CONSTANTINE MAROULIS 'Idol' semifinalist finishing debut album, has sitcom

Constantine Maroulis left his rock group to compete last year.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
"American Idol IV" semifinalist Constantine Maroulis is living the life.
Aside from placing sixth on last spring's reality show, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native is finishing up his solo debut, as well as starring in a brand-new ABC-TV sitcom based loosely on his life. Add in the fact that People Magazine voted him the sexiest 30-year-old of 2005, and, well, Maroulis is making the most out of his newfound fame.
"It's cool," said Constantine Maroulis, calling from New York City. "My publicist is doing a good job."
A Broadway actor in the international touring company of "Rent," Maroulis decided to step away from his rock group Pray for the Soul of Betty to compete last year on the Fox Television reality show. The drama of leaving his band was captured by the "American Idol" cameras and was so compelling that producers used it as the crux of the season debut episode, which reached 33 million viewers.
It's no secret that breaking up your band -- or at the very least, putting it on hiatus -- on national television is somewhat of a questionable move, but it obviously paid off for Maroulis, who is doing his part to use his celebrity to help out his former band mates.
Keeping a promise
Perhaps not so much guilt as it is making good on a promise, Maroulis is touring a limited amount of dates with Pray for the Soul of Betty, including stops in Cleveland on Jan. 26 at the House of Blues and Pittsburgh on Jan. 27 at the Rex Theatre.
"I think there is truth in that," Maroulis said. "I told them that I would never forget them and I didn't. The band is really good and we have a really great following. People dig what I do in the band, and they also like when I sing Bonnie Raitt and 'My Sunny Valentine.' They like the aggressive attack I give them with the band. But I'm a renaissance man. I like to give them a little bit of everything."
The upcoming Pray for the Soul of Betty show will feature material from the band's 2005 self-titled release, as well as plenty of covers and even a few Maroulis tracks from his debut solo album due out later this year.
In case you haven't guessed, Maroulis finds himself moving 100 miles an hour with so many different projects coming to fruition. With his currently untitled sitcom project -- "We're going to bring great family comedy back to television," he said -- produced by Kelsey Grammar's production company and slated for the fall television season, Maroulis feels as though he can do it all, wearing as many hats as possible without any sign of slowing down.
"Absolutely, I've been doing it for about 15 years, walking that fine line from Broadway to rock 'n' roll," Maroulis said. "I look forward to doing that even more."