Tim Urban: "Just take the criticism and work from it"

I did call Tim Urban my “Idol” nemesis for much of the season, but I honestly did not mean to not share his comments from his media conference call last week. I just got busy and forgot, quite honestly.

But Tim’s comments are so good and so gracious, that I have to share them—even if they are a week late. They actually make me feel a little guilty for some of the things I said about him.

Here is just a taste of what Tim had to say…

On VoteforthWorst.com: “I really have no comment about that Website. 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.”

On Simon’s compliment about how he handled the criticism: “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.”

On what he would have done differently if given the chance: “That’s kind of hard to say, because by the last couple of weeks, I really showed America the kind of artist that I would be. There were a couple of weeks where I was just kind of groping; I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. But then when I finally settled down and just let myself be myself on the show, I think it really showed American the kind of artist that I want to be. Looking back I really feel like I did what I wanted to do.”

On his relationship with Simon: “You know, it was funny. Simon and I never had a problem. I actually didn’t have a problem with Simon’s critiques. I thought he was just speaking his mind and I took that and tried to use it and apply it. It was cool that he recognized that I was working towards that stuff, and that was really encouraging, but we never had a problem to begin with.”

On whether he’s received any offers from toothpaste or mouthwash companies? “At this point I haven’t, but who knows? It would be kind of entertaining. I’d love to do that in the future; that would be a lot of fun. I haven’t at this point, but you never know.”

On the negative comments about him on the Internet: “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.”

On whether the shirtless photo of him that circulated on the Internet helped him or hurt him: “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.”

On how far he thought he’d get: “Honestly, 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. So when I was at the stadium, 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.

I didn’t really have any grand pictures, so this whole thing has blown me away. When I made it to Hollywood week, I was like, ‘Wow. This is crazy.’ And then when I got sent home from Hollywood week, I was like, ‘Okay.’ And then they called me back. So, it’s been like this really crazy rollercoaster journey.”

On not getting to sing a goodbye song: “I was a little sad I didn’t get to sing one last time on that stage, but it’s part of it. You don’t always get what you want. I’ll get to come back for the finale, and hopefully get to perform on that stage again. It’s a little bittersweet, but overall it’s all right.”

On his smile: “I think I smile because I have a really solid grounding and I know who I am. I know that regardless of what happens around me, that will always be there. So when I get criticized, it’s like, that’s all right. I still know who I am. I still am happy that I get to do what I get to do, and it’s just such a blessing to be here and to have had this opportunity, that I really couldn’t help but smile. Even when they were criticizing me, I was like, all right, this is part of it. You’ve got to enjoy as much as you possibly can, so that’s just what I try to do.

It wasn’t really a nervous smile, it was just me having fun onstage, and I didn’t want to get depressed about the comments, so I just decided to not let them affect me that much.”

Photo Credit: Michael Becker/FOX