"I had every day job you could imagine," Maroulis says of life before Idol. "Everything from cutting lawns to baking bagels, delivering pizzas and cutting firewood."
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How are tour rehearsals going?
They're going really well. We have a great show in store for everyone. We're really stoked.
What can people expect?
Big group numbers, lots of solo time, a great band and a big light show. It's gonna be hot. I'm going to be doing three songs I did from the show and one of them is "Bohemian Rhapsody," so I'm really excited about that.
Are you planning any duets?
You never know. I got another rock-and-roller in my crew here that might have to come out and jam with me a little bit on one song in particular. If Bo and I had it our way we'd be out there doing different tunes every single night. You know, just rippin' it up with the guitars and everything.
What it was like for you when you got voted off Idol?
I felt like I was going along pretty well on the show. That just goes to show you that's the name of the game. You can go from first to last in an instant. I felt that I was in a comfortable situation, but I always prepared myself, week after week, to go home. The fact that I even got that far – some long-haired kid from New York no one even knew at all before. All of a sudden we're the chatter around the water cooler in the morning. It's pretty cool. I got no complaints.
How's life post-Idol?
I've been very busy and very grateful. I got really lucky. I sort of hit the jackpot here with the opportunities. Everyone's talking to me about doing my own album. We're trying to figure out the right place to make that happen – it would go down after the tour sometime. Look for that in the late fall. And I'm on the Killer Queen record, which is a tribute to Queen with a bunch of rock stars on it – Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Sum 41, Joss Stone, Gavin DeGraw. I did "Bohemian Rhapsody." It's going to be out in August.
