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thedrifter
04-01-04, 12:35 PM
'Idol' also-ran prepares for his next tour of duty

By Matthew T. Hall
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 1, 2004


VISTA – It isn't enough for Josh Gracin to be known as the Marine who finished fourth on "American Idol."

A year after his last on-camera push-up showed the nation he was more fit than fat, he's still trying to prove he's not just another also-ran on a TV talent show stocked with them.

A new single is playing on country music radio stations coast to coast. His first full-length album is due in June. And Gracin will be released from the military in September, when "tour of duty" likely will take on a whole new spin.

At 23, Lance Cpl. Gracin is looking ahead to life after four years as a supply clerk at Camp Pendleton. Leaving the Marines will leave him more time for music, which has been relegated to weekend getaways to work on the CD.

It will also mean fewer lost opportunities like last summer's 39-city tour of "Idol" contestants, which he missed because of military training for a possible deployment to Iraq that never came.

"I waited it out and now I've got a record deal and a single," he said. "It's not like my career just stopped, like, right there because I didn't go on tour."

Already, he's buying a 3,000-square-foot house in Franklin, Tenn., to be closer to Nashville, country music's epicenter.

Until he moves in, a leaner Gracin watches "American Idol" – and his weight – from a small apartment here. He doesn't watch a lot of TV, but he doesn't miss the new show. He judges the performers each week for USA Today.

He admits it hasn't been easy to move on from the show, especially since his sisters videotaped all of his appearances. He said he winces when he watches them.

"To be honest, I was disappointed with my performances throughout the whole show because I knew that I didn't perform to the ability I know I have," he said. "It's kind of disappointing when I sit and watch the playback."

A year later, some people still recognize him around town. Just last month, he got a hug from an older woman in a grocery store. Yet, for an hour at a coffee shop the other day, only the caffeine produced any discernible buzz.

That's fine with Gracin, a family man married three years to a girl whose ponytail he pulled in history class his junior year of high school.

Whether this is the calm before a storm, Gracin is bracing for success and failure and wants to protect his family from either.

He refuses to let reporters into his apartment because he wants to shield his wife, Ann Marie, and their 2-year-old daughter, Briana, from the spotlight.

He bought his new home in a neighborhood with good schools, not for his daughter's sake but so he could sell it easier if his singing career doesn't soar like last season's top two vote-getters, Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken.

That pair and Season One champ Kelly Clarkson have each sold more than 1 million records. All three came to San Diego on tours this past week.

Gracin was not in attendance or contact with any of them. His baby girl threw his cell phone under a rolling car wheel after the last season, and he lost the phone numbers of everyone he knew from the show.

He laughs about it now. He's more focused on lucky breaks than tough ones.



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Matthew Hall: (760) 476-8234; matthew.hall@uniontrib.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/images/040401idol-marine.jpg

K.C. Alfred / Union-Tribune
The first full-length country music album from former "American Idol" contestant Lance Cpl. Josh Gracin is due in June. A single already is getting radio airplay.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040401-9999-news_1mi1gracin.html


Ellie