When Season 9’s seventh place finalist, Tim Urban, was in Los Angeles with the American Idols LIVE! 2010 Tour, he was battling with a strained voice from all of the singing and interviews he’s been doing. However, he didn’t let that stop him from sharing his post-tour plans, stories about his amazing fans, and opening up about a possible future in acting.

With the Idol tour wrapping up soon, Tim said, “I don’t like thinking about it being over. The best part of being on tour – it’s cliché, it’s what you expect everyone to say – is being on stage performing and it’s meeting the fans. In reality, it really is. There really isn’t any other option. My favorite part is not driving around on the buses – which is fun, it’s great – and it’s not staying at the random hotels. The fans are incredible. It’s an incredible experience every time I step out on that stage.”

Tim has quite the fan base, and he’s so grateful to finally meet the people who supported him throughout his Season 9 journey. “Meeting the fans has been incredible,” Tim stated. “I really did not expect this. People told me while I was on the show, ‘You’ve got a really big fan base,’ but I’m thinking, ‘I don’t really have a big fan base. C’mon, seriously?’ I’m just this kid from Dallas. But, the fans have been nuts. The fans have been so supportive, so nice. It’s been really cool. And they’ve given me a bunch of gifts. One of the biggest things that I get now is bracelets. I’ve got a collection going. There’s a plastic container on the bus right now and it’s full of bracelets. If I wore them all they’d be up to my elbow, so I just rotate them out every night. And they give me necklaces. I’m not wearing them right now but I will be wearing them on stage tonight. And I get a lot of scrapbooks, a lot of teddy bears. So it’s really cool.”

Tim is one of 10 Urban children. Have his siblings been able to watch him perform? The singer shared, “Dallas was my home show so most of my family saw me there. One of my brothers saw me in Houston because he couldn’t make it to the Dallas show. He’s in the Air Force and he’s getting stationed so he’s going to his new deployment. I’ve got two sisters going to the show in Seattle. And then my brother in the Marines is in Afghanistan right now, but he’ll be back in time for the Indy show.”

What does the singer-songwriter-musician plan on doing once the tour is over? “Post-tour I’m recording an album,” Tim happily shared with AmericanIdol.com. “I’m working on it right now. I’m finishing the writing process on some songs and working on songs that I’ve already written to figure out how I want them to sound. So by the time the tour is over, it should be all set up that I’ll have my album hopefully recorded and released by the end of November.”

While Tim was a contestant on American Idol, Season 9 judge Ellen DeGeneres said that Tim should go into acting and get a role on a show like Glee. Will he take that advice? Tim confirmed it: “I’m definitely going to be doing some acting as well – or trying to. After the tour is over, and after I record my album and release it, my plan is to move out here to L.A. I’ve been working with an acting coach and there’s an agency out here I’m going to work with as well. So hopefully I can release the album and see how that does and then move out here and try to do some acting.”

What advice does Tim have for the Season 10 hopefuls? “It’s so tough because I’ve had a lot of friends that auditioned this year and they asked me for advice. I don’t know; there’s no magic rule for American Idol. There’s no guarantee that if you show up and sing this song you’re getting through. It really is honestly about being yourself and if that’s what they’re looking for, that’s what they’re looking for. And if it’s not, it really doesn’t mean anything as far as you as an artist; it just means that you didn’t fit the category that they were looking for. That’s the reality of it.”

Above all, Tim appreciates his fans. “My fans are incredible. I love them so much. I know that I’m only sitting here right now because of them. I know I’m where I am and the opportunities I have are because of the incredible fans that have supported me so much. If I say thank you too often I’ll sound like a broken record, but seriously, just thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything they’ve done for me. It blows my mind every day when I think about all the different support and all of the amazing people I’ve met.”

Check out some of Tim’s bracelets from his fans.

Watch Tim and the Season 9 finalists open up about the tour.

Read our exclusive tour interviews with all of the touring Top 10:
Lee DeWyze
Casey James
Crystal Bowersox
Katie Stevens
Siobhan Magnus
Aaron Kelly
Didi Benami
Andrew Garcia
Michael Lynche