A B O U T
Constantine was born in
Brooklyn to Greek American parents on September 17, 1975. Both of his
maternal and paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from
Greece in the 1920s. He was brought up Greek Orthodox.
When Constantine 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.
He then attended The Boston Conservatory of Music, where he received a
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theater and a minor in voice from
the Berkley 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, Constantine 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,
Constantine trained as an acting apprentice at the prestigious 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. Since he had no agent representing him, he was allowed to appear on
American Idol.
A M E R I C A N I D
O L
In August 2004, supposedly upon an ex-girlfriend's suggestion, Constantine
traveled to Washington DC to audition for the television show American Idol.
For the 2005 season, Idol producers changed the age range of contestants
from 16-26 to 16-28. Along with Bo Bice, Constantine was one of the oldest
contestants to participate on American Idol. Constantine and Bice are also
notable for being among the first contestants to compete using the rock
idiom.
On April 27, 2005, Constantine 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, Constantine'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.
After American Idol Constantine 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.
P R A Y F O R T H E S O U L
O F B E T T Y
Constantine 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 Constantine appeared on
Idol. His audition clip showed him "quitting" the band, a claim he had
denied at the time. On March 20, 2006, Constantine announced his departure
with the band due to creative and business differences.
S O L O C A R E E R
In November and December 2005, Constantine 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 from his CD, including various self-penned
compositions. On August 7th, 2007 Constantine released his
2-years-in-the-making CD with 12 tracks.
A C T I N G
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 Constantine joined the cast
of the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer alongside Stephen Lynch. On
August 23, 2006, it was announced that he would be 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. Constantine 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. In February of 2008, Constantine appeared in a reading of
Eric Sanders, playwright's play "It's a Dry Heat" at Playwrights Horizons,
opposite Tony Award-nominee Isabel Keating and rising star Gillian Jacobs.
L I N K S
Constantine's official
Facebook page
Constantine's official
MySpace page