Timothy Joseph "Tim" Urban (born May 1, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and actor from Duncanville, Texas, who was the seventh place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol. Urban's debut album and EP titled Heart of Me 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 2012 or 2013.

Biography

Urban was born in Tacoma, Washington, and lived there until he was five before moving to Duncanville, Texas, 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, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, OneRepublic, Jim Croce and James Taylor. In an American Idol interview Urban reported that he had never touched alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs.

Urban was a member of Actors, Models and Talent for Christ (AMTC), a talent-development agency that also counted Idol alum Diana DeGarmo as a past participant. He used to be a hotel and restaurant singer who played in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Christian music 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 and Swaziland."

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 from Season 6, 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 alluded during the March 30 broadcast. "I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever what we say," quipped Simon Cowell 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, 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" special on April 21, after receiving unenthusiastic reviews for his performance of "Better Days" by Goo Goo Dolls, 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	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood	First Solo	"Come Back to Me"	David Cook	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood	Group Round	"Get Ready"	The Temptations	N/A	Advanced
Hollywood	Second Solo	"Viva la Vida"	Coldplay	N/A	Eliminated
Top 24 (12 Men)	Billboard Hot 100 Hits	"Apologize"	OneRepublic	4	Safe
Top 20 (10 Men)		"Come On Get Higher"	Matt Nathanson	9	Safe
Top 16 (8 Men)		"Hallelujah"	Leonard Cohen	3	Safe
Top 12	The Rolling Stones	"Under My Thumb"	The Rolling Stones	7	Bottom 3
Top 11	Billboard #1 Hits	"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"	Queen	3	Bottom 3
Top 10	R&B/Soul	"Sweet Love"	Anita Baker	5	Bottom 3
Top 9	Lennon"McCartney	"All My Loving"	The Beatles	6	Safe
Top 9	Elvis Presley	"Can't Help Falling in Love"	Elvis Presley	3	Safe
Top 7	Inspirational Songs	"Better Days"	Goo Goo Dolls	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 announced the results for this particular night, Urban was among the Bottom 3 but declared safe second, as Paige Miles 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 was eliminated.
• ^ Due to the judges' using their one save to save Michael Lynche, 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 Late Show with David Letterman, and The Wendy Williams Show. He has visited the If I Can Dream House. He was a part of the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2010 which started July 1, and ended on August 31, where he sang "Better Days" and "Viva La Vida". He also confirmed on MySpace 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 off his debut EP Heart of Me. On November 7, 2010 in a LIVE chat with the web site AiNow.org it was said that he will be moving to California 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" 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.

In 2012, Urban had stated that he has booked three lead movie roles and one small role that will begin filming them later this year. On May 1, 2012, Urban released his first single "Someday" off his upcoming debut album due for a 2012 release as a temporary free download and released the music video for "Someday" as well in May of 2012.

Discography

Extended plays

Year	Album details
2010	Heart of Me Released: November 13, 2010 Label: self-released

Singles

Year	Single	Album
2010	"Heart of Me"	Heart of Me
2012	"Someday"	TBD

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