His name is Constantine Maroulis, and he is the savior of mainstream music. Maroulis, a rocker from New York City, left his band and tried out for \American Idol.""
Don't laugh just yet. So far he has beaten thousands of contestants and is in the running to be one of the top 12 finalists tonight. He may just redefine what people currently perceive as an idol, and go back to represent historical musical idols.
Maroulis is a genius. While he has taken heat for leaving his rock band, his rock 'n' roll roots remain intact. Maroulis sacrificed his reputation to achieve star status not only for himself, but also to expose America to his band and the rock genre as a whole.
Although Maroulis may seem like a sell-out for his conformity to pop music, it is important to see things from a different perspective. On his ""Idol"" contestant profile Maroulis gives exposure to his band, Pray For The Soul of Betty, in three different ways: He says he is currently listening to his band's album, his most embarrassing moment was with the band when he smashed his microphone and if he wins he will thank his band. It seems he and his band are on speaking terms.
Fans of the show can easily access the band's website and learn more about them. This is perhaps a great marketing move for Maroulis' band and exposing teeny-bop America to the underground rock scene in general.
Crediting and paying homage to his band may appear to merely be a passing gesture, but one should realize he is trying to gain exposure not only for the band and his singing talent, but also for the rock 'n' roll genre. Why is his image as a rocker with long hair, a leather jacket and torn jeans surprising for the judges of ""American Idol"" and society in general? Why can't he be considered an ""American Idol?""
It seems as though in the past five to 10 years the image of an American ""idol"" has been restricted to a small subset of the musical horizon and has become warped into something much less than music. More importantly, the meaning of an idol should not be limited to one genre of music, one style of dress or one type of all-around look. We should idolize originality instead of the social conformity that every other pop star tries to be.
Maroulis articulates that his favorite ""pop"" stars are Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Other ""Idol"" contestants proclaimed their favorite pop stars are Justin Timberlake or Christine Aguilera, who are considered the ""idols"" of mainstream America. Maroulis opened the door to change the notion of what an ""idol"" should be and bring the term idol back to its roots.
The concept of ""idol"" has changed throughout the years. The 1950s to the mid-1990s idols were those on the cutting-edge and experimental. Artists like Jim Morrison, Robert Plant, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin were accepted as idols in their time, but they would not get past the first round due to the images they evoke.
America is not judging based solely on musical and artistic talent, but today's idols must look beautiful, dress correctly and have a specific personality, all of which overshadow the music they produce and the actual talent they have. They must embody the ""total package"" instead of just having the best voice or all-around musical abilities.
Perhaps America creates and worships false musical idols since idolatry today comes not from creativity, musical talent or experimentation. We continue to idolize the glamorous copycats who sing mediocre renditions of OK songs. We need to look back to historical music idols, like Maroulis does in order to embrace a true idol.
Audiences should not frown upon Maroulis for becoming a part of the torrent of ""American Idol."" Instead, he should be praised for his attempts to allow people to look outside the box and rethink what an ""American Idol"" should be.
Beth Wick can be reached at eawick@wisc.edu.
