American Idol’s Tim Urban Wants to Sing, Act and Keep Smiling

He came, he sang, he smiled. In the end, Duncanville, Texas, resident Tim Urban, 20, proved to be the best of sports in a tough American Idol arena where he was called everything from Teflon to Turban to, most recently, soup of the day by Ellen DeGeneres.

People Magazine's Cynthia Want caught up with Urban about his Idol experience and what’s next.

Your exit came on Idol Gives Back night. Was there a small comfort in that? What would you have sung if there had been time?
Yeah. It really did make a difference for me. We had been hearing a lot about Idol Gives Back in the last couple of weeks and I really wanted to be a part of it and to know I got to be a part of it, it made going home not quite as hard. I was planning on singing “Hallelujah” just one more time. I think that would have been a good song to go out on because it’s a song that’s special to me.

You were mentored by Alicia Keys — was it good to see her perform? What else did you learn from the past mentors?
She was amazing! We were on our feet, just standing and watching her and it was an incredible performance by her. The mentors all had pieces of the puzzle. Like Usher, for instance, was about connecting with the music, connecting with what you are doing, and then Adam Lambert with different ways to make music interesting and make people really want to listen and to showcase who you are as an artist, and Alicia Keys with her encouragement and letting me know that there is an avenue I can go down.

What kind of artist do you see yourself as?
If I was going to do an album right now, it would be sort of the singer-songwriter, Jason Mraz style, but with a little bit of the soft-rock leaning as well. I want the songs to be really relatable. I want songs that people can go, “All right, I can see that in my own life, I can see that happening around me.”

You’ve expressed an interest in acting, too. Do you see yourself on Glee? On Broadway?
That’s something I really want to do. That’s something I would really love to pursue and if possible I will be doing that. I would really be excited if I got the opportunity to do [Glee] as well, but I’m kind of just waiting to see what happens but I am open to anything at this point.

You have a lot of female fans, which must be a plus!
It’s been really cool because they are really energetic, which is really encouraging to me, because I’m like, “All right. These are people really excited about what I’m doing.” It’s such a crazy thing, though, for me, having that many people supporting me. I never thought it would happen.

You’ve also seen some detractors on the Internet. Do you avoid blogs or how do you handle negative comments on the Web?
I don’t go looking for it, and I don’t want to read that kind of thing, but if I do, I don’t let it affect me that much. Every year, people are going to pick somebody they don’t like, or they’re just going to decide to write stuff about someone and it happened to be me this year. I can deal with it. It’s part of the game, and it’s one person’s opinion, or a couple people’s opinions, and I will take it as that and not worry about it.

With your parents and nine brothers and sisters, you’ve been on your share of road trips. Was that great preparation for being on a tour bus with the Idols this summer?
It really was! I also went on a mission trip to Europe for seven weeks and I was on a big tour bus with 45 other people, so I have definitely had quite a bit of prep for this kind of thing!

Paparazzi!: Sexy "Pea"

Fergie sashays along with her Black Eyed Peas bandmates on Idol Gives Back, American Idol's charity concert, Wednesday in Pasadena, California.

Another Contestant Bids Farewell to American Idol

And then there were six. At the end of the two-hour-plus Idol Gives Back charity concert Wednesday night someone had to say farewell.

It was Tim Urban’s time to go. (Well it was about time. He may look great shirtless in his modeling pictures, but this guy surely cannot carry a tune. He should have been gone along time ago...like before Hollywood week!)

He had a better run than probably anyone — apart from friends and family — expected, largely because he always flashed an ingratiating smile, had better hair than most professional pop stars and was growing stronger as a performer week by week. But you may have sensed the end was near Tuesday night when Ellen compared him to a soup du jour that failed to please her that particular day.

Ellen’s light cleverness often gets to the essence of everything.

In an unexpected development, Casey James not only made his first trip to the bottom three (along with Tim and Aaron Kelly) but he also fell to the bottom two. Casey’s problem is turning out to be his jaunty, rock ’n’ roll consistency. He’s often better than Aaron or Siobhan Magnus, but their occasional lows make their highs seem all the more impressive.

A rocky mountain range is more striking than even the most fertile plain.

Meanwhile, the rest of the show went off in all sorts of directions, raising money and doing good with the participation of many celebrities. The best guest performer? Probably Annie Lennox, who taped a segment about an HIV-positive girl in Africa. She also sang from London. (All the Icelandic volcano smoke prevented her from catching a flight to the States).

And it was fun to see Mary J. Blige do “Stairway to Heaven” with Randy on guitar.

I also loved Joss Stone's performance, along with Carrie Underwood.

Of the comic guests, Wanda Sykes was far and away the funniest with a short but on-target monologue: She said she’d been wondering if Simon was bored this season. She also observed how cruel it is to force the losing contestant to sing each week. George Lopez's "elimination" segment was also very entertaining.

This week, Tim was spared that final performance since the show was running so late. He went out smiling like blazes, though.

Next week's mentor is Shania Twain and the six remaining contestants will be performing her songs.

Jim Carrey 'Relaxed' on Idol Set After Breakup

Jim Carrey isn't crying over his recent breakup with Jenny McCarthy – at least not publicly.

Hours after announcing his split Tuesday, Carrey was back to work in Los Angeles, filming a promo for Idol Gives Back – American Idol's annual star-studded charity special.

"You would never have known that [the breakup] had just happened," says a source. "Jim is a constant professional."

Carrey, 48, who filmed the spots in an adjacent studio to where the live American Idol telecast was taking place, was joined by fellow funnymen Russell Brand and Jonah Hill – and the three were in high spirits.

"Jim was loose and relaxed," the source says. "It was a lot of fun."

Idol Gives Back will air on April 21st.

Carrie Underwood, Alicia Keys, & Black Eyed Peas Doing 'Idol Gives Back'

"American Idol" is starting to cement its "Idol Gives Back" lineup.

Carrie Underwood, the Season 4 winner of "Idol," is returning to perform, along with R&B songstress Alicia Keys, the Black Eyed Peas, Annie Lennox and Jeff Beck.

Since its inception in 2007 during Season 6, "Idol Gives Back" has raised over $140 million for charity. This year's special will aise funds Children's Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children's U.S. Programs and the United Nations Foundation.

News Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, AT&T and ExxonMobil will return as corporate sponsors.

"Idol Gives Back" already kicked off with Kris Allen back on February 25th. He visited Haiti and performed on the "Idol" results show, asking for people to donate whatever they can.

The big "Idol Gives Back" extravaganza will air Wednesday, April 21 2010. There is no word yet if a contestant will be booted that day or not -- in the past, all contestants were safe on one "Idol Gives Back" night (2007) and on the other Michael Johns went home (2008).

"American Idol" Giving Back for a Third Time

"American Idol" is bringing back its "Idol Gives Back" charitable special on April 21 after a yearlong hiatus.

The special, airing during the top-seven Wednesday results show, will benefit Children's Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children and the United Nations Foundation. More than $140 million was raised in two previous specials.

In addition to the fundraising, the April 21 show also will feature that week's voting results and the elimination of a finalist.

"American Idol" will return for a ninth season in January with host Ryan Seacrest and judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and rookie Ellen DeGeneres.