'American Idol' finalist Tim Urban knew exit possible, not really upset

Timothy "Tim" Urban was knew his American Idol journey was in jeopardy of ending during last night's live results show, however he was okay with that.


"I knew from the judges' comments that it was possible I'd be in the bottom three and it was very possible I could go home," he told Reality TV World during a Thursday conference call.

"But I went back and watched my performance from Tuesday night, and I was fine with it. It was a performance where I decided that if I did go home, I wouldn't look back and be really upset about the performance."

The 20-year-old from Duncanville, TX became the sixth finalist ousted from American Idol's ninth-season after he received the fewest home viewer votes following Tuesday night's live performance show that saw the Top 7 finalists perform inspirational songs as part of Idol Gives Back.

"My mind set was you never know what's going to happen, but I was excited for how far I had gotten and I was really proud of how everything had gone up until that point," he told Reality TV World.


"So if I did go home on Idol Gives Back, being a part of that, it kind of lightens the blow a little bit."

While he was happy to be part of Idol Gives Back, it also meant that Urban had to sit through a 144-minute results show to learn his fate.

"The wait wasn't really that hard, just because it was such an awesome show. You almost lost that it was a results show at times just because of how amazing the performances were and how touching the videos were," he told reporters during the conference call.

"For me, I almost lost sight of the fact that it was a results show."

Urban said he also achieved his goal for appearing on American Idol: "not just to improve as an artist, but to just be a good contestant and to take what everybody was saying and to take the situation, not let it get me down, and to work at it and improve."


"It's something I'm very proud of," he said.

"By the last couple of weeks, I kind of showed America the kind of artist I can be. There were a couple of weeks where I was just kind of groping around, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. But then when I finally settled down and let myself be myself on the show, I think it really showed America the kind of artist that I want to be. Looking back, I really feel like I did what I wanted to do."

One of Urban's harshest critics at the beginning of competition was Simon Cowell, however even he eventually grew to appreciate the finalist's growth.

"Simon and I never had a problem. I actually never had a problem with Simon's critiques. I thought he was just speaking his mind and I took that and tried to use that and apply it," explained Urban.

"It was cool that he recognized that I was working towards that stuff -- it was really encouraging -- but we never had a problem to begin with."


While Urban didn't have a problem with Cowell, he does have a problem with a lot of the negativity surrounding him online in the form of critics -- especially the Vote for the Worst website, which pegged Urban as its favorite finalist to pick on.

"I'm not excited that I was on their website," Urban told reporters. "I really didn't like being on there. Basically I was working my hardest to get off of it. I'm actually kind of sad that I was on that website."

Urban added that he took much of the criticism he received online and turned it into a learning experience.

"It seems people like to pick somebody and find something they don't like about them and talk about it. I get that; it's part of dealing with the industry, it's part of being in the spotlight. People are going to say stuff about pretty much anybody -- you can find people that doesn't like any artist out there," he explained.

"So you just have to deal with it and shrug it off. I don't perform for the people that don't like me, I perform for the people that want me to be on stage."


One of the best forms of support Urban said he received was from his fellow finalists.

"We're all kind of going through the exact same thing, so there was always that support," he said. "Everybody on the show wants everybody else to do really, really well every week. So there's always that support."

Overall, Urban said his American Idol experience far exceeded what he originally anticipated -- especially since he only became a Top 24 semifinalist after original semifinalist Chris Golightly was disqualified at the beginning of the competition.

"Honestly when I auditioned, I didn't even think I'd make it past the stadium just because of how many people were there and how few people were getting through. I was honestly expecting to just go up there and sing and have them say that I wasn't what they were looking for and not get any farther than that," he said.

"This whole thing has sort of blown me away. When I made it to Hollywood Week, I was like, 'Wow, this is crazy.' Then when I got sent home from Hollywood Week I was like, 'Okay.' Then they called me back. So it's been this really crazy roller coaster journey."


Urban said he's excited about the upcoming American Idol concert tour this summer and is keeping his options open after that.

"I would love to do music, I would love to pursue that. I'm hoping that door opens up," he said.

"But I've always had a desire to act and to just be in that side of the entertainment industry as well. So I would be really excited if I got the opportunity to do that as well. I'm kind of just waiting to see what happens, but I'm open to any of that at this point."






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio