Marine swaps war duty for pop stardom bid

A US Marine’s deployment to the Gulf has been delayed so he can compete on the American version of Pop Idol.

Lance Corporal Josh Gracin, 21, was scheduled to travel to Kuwait with his unit this week ahead of the expected war against Iraq.

But his mother said that when he was given the chance to appear on American Idol “higher authorities” intervened, the New York Post reported.

“American Idol had to work with Washington to get Josh out of the deployment,” said Brenda Gracin, of Westland, Michigan.

The marine is due to sing on Wednesday night after ruthless judge Simon Cowell praised his performance of Frank Sinatra classic All or Nothing at All when his audition tape was screened last week.

Mrs Gracin said her son was not shirking his duty and once his stint on the show is over he will follow his comrades out to the Gulf.

L/Cpl Gracin was one of 70,000 Americans to audition for the second series of American Idol which has generated record viewing figures of over 25 million for the Fox network.