For the second year in a row, a Fort Worth resident has made the American Idol top 24. But Texas Christian University grad Tim Halperin still has a long way to go before making it to third place, as Casey James did last year.
Halperin, 23, who is originally from Omaha, Neb., and is an honors graduate of TCU's Neeley School of Business, first auditioned for judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler in Los Angeles. He got a "no" vote from Jackson, but the two "yes" votes from Tyler and Lopez let him advance.
That episode aired Feb. 3, and Halperin wasn't featured onscreen again until Wednesday's episode, when he and fellow contestant Julie Zorilla did a duet of the Beatles' Something that went over well with all three judges. His final audition piece for them, an original, also received praise.
"We looked at your overall journey," Jackson told him. "[There were] some ups and downs."
Halperin acknowledged that his initial audition wasn't his strongest. "You asked for me to find the artist I wanted to be, so I began to choose songs felt showed my voice and showed off what kind of artist I am," he said.
The competition's live, viewer-voted episodes begin Tuesday. For the first time, viewers will be able to vote online, via Facebook.
Idol will have a special Tuesday episode next week (7 p.m., KDFW/Channel 4) in which Halperin and the other 11 male semifinalists will perform in front of a live audience. The women will perform Wednesday, and the results show will be Thursday.
Robert Philpot, 817-390-7872