American Idol Shocker - Constantine Leaves!

Wow, how quickly the mighty are felled. Constantine Maroulis generated so much buzz with his performance of Bohemian Rhapsody two weeks ago, it seemed he would sail through into the top 3 on the basis of that single performance. Mediacorp Channel 5 even started airing an AI trailer that featured only Constantine; "His journey began when he left his band... He may not be the strongest vocalist, but he has charisma and star quality.... Watch Constantine Maroulis on American Idol." I don't recall any trailer that focused on other finalists individually.

And now, two weeks later, Constantine is leaving the show, receiving the lowest number of votes after last night's "Songs of the new millenium" show. I won't get into the conspiracy theories, even if I find it somewhat strange that he suddenly ended up with the lowest number of votes despite never being in the bottom 3 before.

I haven't thought very highly of Constantine's singing ability, and his over-the-top performance style isn't to my taste either. But I am sad to see him go, because he was never boring and made interesting musical choices, even if they were not always perfectly served by his vocal performances. Most of all, his off-stage personality is rather appealing. He is world-weary and blatantly seeking fame and fortune. I like that he isn't exactly coy about it and at the same time, has a city-slicker slyness about him. After so many seasons of AI celebrating the Southern girl/boy- done-good stories, it was nice to see an unashamedly urban New York son of Greek immigrants on the show.

Among this year's finalists, he came across as being the most intelligent and having the most subversive sense of fun. He seems to know the AI game and that it is a bit of a joke, but one that would benefit him to go along with. He wasn't always able to avoid poking fun at the show; when he wore a Justin Guarini t-shirt and sang a Partridge family song. You could say it was hypocritical to parody a show that he obviously wants to win. To be charitable, I think he realises how difficult the music industry is and he appreciates the opportunities that AI can give him, but he maintains enough self-awareness to know that AI is cheesy and something of a joke. I can respect that. It's better than your average fame-whore who would embrace the AI schlock machine whole-heartedly just because of what it can do for their careers. You don't have to unconditionally love something that is helpful to you; it's not hypocritical or ungrateful to admit that.

As a singer, he has been wildly uneven. I think he sounded great on his sing-out, better than he had sounded when in competition mode (except My Funny Valentine). Maybe his problem is that he overthinks his performances, rather than singing from instinct. That might come from being a bit of smarter than is good for himself. Despite his inconsistency, he has been far more interesting than any of the remaining AI contestants. The finale looks really predictable now; Carrie and Bo, with nobody else even coming close. Constantine would have made things interesting, if only because he could be counted on to do something surprising.

I wouldn't necessarily want to listen to Constantine sing myself, but I would really like to see him do well in his career. Good-bye, Constantine. You played the AI game cleverly, and I hope that great things will come from it.