Tim Urban
Encyclopedia
Timothy Joseph "Tim" Urban (born May 1, 1989) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 from Duncanville, Texas
Duncanville, Texas
Duncanville is a city in Dallas County, Texas . Duncanville's population was 36,081 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 42,500 in 2008. Duncanville is a suburb of Dallas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Duncanville, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Lancaster.-Geography:Duncanville is...

, who was the seventh place finalist on the ninth season
American Idol (season 9)
The ninth season of American Idol premiered on January 12, 2010 and concluded on May 26, 2010 on Fox. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi all returned as judges, and Ellen DeGeneres permanently replaced Paula Abdul as the fourth judge. Idol Gives Back also returned for the season and was...

 of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

. Urban's debut album and EP titled Heart of Me
Heart of Me (Tim Urban album)
Heart of Me is the debut EP and album from American Idol Season 9 Top 7 finalist, and singer Tim Urban. The full album was released on November 13, 2010 to iTunes with all the songs together...

is due for a November 8, 2010, iTunes release. Hard copies of the EP are on sale on his official web site. Urban stated that he is now working on a full-length debut album to be released sometime in 2011.

Biography

Urban was born in Tacoma, Washington, and lived there until he was five before moving to Duncanville, Texas
Duncanville, Texas
Duncanville is a city in Dallas County, Texas . Duncanville's population was 36,081 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 42,500 in 2008. Duncanville is a suburb of Dallas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Duncanville, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Lancaster.-Geography:Duncanville is...

, and has been singing and playing the guitar since he was 13 years old. He was homeschooled by his mother. Urban is the sixth of 10 kids and has two brothers serving in the military- his oldest brother is awaiting Air Force pilot training and second oldest brother is recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan as a Marine. Urban had three months of formal singing training in a music studio and points to several diverse artists as his musical influences. These include John Denver
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

, Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson (musician)
Jack Johnson was born May 18, 1975 is an American folk rock singer-songwriter, surfer and musician known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. In 2001, he achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. He has since released four more albums, a...

, John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...

, One Republic, Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...

 and James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

. In an American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

interview Urban reported that he had never touched alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 or illegal drugs
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...

.

Urban was a member of Actors, Models and Talent for Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

 (AMTC), a talent-development agency that also counted Idol alum Diana DeGarmo
Diana DeGarmo
Diana Nicole DeGarmo is an American singer and Broadway actress. She finished as the runner-up on the third season of the reality/talent-search television series American Idol, narrowly missing the win by about 2% out of over 65 million votes...

 as a past participant. He used to be a hotel and restaurant singer who played in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Christian music
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....

 circuit with his band.

American Idol

Urban auditioned for American Idol in 2009, and made it through to Hollywood Week, where he was later cut. However, he was called back to American Idol after contestant Chris Golightly was disqualified from the competition for having lied about a past recording contract. Urban subsequently survived the semi-final eliminations and won a spot in Season 9's Top 10, securing a place on the 2010 American Idol summer concert tour. When he was asked by American Idol what his proudest moment was, he answered, "Handing out nutritional products to orphans in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...

."
On the whole, Urban received a mixed reception from the judges, who praised a few of his performances but regarded many of them as boring, "pedestrian" and "pointless and silly." But bloggers, often comparing him to Sanjaya Malakar
Sanjaya Malakar
Sanjaya Joseph Malakar is an American singer of Indian origin, who was a finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. He gained national attention on the series, controversially advancing to 7th place with public votes, despite being poorly received by the show's judges, particularly Simon...

 from Season 6
American Idol (Season 6)
The sixth season of American Idol premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and January 17, and ran until May 23, 2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned to judge once again, and Ryan Seacrest returned as host...

, noted how the judges' criticisms never seemed to affect the perpetually smiling Urban—or his chances at being saved week after week. He was dubbed "Teflon Tim," a nickname to which host Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...

 alluded during the March 30 broadcast. "I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever what we say," quipped Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...

 the same night. "You're going to smile, the audience is going to vote for you, nobody cares, and you'll be here next week. So well done." As the controversy over Urban's lackluster performances grew, critics of the show began to fault the judges' commentary as "little more than displays of ego or thinly disguised bullying," and suggested Urban may be good for the show, because he put the judges in their place.

Vote for the Worst
Vote for the Worst
VoteForTheWorst.com is a website that is devoted to voting for the worst, most entertaining, most hated or quirkiest contestants on the Fox Network television series American Idol...

, a satirical Idol blog, supported Urban for his entire run during the season. The Web site claims Urban holds the record for the contestant to survive the longest with its endorsement, outlasting even Malakar. Urban later said about the blog, "I'm actually kind of sad that I was on that website."

Urban was eliminated during the "Idol Gives Back
Idol Gives Back
Idol Gives Back is the name of a charitable campaign that spanned two episodes of American Idol during its sixth season. A second Idol Gives Back concert and fundraiser occurred on April 9, 2008, during the seventh season of the show. Idol Gives Back was not held in 2009 due to the ongoing...

" special on April 21, after receiving unenthusiastic reviews for his performance of "Better Days" by Goo Goo Dolls
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are a Grammy-nominated American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik and vocalist and bass guitarist Robby Takac. Since the end of 1994, Mike Malinin has been the band's drummer, a position previously held by George Tutuska...

, making him finish the competition in seventh place. A retrospect of Urban's run on Idol followed the announcement of his elimination. Then, presumably because the show ran long, it abruptly ended, without Urban even having a chance to sing a final song. Urban later said, "I was a little sad that I didn't get to sing one last time on that stage, but... you don't always get what you want. I'll be back for the finale and hopefully get to perform on that stage again. It was a little bittersweet, but overall, it's all right."

Performances

Week # Theme Song choice Original artist Order # Result
Audition Auditioner's Choice "Bulletproof Weeks" Matt Nathanson
Matt Nathanson
Matt Nathanson is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic and electric guitar, and has played both solo and with a full band. His work includes the platinum-selling song "Come On Get Higher".-Early life and college...

N/A Advanced
Hollywood First Solo "Come Back to Me
Come Back to Me (David Cook song)
"Come Back to Me" is the third official single to be released from American Idol season 7 winner David Cook's major label debut studio album, David Cook. It was released with "Bar-ba-sol" as a joint double-A single...

"
David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...

N/A Advanced
Hollywood Group Round "Get Ready" The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...

N/A Advanced
Hollywood Second Solo "Viva la Vida" Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

N/A Eliminated
Top 24 (12 Men) Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 Hits
"Apologize
Apologize (song)
"Apologize" is a song written by OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder for OneRepublic's debut album Dreaming Out Loud. A remix version was included on the Timbaland album, Shock Value and on the deluxe version of Dreaming Out Loud...

"
One Republic 4 Safe
Top 20 (10 Men) "Come On Get Higher
Come On Get Higher
"Come On Get Higher" is the title of a song co-written by Matt Nathanson and Mark Weinberg. It was recorded by Nathanson and released as the second single from his album Some Mad Hope in 2008. The song had commercial success, reaching the Billboard Hot 100 at number 59 as well as charting within...

"
Matt Nathanson
Matt Nathanson
Matt Nathanson is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic and electric guitar, and has played both solo and with a full band. His work includes the platinum-selling song "Come On Get Higher".-Early life and college...

9 Safe
Top 16 (8 Men) "Hallelujah" Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...

3 Safe
Top 12 The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

"Under My Thumb
Under My Thumb
"Under My Thumb" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for The Rolling Stones. Its first appearance was as an album track on 1966's Aftermath...

"
The Rolling Stones 7 Bottom 3
Top 11 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

#1 Hits
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a song by the rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1979, the track featured on their 1980 album The Game, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits...

"
Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

3 Bottom 3
Top 10 R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

/Soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

"Sweet Love
Sweet Love
"Sweet Love" is the title of a popular song from 1986 by R&B singer Anita Baker. It was the second single from her critically acclaimed album, Rapture, Baker's second studio album.-Chart performance:...

"
Anita Baker
Anita Baker
Anita Baker is an American R&B/soul jazz singer-songwriter. To date, Baker has won eight Grammy Awards, and has four platinum albums and two gold albums to her credit....

5 Bottom 3
Top 9 Lennon/McCartney
Lennon/McCartney
The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is one of the best-known and most successful musical collaborations in history...

"All My Loving
All My Loving
"All My Loving" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney , from the 1963 album With The Beatles. Though it was not released as a single in the United Kingdom or the United States, it drew considerable radio airplay, prompting EMI to issue it as the title track of an EP...

"
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

6 Safe
Top 9 Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

"Can't Help Falling in Love
Can't Help Falling in Love
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a pop song originally recorded by American singer Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody was based on "Plaisir d'Amour" but with a different...

"
Elvis Presley 3 Safe
Top 7 Inspirational Songs "Better Days" Goo Goo Dolls
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are a Grammy-nominated American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik and vocalist and bass guitarist Robby Takac. Since the end of 1994, Mike Malinin has been the band's drummer, a position previously held by George Tutuska...

3 Eliminated

  • Because of the controversy over Chris Golightly's contract, Urban was brought back into the top 24.
  • Urban was saved first from elimination.
  • When Ryan Seacrest
    Ryan Seacrest
    Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...

     announced the results for this particular night, Urban was among the Bottom 3 but declared safe second, as Paige Miles
    Paige Miles
    Paige Sade Miles is an American singer from Naples, Florida, who was the eleventh place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol.- Early life :...

     was eliminated.
  • When Ryan Seacrest announced the results for this particular night, Urban was among the Bottom 3 but declared safe second, as Didi Benami
    Didi Benami
    Vered "Didi" Benami is an American singer/songwriter from Knoxville, Tennessee, who was the tenth place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol.-Early life:...

     was eliminated.
  • Due to the judges' using their one save to save Michael Lynche
    Michael Lynche
    Michael Alexander Lynche is an American singer from St. Petersburg, Florida who was the fourth place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol. He is the second finalist ever to receive the judges' save, which was introduced in season eight.-Early life:Lynche was born to Michele and Marque...

    , the Top 9 remained intact for another week.

Post-Idol

Urban went on a media tour on local FOX affiliates, in addition to planned appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...

, the Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...

, and The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show is a syndicated talk show hosted by Wendy Williams that premiered on July 14, 2008, as six-week sneak peek, in Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. The test run was picked up for a full season that began its run on July 13, 2009 in over 70% of the country in...

. He has visited the If I Can Dream
If I Can Dream (series)
-Format:The show followed performers who moved into a house in Hollywood, California. The house was wired with 56 AXIS cameras and the footage was broadcast live on the show's website...

 House. He was a part of the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010
American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010
The American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010 was a summer concert tour in the United States and Canada that featured the Top 10 contestants of the ninth season of American Idol. The 44 date tour started in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on July 1, and ended in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 31.The tour was...

 which started July 1, and ended on August 31, where he sang "Better Days" and "Viva La Vida". He also confirmed on MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 that he will be releasing an EP. He then performed a live show during the half-time football game Duncanville High School v Garland high School, wearing a Duncanville jersey. He was given the key to Duncanville and his own day "September 3" in his home town, Duncanville, at the game from the Mayor.

On November 8, 2010 Urban began releasing a song a day to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 off his debut EP Heart of Me
Heart of Me (Tim Urban album)
Heart of Me is the debut EP and album from American Idol Season 9 Top 7 finalist, and singer Tim Urban. The full album was released on November 13, 2010 to iTunes with all the songs together...

. On November 7, 2010 in a LIVE chat with the web site AiNow.org it was said that he well be moving to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 during the week of November 7, 2010 to work on his acting career and music, and is working on booking TV Appearances to promote his album in California.

His first single "Heart of Me
Heart of Me (Tim Urban song)
"Heart of Me" is the first single from Tim Urban's debut EP and album Heart of Me.-Promotion:Urban will be promoting the album online and in various interviews and talk shows. Urban was on "FOX Dallas Morning News" on November 8, 2010 where he performed the single...

" was released online November 7, 2010, and to iTunes on November 8, 2010. In the following days (in order) "Wheels Touch Down", "You and I", "P.S.", "Lullaby", and "Blur" were put up on iTunes.

Extended plays

Year Album details
2010 Heart of Me
Heart of Me (Tim Urban album)
Heart of Me is the debut EP and album from American Idol Season 9 Top 7 finalist, and singer Tim Urban. The full album was released on November 13, 2010 to iTunes with all the songs together...

  • Released: November 13, 2010
  • Label: self-released

Singles

Year Single Album
2010 "Heart of Me
Heart of Me (Tim Urban song)
"Heart of Me" is the first single from Tim Urban's debut EP and album Heart of Me.-Promotion:Urban will be promoting the album online and in various interviews and talk shows. Urban was on "FOX Dallas Morning News" on November 8, 2010 where he performed the single...

"
Heart of Me

External links

  • Tim Urban on Twitter
    Twitter
    Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

  • American Idol Contestants Page
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