Your backstage pass to the DFW music scene and beyond.
It has been nearly six months since Season 9 of American Idol ended May 26, and as local Idol fans may recall, the season was heavy with singers from Dallas-Fort Worth, with Fort Worth's Casey James coming in third, Duncanville's Tim Urban making the top 12, and North Richland Hills' Alex Lambert and Arlington's Todrick Hall making the top 24.
Belying the belief that there's little life after Idol for most contestants, all four have been keeping busy, in ways that don't require them to, oh, put on ice skates and appear on another network's reality show. Here's an update on all four.
Casey James: It's been pretty widely reported that James, the man from Cool (and Millsap, and Fort Worth), has signed a record deal with Sony Nashville. That happened in August. During CMA Awards week this month, James did a number of interviews (many of which are on YouTube) in which he said he is still writing material for the album. He told interviewers that he is scheduled to appear on Idol next season and perform, and that he would like to have a single out by then and an album out by next summer. How popular is James around these parts? In October, when DFW.com polled readers on who they would like to see play Super Bowl XLV, "other" won over such suggestions as Willie Nelson and Kelly Clarkson -- and nearly all the "other" votes were write-ins for James. James is on Twitter at twitter.com/CaseyEJames.
Tim Urban: Urban took some heat from the Idol judges for his teen-idol looks and a couple of cheesy performances, but his single Heart of Me, released this month on iTunes, doesn't have much teen-idol about it: It's an earnest, melancholy ballad about being on the road and missing home and family. It's part of a six-song EP that Urban released on iTunes. Urban performed another of the songs, I and You, solo acoustic recently on KDFW/Channel 4's Good Day, and judging by these songs, he has found his grown-up voice, which has a pleasant, alt-folk singer sound to it. For more on Urban, visit his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TUrbanAI9.
Todrick Hall: The irrepressible Hall missed the top 12 on Idol, but he didn't stop rolling, quickly joining the cast of the Tony-winning Broadway musical Memphis. According to Broadway.com, he made his Memphis debut Aug. 17. He's also made a some noteworthy YouTube videos, including one in which he sings his order at a McDonald's drive-through and another, more serious one in which he sings It Gets Better, his contribution to the campaign against bullying of gay teens. For more on Hall, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/toddyrockstar.
Alex Lambert: Not long after the North Richland Hills teen was eliminated -- an elimination that many fans thought came too soon -- Lambert was cast in the online reality show If I Can Dream, which comes from Idol producer 19 Entertainment. The show followed a half-dozen aspiring young entertainers as they lived together, Real World-style, in a house in Los Angeles. Lambert has performed at the Roxy, a famous club on L.A.'s Sunset Strip; he performed Elvis Presley songs during "Elvis Week" in Memphis; and he sang the national anthem at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. For more on Lambert, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/TrueAlexLambert.
Robert Philpot, 817-390-7872
