‘I don’t perform for the people who don’t like me; I perform for the people who want me to be onstage,’ he says.
By Katie Byrne

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Tim Urban performs on “American Idol”


Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Tim Urban might have lasted on “American Idol” longer than fans expected, but those extra weeks actually gave him a chance to redeem himself after being lambasted by the judges week after week.

But he reached a little too high with his cover of the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Better Days” during “Idol Gives Back” week and was sent packing Wednesday night.

During a conference call with reporters after his elimination, he opened up about his good attitude through all the criticism, Vote for the Worst’s support and that shirtless picture.

Q: Simon complimented you on your attitude in the competition, that you took everything positively. What did it mean to you that they recognized not only how you grew as a performer, but also appreciated the way you came across?

A: That’s actually something that was my goal on the show. It was not just to improve as an artist, but to just be a very good contestant and to take what everybody was saying and to just treat the situation — not let it get me down, but to take what they were saying and work at it and improve, but also, not to really complain or to talk back. Just take the criticism and work from it. It was cool to get that recognition about that. It’s something that I’m very proud of.

Q: What would you say to your critics who thought you only lasted as long as you did because of your good looks and charisma?

A: Oh, wow. I don’t think that I would respond to that. It seems that people just like to take somebody and then find something that 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. So people are going to say that, but people are going to say that about pretty much anybody. You’ll find people that don’t like any artist out there, and so you have to deal with it, shrug it off. I don’t perform for the people who don’t like me; I perform for the people who want me to be onstage, so those are the people that I try to worry about.

Q: What did you think when the shirtless picture of you hit the Web?

A: I kind of knew it would come out eventually. I didn’t really expect it to be as big as it was, because it kind of blew up really fast. That was kind of a little crazy, but I just took it in stride. It’s part of the show. Everybody is looking for something in the backstory. Everybody is looking for an extra story, so it’s just one of the stories that people decided to run with. I just try not to worry about it too much.

Q: Do you think it helped or hindered you?

A: Kind of both. I definitely heard that it helped, but then there are also people who might see that and not take me seriously, just because of that type of thing. I don’t know; I think it probably helped more than it hurt, but I don’t really know for sure.

Q: Last year, we heard a lot about contestants’ religious backgrounds and their experiences singing in church. How has your religion influenced your time on “American Idol”?

A: My personal belief has really shaped pretty much every aspect of my life. I grew up in a very Christian home, and that set of morals and just that upbringing has shaped me musically, has shaped me as a person, and just, I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to explain, because it’s pretty much who I am. So it’s not just a part of my life.

Q: What did you think about VoteForTheWorst.com backing you?

A: I’m not excited that I was on their website. I think that it’s really not anything that anybody should be proud of. I really didn’t like being on there, and basically I was working my hardest to get off of it. Yes, I’m actually kind of sad that I was on that website at all.

Q: What do you want to do next? A few people have floated the idea of you teaming up with Disney or appearing on “Glee.”

A: You know, I would love to do music. I would love to pursue that, and I’m hoping that that door opens up, but I also have 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 just waiting to see what happens, but I’m open to any of that at this point. I’m really just excited about the whole thing.

Were you sad to see Tim go? Will you listen to his post-”Idol” music? Let us know in the comments below!

Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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Two things before we get into the cut and thrust of whether this is a good song or not a good song. One relevent, one…less so:

1: Ke$ha needs to release ‘Dinosaur’ as a single. She’s already got people’s backs up about whether she’s a great new pop talent or a pretend drunkard with personal hygiene issues as it is, so it’s not like she has anything to lose. And putting out a Daphne & Celeste sort of song has to be the best kind of “stuff you, grandad!” stunt since the invention of punk rock. She would gain everything and lose nothing. Unless it’s not a hit, of course.

2: I’ve finally figured out what was bugging me about Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’. Y’know the bit where she sings “don’t mean I’m IN love to-NIGHT”, and the stresses fall in all the wrong places? That’s so easy to fix. All she’d have to do is add an extra syllable, and sing “don’t mean that I’M in LOVE to-NIGHT”. You might not be able to get what I’m driving at from the text alone, but trust me, it works.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, Taio Cruz…

(Here’s the video. Who else would like to see the outtake where Kesh puts her foot in the loo?)

Now the thing with this song is it’s repetitive, it’s dumb, it’s silly and it’s crude. None of which are bad things in themselves. Ever the craftsman, Taio has invested proceedings with a selection of little bits, each overlapping slightly, so there’s a sense of forward motion as you, the listener, move from one to another.

It goes: pretty intro, doomy synth buildup, endless repetition of “won’t you take a picture for me, won’t you take a picture”, slurpy synths, silly rap (him), slurpy rap (her) and then back to the doomy synth again. Repeat with moany noises.

Usually, I am FAR more likely to be distracted by something daft like this, something which wallows in its own filth, than something which attempts to say anything clever using stupid language. And the jarring clash between Taio’s supersmooth soul-gentleman image and Ke$ha’s sloppy drunken nonsense is genuinely fascinating. The song actually transforms from one kind of a thing to another, depending who has their hand on the microphone. Even if the music stays the same. It’s amazing.

Trouble is, as a song, it kind of runs out of anything to say far too quickly. If you’ve got a chorus which is just one line repeated like that, you probably need to be a bit more sparing with it. Maybe use it to season your bassquake dance anthem, rather than attempting to make it the principal ingredient.

Ah well, at least it’s not boring, eh?

Download: Out now
CD Released: May 3rd
taiocruzmusic.co.uk
BBC Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

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The Academy Awards are 23 days away, which means things are starting to heat up in the Oscar race. There has been a lot going on regarding the Oscars recently (check out the nominees again), but this just makes me smile. Power producer Harvey Weinstein told Pete Hammond of the LA Times that Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds will win Best Picture on March 7th. “We’re going to win Best Picture,” Harvey proclaimed. “This is the movie people love and it’s Quentin’s time. We are going for it and we are gonna get it.” I’d love to see that happen, but I’m not so sure it will. Others are saying Avatar will win big.

“Look, best director may be a question — and you can quote me on that — but we won the SAG award for best ensemble, actors are the biggest branch in the academy and they love the movie.”

Harvey thinks the Academy will go the Crash route this time, voting for the ensemble movie with a great cast rather than the other best movie of the year (which was Brokeback Mountain, or so Hammond says). I’m not really sure if I think Inglourious Basterds will win. In fact, I was thinking it’s going to either be The Hurt Locker or Avatar, but you never know. Harvey “thinks the preferential balloting for Best Picture is a good thing and will benefit Basterds in a big way. That’s why he’s confident he can pull this out.” Although he also thought Rob Marshall’s Nine would be his frontrunner, but that film is already dead and buried.

Head over to LA Times to read Hammond’s article about Basterds. I’m fond of all of this year’s Best Picture nominees (except The Blind Side) and can’t wait to see who wins. Will it be Basterds? We’ll know in 23 days.

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Every year, AMC hosts the Best Picture Showcase, showing all of the Best Picture nominees in one day so that film fans can get a refresher before the Oscars. Since we now have 10 Best Pictures nominees, AMC has decided to split their showcase into two days – the first one is on February 27th, the second one on March 6th (the day before the Oscars). They will show five films on each day back-to-back, starting with Avatar in 3D on Saturday, February 27th. Their exact line-up hasn’t been announced yet (more on that below) but we already know what they’ll be showing. 10 Best Picture Nominees. 2 Saturdays. 1 Unforgettable Experience.

It costs $60 to buy a two-day pass online or $50 at the box office (it’s also only $30 for just one day). Head over to AMC.com for more information. As usual, you get a free large popcorn and unlimited refills (but it doesn’t sound like you get a free large drink this year?). AMC hasn’t exactly figured out the line-up of when everything is playing, but you can go vote on the AMC blog in their poll to determine which four films will play with Avatar on the 27th (the others will play on March 7th). I still think this is one of the best programs any movie theater chain has ever put together, although ironically I’ve never actually attended one of them.

This year I’ve already seen 9 of the 10 nominees (only one I haven’t see is The Blind Side), so I don’t exactly feel like I need to make the trek to an AMC for this new Best Picture Showcase. But I suggest hitting this up if you want to be ready to go for the Oscars on Sunday, March 7th. Anyone planning on attending this?

Discover More: Awards News, Movie News

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