistic Williamsburg district of Brooklyn. With charisma established and vocals strong and sure, he auditioned for Taylor, C.R., Joao Joya, and Hamboussi, now known to millions as Pray for the Soul of Betty. “He just had it,” recalled bassist Taylor, C.R. “We auditioned over 150 singers, and with Constantine, we all just jammed.”
Pray for the Soul of Betty played all summer in the sweltering studio, as Constantine dropped his calculated strategy into the laps of three zealous musicians: “I’m the lead in Rent and I have a rock and roll band from NYC that will kick you in the face.” The dichotomy was perfect: Playing Roger fed his acting desire, and being Betty’s lead vocalist fulfilled the bad boy. “The band gives me a chance to be more of a hard-edged, sloppy, rock and roll guy. I don’t have to smile when I’m that guy. That’s my alter ego who’s up there in that band,” he admitted with a grin. In September 2003, Pray for the Soul of Betty hit the road for a year with Rent’s lead man fronting the band and captivating audiences from coast to coast.
“I’m Auditioning for American idol and You’re Coming With Me”
In the summer of 2004, after returning home from Betty’s successful tour, Constantine’s fate shifted again. A dear friend, Jessica, put it bluntly: “Constantine, I’m auditioning for American Idol and you’re coming with me.”
The multi-talented ace simply said, “No, I’m not!”
She persisted. “Yes you are, Constantine. You’re a star. You just need an opportunity.”
Constantine pondered the challenge. He accepted, auditioned, and played to win a game that would change his life. “I approached Idol from day one like it was a job interview or gig,” he says. “I brought experience and knowledge to the table.”
Constantine arrived in Hollywood. Only this time, 35 million television viewers held front-row tickets. He sprung into homes twice a week with loaded guns firing unstoppable talent and appeal. Constantine sang “My Funny Valentine” into California cameras with a crooning style that became his signature. “I approached all the songs from an acting standpoint and approached the lyrics as I would Shakespeare text,” he recalls.
Fro six week, audiences were riveted. Fans and judges alike braced for a collision course showdown between Constantine, Southern rocker Bo Bice, country queen Carrie Underwood and soul maven Vonzell Solomon. When Constantine unleashed Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a most difficult two-measure song, he showed the world his range and that he meant business. His efforts were sincere, his focus unshakable, his execution brilliant. Later in the year, he would reprise Freddie Mercury’s tour de force on Hollywood Records’ tribute album Killer Queen. It was the album’s definitive performance.
Then the votes were counted: A curve ball had been thrown. On a dark Wednesday night, American Idol host Ryan Seacrest read the unthinkable: "America, Constantine is going home."
A lesser performer would have been crushed. Not Constantine.
‘The Bad Guy You Would Still Let Your Daughters Date’
An industry giant followed Constantine out of town and reeled him right back to Hollywood. Steve Stark, President of Grammnet Productions, remembered that evening well. "When Constantine got voted off the show, my house went upside down! My children and wife were calling friends, neighbors, classmates... it just didn't stop! I immediately knew there was a lot more to this guy than just being a singer. It was time to talk."
Constantine was ready to talk. More importantly, he was ready to listen. Within a short time, a new sitcom comedy project went into full development, with Constantine at the wheel of his own destiny. “He’s a big personality with charming appeal. He’s the ‘bad’ guy you would still let your daughters date,” Stark says. The show idea, based on Constantine’s life, was presented to networks; ABC Touchstone snapped it up.
Today, Constantine Maroulis holds the golden key; his vision, hard work, and talent earned him that honor. His days are consumed. This past December, he played before sellout crowds at New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom and The House of Blues. With plans for a solo album underway (a collection of personal favorites) and a Pray for the Soul of Betty tour on the docket, Constantine continues to challenge himself to become a better person and artist. Underneath his suit of drama, he admits, “I’m still a dork and just me! I represent all the struggling artists out there. If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
Happy Valentine's Day!
Connie on the cover of AI Magazine for V-day! Sweeter than any candy I've ever had and more beautiful than any flower I've ever seen! That's just the cover! Inside you'll find some hott new pics of Conman along with a kick ass article!!! I sure do miss my Greekboy but I know it won't be long and he'll do his solo tour, release his solo cd, and hopefully we'll be able to tune in each week to see the Greek God on ABC!! Life is grand when you are in love with (or maybe I should say "in love but not known to) a Greek God!!! A Greek God that rocks, acts, keeps us laughing, is mysterious, and SEXAY!!!! Hot.. sticky... sweet ! Why I do believe I smell sex and candy here!!
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Greetings, Cowboys and girls and all you other people out there!
Hey, I'm back! Just completed a major change of location. I am now a resident of the Lone Star State. Hopefully, I will be able to catch up on all things Constantine and Betty. Sad thing is now the Betty tour is coming to an end. Good thing is..Constantine will be starting his solo projects!! Can't wait! Hope to see the pilot for the tv show soon as well!
Downloaded "Weatherman Con". Sexiest weatherman I have ever seen!! Rain, snow, sleet or hail..Constantine rocks without fail!! : ) Loved the fire shooting from his body! LOL What a ham!
No where near unpacked from the move from Mo to Tx . Empty one box and 3 more things come in. Yesterday we got furniture. Now I have to get that all moved and set up so I can walk around and put other stuff away. It never ends.
Anyway, hope you all have a great day and thanks for showing me all the love and letting me know how much I was missed! LOL
Downloaded "Weatherman Con". Sexiest weatherman I have ever seen!! Rain, snow, sleet or hail..Constantine rocks without fail!! : ) Loved the fire shooting from his body! LOL What a ham!
No where near unpacked from the move from Mo to Tx . Empty one box and 3 more things come in. Yesterday we got furniture. Now I have to get that all moved and set up so I can walk around and put other stuff away. It never ends.
Anyway, hope you all have a great day and thanks for showing me all the love and letting me know how much I was missed! LOL
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