Neon Limelight Interview: Tim Urban Plans Post-American Idol Career As Singer And Actor

Tim Urban - Stacey Johnson/Neon Limelight

When American Idol season 9 finalist Tim Urban started our interview by sitting down, flipping his hair, and giving us his perfect sparkling smile, we knew we were in for fun.

He told us fans would actually ask him to flip his hair for them upon meeting him. “Then they’d just scream. I don’t know why they do that,” he said jokingly, flashing that megawatt smile.

That smile got Tim a lot of attention — and a lot of votes — during his stint on American Idol. Even after being completely verbally slaughtered by the judges, he’d cheese and bear it like a pro. And why wouldn’t he? Landing in seventh place meant he was a lock to perform on the Idols Live summer tour, giving him more chances to perform and spread that smile around.

Tim was last (and our favorite — shhh, don’t tell the others!) on the conveyor belt of interviews with five of the top 10 touring Idols we caught up with backstage at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, MD Saturday, July 24, including Katie Stevens, Andrew Garcia, Michael Lynche, and winner Lee Dewyze.

See what Tim has to say about touring, working on his new album, acting, and which past Idol contestant he’d like to duet with. (Hint: it’s a tie between a season 8 winner and a season 7 runner-up).

Neon Limelight: This is just totally random…

Tim Urban: Go for it.

NL: Who do you think has better hair: you or Justin Bieber.

TU: Not even gonna justify that questions with an answer. [laughs]

NL: I think it’s you.

TU: I will have to go with your better judgment on this one. [Into our camera] She said I have better hair than Justin Bieber. Score!

NL: Definitely! So, now that the show is over and you’ve had a chance to look back and see what you did well, what you might have been able to improve, if you had to come back as a mentor and you were mentoring yourself, what would you tell yourself?

TU: I wouldn’t. Honestly, except for the very first week, which I wasn’t really used to the stage and all that, it kind of tainted the rest of the season for me. People like got that [bad performance] stuck in their head. Aside from that week, I liked that I grew as a performer. I liked that I was different, even if it didn’t always work because people watching realized that I was trying something different. It stuck out to them, the different things that I did. Whether they loved it or they didn’t like it, they noticed, you know. It caught their attention. So, for me, I’m OK because I think I had a fairly unique run where people got to see me start like not in the best position then get better and better and try different things and just kind of have a lot of fun with the competition. So, I would tell myself to sing the first song better.

NL: How do you think you’ve grown from the show?

TU: It’s hard to say. I feel like I’m the same person but much older now that I’ve gone through the show and all that and just this whole experience. It forces you to mature, otherwise you could get lost in this craziness. There’s so much going on. There’s the mics and the cameras and the fans — you could get caught up in that and you could lose yourself very easily, very quickly. So, for me, I know that I’ve matured enough to realize that the most important things in life are not related to American Idol. They’re not related to this. It’s amazing. I love every bit of this opportunity, but, for me, it’s kind of reminded me to stay grounded and remember who I am as a person.

NL: Definitely. Great answer!

TU: Thank you. My mom wrote it for me. [laughs]

NL: What’s your favorite part about touring so far?

TU: Undoubtedly it’s the fans. I’ve got so much support — more than I was expecting based on the reaction I got while I was on the show from like the judges and different people. You just never know when you go on a tour what the reaction is going to be. For me it’s been so crazy supportive, it’s nuts. People give me scrap books, and people give me teddy bears and lots of candy. All this really great stuff. And always there’s a bunch of signs. It’s so awesome when you walk out on stage — and people know it’s just you, they know it’s just Tim Urban coming out on stage and they’re still excited and they get on their feet and they scream and cheer. It’s really amazing. That makes performing so much better, so much easier for me to know that people are there and they’re actually enjoying it.

NL: What’s the most surprising thing about touring you’ve learned?

TU: I was led to believe we’d get less sleep than we actually have the opportunity to get. I think that’s because most people don’t take the opportunities to sleep when they can. I was actually a little surprised by that. But, I mean, I had no idea what to expect to be honest with you. They’re like ‘you’re going on tour!’ Well, I don’t know what that means. I’ve never been on tour before! So, I’m assuming we will sleep not at all, we will be on the bus 24/7, and it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it’s been better. It’s been so much better. And it’s honestly still surprising to see fans outside of the venues. That still surprises me. Just kind of realizing how big the tour is.

NL: Have you gotten the chance to think about what your album will be like?

TU: I have and I’ve been working on music, like writing songs and revamping old stuff. I’m still working out everything and how I want it all to sound, and I’m trying to figure out a way to be creative but not to the point where it’s confusing. That’s kind of the trick. I want to write different styles that all kind of fit into one, like a Coldplay or OneRepublic album. They’re not afraid to do very different things from song to song but it’s all definitely signature Coldplay or signature OneRepublic. I’m not saying my album is going to sound like that, but I like the idea of being able to do that; to make an album that from the first song to the twelfth songs there’s so much variety and you want to listen to each individual song. That’s kind of the trick, and because I get to make the album myself, unless someone decides to pick me up and sign me, I get to decide. I get to say ‘I want to do this.’ I’m excited to see what happens, but I don’t really know entirely what I’m going to do yet.

NL: I’m so sure you get the you’re so made for TV thing all the time. Has anyone approached you about doing a show or acting? Is it something you’d want to do?

TU: I am going to do acting. There’s an agency out in L.A. that I’m basically already working with. I’ve worked with an acting coach a handful of times and she’s given me some homework to work on while I’m out on tour. So, hopefully, as soon as the tour’s over, I’m going to go home, take a couple of months to record the album, then I’m going to move out to L.A. and pursue acting and see what happens.

NL: Nice!

TU: Obviously the plan could change depending on what happens after the tour, but that’s the current rough draft.

NL: If you could duet with any past Idol contestant, who would it be with?

TU: Any past Idol contestant…that’s a tough one because there are past Idol contestants that were just so incredible but we wouldn’t really blend well together. But I feel like — and I’ve heard from other people — that Kris Allen and I, if we worked together, that would be something that’s kind of cool. Or like a David Archuleta. Somebody like that. I’d love to work with somebody like that. That’d be very cool. Our styles would blend well.

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