Tag: Tim Halperin

Video: Tim Halperin Covers The Beatles’ “Something”

Earlier today, season 10 American Idol Top 24 contestant Tim Halperin posted a new video of himself performing The Beatles’ “Something” on piano. 

Tim performed “Something” with Julie Zorilla  during the Vegas round of the Idol auditions earlier this year.

 Check out the video below!

I think he sounds fantastic as always! Hopefully there are more performance videos  from Tim on the way!

Head over to TimHalperin.com to get a free download of his new song, “The Last Song.”

And if you haven’t already, check out part one and part two of my interview with Tim from earlier this month.

Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part Two


In the first part of my chat with American Idol season 10 Top 24 contestant, Tim Halperin, we touched on the earlier rounds of his Idol journey, from his initial audition in front of the judges in L.A. to making it into the Top 24.

During the final part of my interview with Halperin, we talked about Top 24 from his song selection to the Wild Card round, what he took away from his American Idol experience, and what lies ahead for his music career.

How did you go about selecting your song for Top 24?

I had a list of about five or six songs that I thought would be really good. And the thing that I wanted to do for Top 24 was show off the fact that I wasn’t a one-trick pony; I wasn’t kind of pigeon-holed in one sound. Up until that point, I had really done slower kind of ballad type songs, which is definitely probably one of my strongest types of songs to sing, but there’s also this soulful part of my voice. I love doing soul/pop-rock kind of tunes.

I was looking at Gavin DeGraw, I was looking at John Mayer, and of course that Rob Thomas song. We rehearsed, and felt the Rob Thomas song was just a really good fit for my voice.

Rehearsals went well, I was able to fine-tune it, and I felt like even the on stage rehearsals were going really well. I thought the performance, to be honest with you, went really well. If you notice when you watch the crowd, they really loved it. I thought that it went really well, and the judges thought that it wasn’t my style. Maybe it wasn’t, and I can see where they’re coming from, just because all they’d really heard me perform were ballads. Maybe I should have stuck with that sound for my first round, before I ventured off into something else.

For me, I have no regrets with that song choice. The other thing that was kind of hard to deal with was when Ryan asked Steven what type of song I should have picked and he said John Mayer or Jason Mraz, when in fact, John Mayer co-wrote that song that I sang and played guitar on the track. So that was kind of frustrating to hear.

I felt like all the way through I had good performances. I feel really lucky to have done that.

You play piano, so I am wondering at what point did they tell you that you guys were not going to be using instruments for that first performance?

They told us well in advance, and you know it’s hard, but at the same time I don’t think I would have used the piano even if I was able to. In my mind looking back on it, if I was able to it probably would have been a good thing, because piano kind of set me apart. But, I wanted to show the fact that I wasn’t stuck behind my instrument. A lot of flack that contestants have gotten in the past that play instruments is that they can’t perform without it. I wanted to show that I was very comfortable on stage and very comfortable performing without [playing piano], which I feel like I was able to prove. I thought the performance was for sure really good. Yeah, we knew well in advance that we couldn’t use instruments.

Was it that you couldn’t use it for that one performance or was it a stipulation for the season?

It’s decided on a round by round basis. I’m not even sure what’s going on this time. It’s the same as it’s been in the past, certain rounds people are allowed to use instruments and certain rounds, and certain rounds they’re not.

My thought is just because last season, there were so many people using instruments, and the responses were that they were using them as a crutch. So, my thought is that they probably won’t let people use instruments as much this year.

I was just wondering about that, because we saw a few people that had used instruments in earlier rounds get eliminated last week. And I figured because the last three winners (David Cook, Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze) all fall under that blanket category of singer-songwriter is possibly why Idol seems to be looking for pop star, rather than the singer-songwriter type this season.

Yeah, that could be it. But at the same time, the people in the Top 13 are definitely all extremely talented. Is it hard being a singer-songwriter and not being able to use your instrument? Yeah, you know it is. At the same time, I feel like I got what I wanted out of it. Because I do play an instrument and I have experience, now it’s going to be really easy for me to make the transition back into putting out a record and doing shows again.
Continue reading Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part Two

Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part One

I find that it’s hard to ignore talent. The main reason I continue to watch American Idol after all these years is to see what each season’s crop of talent brings to the table. This season we were introduced to 23-year-old Tim Halperin, a singer-songwriter from Fort Worth, TX. After making it through to Hollywood Week, Halperin moved on next to the Vegas round where he had a stellar, standout performance, which helped take him to through the Top 24.

After falling short of making the Top 13 this past week, Halperin headed home to Omaha, NE to be with his family. He graciously took the time to chat with me over the phone this weekend about his American Idol experience.

I know it’s been only a couple days, but how is post-Idol life treating you?

It’s good. It’s a transition, for sure. It’s crazy going from being on the number one TV show in America to being back in reality. I feel like I’ve had a smooth transition for the most part.

How did you first get your start in music?

I grew up just loving music, started taking piano lessons at six-years-old. In middle school, I started playing with the worship team at church, and then eventually started playing with bands in high school. And when I went off to college at TCU, I had started recording and playing some more shows. Then I graduated from TCU here in May.

Wow, so you’re fresh out of college?

Yeah, timing-wise it was really perfect for Idol to happen.

So, when did you really start working on your songwriting?

It was about during my sophomore year of high school I believe when I wrote my first kind of serious song. It was really slow at first. You know, I’d write a couple here. When I got to college, I just started writing some more. I played a talent show my sophomore year of college, and people were wondering when I was going to release some of the songs that I had written. And I was like, maybe that’s a good idea. Maybe I should do a short CD. I recorded a five track CD and put it up on iTunes by the winter of my sophomore year in college. That led me to keep songwriting.

And songwriting you know, is just like anything else; the more practice you have, the better you get. I feel like I really started figuring out who I was as an artist and who I wanted to be in the last year and a half or so. I started to write a lot more and started to feel where I was headed.

When you’re working on a song, do you start with the lyrics or do you start with the melody first?

I usually start with lyrics first. I’m not the type of person that has you know, two hours every day I’m going to song write. I usually feel just the urge to write. Either I’m going through something personally, emotionally or I’m affected by people around me who are going through something. Or I notice something I never have before, it’s usually kind of an epiphany type thing. But I try and really embrace whenever those moments happen and make time, make space for me to sit down and write.

Where have you been drawing musical inspiration from lately?

I think after I settle down and transition back into my daily life, I’m going to pull a lot of inspiration from the journey I’ve been on with American Idol. It’s funny, the songs I was writing before Idol happened, I had one song called, “Crash Course to Hollywood.” That song was just about me coming to terms with after college I wanted to pursue music and give it a shot for a couple of years. So that’s where that song came from, and of course any kind of relationship that I’ve had. I’m single right now, so it’s kind of been this whole transition out of college is where I’ve been drawing my inspiration lately.

Very cool, now switching gears over to Idol, you tried out in L.A., right?

I did. I actually tried out on MySpace.

That makes a little more sense to me, because when I was looking back at your journey on the show prior to talking to you today, I was wondering why you had tried out in L.A., because you’re not from L.A.

Yeah, that’s funny, because they went through Austin. I actually tried out for Idol three years ago when they went through Omaha. I hadn’t really figured out who I was as an artist, and I hadn’t had as near the amount of performance experience on stage. I was really nervous and the audition didn’t go very well. I was kind of content on not trying out ever again. Someone I respected, who also plays music, called me up and said, ‘Hey, they’re doing MySpace auditions. You might as well send in a webcam video.’

Had you been a fan of the show before trying out?

Was I an Idol fan? Um…no. [laughs] Especially if you play music, and I was booking my own shows and recording my record, you kind of look at that show and go, ‘That’s not fair. Those people are getting all this free exposure,’ and here I am working my tail off.

I never really watched [the show]. I wasn’t the biggest Idol fan. But now after going through it, it’s so legit. The people that they have working with you are incredible.
Continue reading Catching Up With Tim Halperin, Part One

Idol Wired >> The Top 12 Guys Kick Off the Semifinals

I have to be honest, the Top 12 guys made me fairly excited for this season of American Idol. After the show ended tonight, I felt better about this show than I have all season long.

The guys, who pre-taped their performances on February 25, brought a lot to the main stage, including big stage jitters and every so often, some talent.

Up first was the Hollywood round bad boy himself, Clint Jun Gamboa. Gamboa chose to sing Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” This song needs to locked away with Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),” and Elton John’s “Dont’ Let The Sun Go Down on Me,” and never be allowed to be performed on Idol again. “Superstition” has not done any favors for contestants in the past couple seasons.

Gamboa’s vocals were nothing special. At this point of the competition, the contestants should be showing the audience why the judges picked them. I think Gamboa failed to prove the judges’ point with his performance. Of course, based on their praise of his performance, one had to wonder what concoction had been mixed in their Coca Cola cups.

Gamboa picked an overused song that I believe will send both him and his Harry Potter eyewear packing. He will be the boy who didn’t live to see the finals.

Next up was Jovany Barreto, who performed Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be.” For someone who exudes so much personality on his Twitter account, this was such a boring song selection.

I must say for the most part Barreto had an okay vocal; I did really like his final note. He was met with a divided judges’ panel. Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez loved him, whereas I sided with Randy Jackson, who found the song to be “karaoke.”

I am not entirely sure what possessed Jordan Dorsey to pick one of the most obnoxious and auto-tuned songs to sing in the semifinals. His performance of Usher’s “OMG” made me just cringe. From his vocals to his outfit, OMG indeed.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> The Top 12 Guys Kick Off the Semifinals

Idol Wired >> The Top 24 Are Revealed!

Finally, we have 24 contestants moving onto the American Idol semifinals. We’re making progress, everyone! Of course, getting to this point meant sitting through four of the longest hours of my life to find out officially which contestants had made the Top 24.

To be honest (and this might be an unpopular opinion), I thought that first hour of Idol Wednesday night during the Las Vegas round was a huge waste of time. I didn’t care to watch group rounds again, and more than that, I don’t care to hear songs of The Beatles being sung by people other than The Beatles.

This episode we got to see Idol’s in-house mentor Jimmy Iovine sit in on some of the rehearsals, and oh my, I think he’s definitely going to be a presence when it comes to contestants working on their songs. He just got straight to the point and held nothing back. He wasn’t sugarcoating anything or sparing anyone’s feelings. His involvement on the show this season is going to be interesting.

The only two performances from Vegas Cirque du Soleil LOVE stage that I cared for were from Tim Halperin and Julie Zorrilla who performed “Something” and Paul McDonald and Kendra Chantrelle who performed “Blackbird.”

In case I haven’t mentioned it already, I am definitely a fan of Halperin’s voice. His vocals paired wonderfully with Zorrilla’s.

I also really like McDonald’s voice. There’s a James Morrison meets Rod Stewart vibe going on there, and I dig it.

The second hour of Idol Wednesday night was dedicated to revealing a portion of the Top 24. This hour and the two hours on Thursday night were so long, I felt like lifetimes were passing by as the show slowly revealed the Top 24.

The contestants got to perform one more final song, and then they walked down the ridiculously long walkway to sit with the judges to find out if they were in or out.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> The Top 24 Are Revealed!

Idol Wired >> Is The Torture Over, Yet?

When I first sat down to talk American Idol, I had just the worst migraine, which was caused by the auditions in Los Angeles that aired last night.

No, I’m not kidding. The L.A. auditions were by far the worst auditions that I have ever taken the time to sit and watch. I seriously want that hour of my life back.

This is season 10 of American Idol. I expected better than Thursday night’s episode. I guess I should have known better.

Before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about Wednesday night’s auditions in Austin, TX. Even though the episode was so much better than the L.A. auditions, there were only a couple singers that I would consider being actual contenders in this season’s competition. Those singers are 21-year-old Jaqueline Dunford from Scottsdale, AZ and 19-year-old Casey Abrams from Idlywild, CA.

Jaqueline Dunford auditioned for the show with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Nick Flint. Dunford, who sang Duffy’s “Mercy” was in my opinion the best of the female singers in the Austin. She took that Duffy song and really in the ridiculous words of Randy Jackson, “blew it out the box.” I really like the tone of her voice, and appreciated her demonstration of vocal control.

My other favorite from Austin, Casey Abrams sang “I Don’t Need No Docter” by Ray Charles. This dude can sing. And scat. I love it! I am sensing a trend with the male singers with the soulful, raspy voices this season, but Abrams infused his audition with so much personality, that he set a nice tone for himself going into “Hollywood Week.”

The L.A. auditions episode that aired Thursday night was hands down the worst episode of Idol I’ve ever watched, and I’m saying this as someone who watched the train wreck known as season three in its entirety.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Is The Torture Over, Yet?