Theo Tams

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Theo Tams
Theo Tams, 2018
Theo Tams, 2018
Background information
Birth nameTheo Tyson Tams
Born (1985-07-12) 12 July 1985 (age 38)
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
OriginCoaldale, Alberta, Canada
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Piano
Vocals
Keyboard
Years active2005–present
LabelsSony (2008–present)
d / d artist management (2010–present)
Warner Music Canada (2014–present)
Websitetheotams.com

Theo Tams (born 12 July 1985) is a Canadian singer and the winner of the sixth season of the CTV reality show Canadian Idol. His debut album, Give It All Away, was released on 19 May 2009 by Sony Music Canada.

Early life[edit]

Tams grew up in Coaldale, Alberta, and he attended Immanuel Christian High School in Lethbridge. Tams played trumpet in high school, and is self-taught on piano. Before Idol, he was a student at the University of Lethbridge, studying classical music and psychology. He is taking a leave from his studies to pursue a music career.

Tams released the EP Unexpected in 2005.

Canadian Idol[edit]

At his audition for Canadian Idol in February 2008, Tams drew laughs from the judges as he demonstrated evidence of his anxiety-related perspiration, having soaked through his shirt.[1]

Tams most often performed while playing piano. His performances included "Apologize" by OneRepublic, "Collide" by Howie Day,[2] Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry",[3] and Jann Arden's "Good Mother". Idol judge Zack Werner described Tams' performance of Bryan Adams' "Heaven" as "one of the top two or three performances in the history of the show."[2]

He won Canadian Idol on 10 September 2008, after singing three songs on the final performance show that included "Sing" (released to radio and digital download on 11 September 2008),[4] which was the winner's single chosen for him. The runner-up, Nova Scotia carpenter Mitch MacDonald, performed a different song as his own potential winner's single, the first time this has been done on Canadian Idol.

Although the Idol winner's first album usually is released about two months after the show's finale, Tams had much longer to prepare his. Tams said he appreciated the longer time, and hoped to have some songs he wrote himself included on the album.[3]

Performances and results[edit]

Week Theme Mentor Song Artist Result
Top 24 Semi-final Group 2 "Apologize" OneRepublic/
Timbaland 		Safe
Top 20 Semi-final Group 2 "Collide" Howie Day Safe
Top 16 Semi-final Group 1 "Bubbly" Colbie Caillat Safe
Top 10 Songs of David Bowie "Silly Boy Blue" David Bowie Safe
Top 9 Hits of Dead Artists "No Woman, No Cry" Bob Marley & The Wailers Safe
Top 8 Unplugged Music Week Gavin Rossdale "Weak in the Knees" Serena Ryder Safe
Top 7 Top 10 UK Hits Tom Jones "You Had Me" Joss Stone Bottom 3
Top 6 Canada Rock(s) Simple Plan "Sweet Ones" Sarah Slean Safe
Top 5 Judges' Theme
The Beatles 		"The Long and Winding Road" The Beatles Safe
Top 4 Anne Murray's Music
Idol's Choice 		Anne Murray
 "You Don't Know Me"
"Chariot" 		Anne Murray
Gavin DeGraw 		Safe
Top 3 Songs of Bryan Adams Bryan Adams "Heaven"
"When You're Gone" 		Bryan Adams Safe
Top 2 Idol's Choice
Idol Single
Judges' Choice 		John Legend
Hedley 		"Good Mother"
"Sing"
"I Wanna Know What Love Is" 		Jann Arden
Theo Tams
Foreigner 		WINNER

Post-Idol[edit]

Tams moved to Toronto to work on collaborations for his debut album. Tams toured Canada along with runner-up Mitch MacDonald and third-place finisher Drew Wright in November–December 2008.

Career[edit]

Christmas Dream (2008)[edit]

Tams released the single "Christmas Dream", a song he cowrote with Luke McMaster, Simon Wilcox and Greg Johnston. The B-side of the single is a cover of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", and all proceeds are being donated to the charity Free the Children.[5] It peaked at No. 69 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Tams also performed with Eva Avila and David Archuleta for Toronto's CHUM FM's annual Christmas Wish Breakfast.

Give It All Away (2009–2010)[edit]

On 17 March 2009, his first single from his album was released, "Lazy Lovers", written by Tams, Hawksley Workman, and Greg Johnston.

His debut album, Give It All Away, was released on 19 May 2009. It features seven songs he co-wrote, which is more than any previous "Idol". Writing collaborators on the album include Simon Wilcox, Hawksley Workman, Sarah Slean, and Damhnait Doyle.[6] A cross-Canada tour is planned for September.[7]

Tams released a charity Christmas single alongside Ali Slaight called "Do You Hear What I Hear." This song went to No. 1 on the Canadian AC Chart.

Tams's next single is "Manhattan Blue." The music video for the song was released 28 May 2010. The video features So You Think You Can Dance Canada second season winner Tara-Jean Popowich and Vincent Desjardins.[8] The video premiered on ET Canada on 17 June 2010.

In April 2010, Theo Tams sought out a new management and business team to handle his career, a move that has already demonstrated a renewed energy and strategic direction for Theo as he moves to the next level and his all important 'sophomore' album that will create a clear distinction between the 'Idol' and the long-term 'career-artist'.

Tams headlined a 15 date cross-Canada tour with special guests StereoGoesStellar, which started 7 August 2010 and met with much critical acclaim as he toured smaller more intimate venues playing in an up close and personal presentation of his songs solo on piano.[9]

Second studio album (2011–present)[edit]

Tams explains that his second album, which will be released in 2011[needs update] will be a real "artist" album in so far as it will showcase just exactly who he is and what he stands for as a singer-songwriter.[10] It will dig deeper emotionally than his debut album and represent almost a "song diary" that comes from a mixture of his life experiences since "Give It All Away" and from other parts of his life before his Idol experience.[11] One of his new songs focuses on his experience in Afghanistan. Theo has already begun the intense writing process with one of his heroes, who will also be producing the record. It is expected that the project will be formally announced towards the end of January 2011 and the production team named.

On 28 September, his 3rd EP "Call The Doctor" was released under Hidden Pony records. What many critics are calling the "record of his career", Tams clearly has developed his sound and yells intimate stories of the ups and downs of relationships, coming out to his Christian family, and finally being able to let go of a painful previous relationship.

Personal life[edit]

Tams came out as gay during the show's run by referring to a male partner during one of his post-performance interviews.[12] This made him the first openly gay performer to win an Idol series in North America. He subsequently endorsed Adam Lambert in the 2009 edition of American Idol, and included two gay couples, one male and one female, in the video for his single "Lazy Lovers" Theo is also a fan of Ellen DeGeneres, and wants to be on her show.[13] He also admires Mother Teresa and her work.

On 28 June 2010, Tams took a trip to Afghanistan to perform for the Canadian troops on Canada Day. This was an opportunity for him to visit Canadian and allied troops not only on the base in Kandahar but he travelled by Blackhawk outside of the wire to meet with and hear the stories of the front-line troops. On 14 July, he told Canada AM that it was "the most surreal experiences I've ever had."[14]

Discography[edit]

Main article: Theo Tams discography

Albums[edit]

Singles[edit]

  • "Sing" (2008)
  • "Christmas Dream" (2008)
  • "Lazy Lovers" (2009)
  • "Wait for You" (2009)
  • "Do You Hear What I Hear?" duet w/ Ali Slaight (2009)
  • "Manhattan Blue" (2010)
  • "2000 Miles" duet w/ Ali Slaight (2011)
  • "When You're Not Around" (2014)
  • "Stay" (2014)
  • "Back Pocket" (2015)
  • "Strangers" (2018)
  • ”Weeds” (2018)
  • ”Therapy” (2020)
  • ”Gasoline” (2021)
  • ”Fixable” (2021)
  • "Jekyll Hyde Love' (2021)
  • ”The Feeling (Hate 2 Love)” (2021)
  • "Feels like home" (2022)

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Presenter Award Result
2009 Gemini Awards Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series

(Canadian Idol Top 6 Show – "Sweet Ones" performance)

Nominated
2010 Canadian Radio Music Awards Mainstream AC Artist Nominated

Tours[edit]

  • 2008: Canadian Idols LIVE! Tour 2008
  • 2009: Give It All Away Tour
  • 2010: Taking It All Back Tour : 2010" w/sg StereoGoesStellar

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Brioux, Bill (11 September 2008). "Alberta student takes Canadian Idol title". The Star. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Strachan, Alex. "Another Canadian idol winds down, but there's some spring in it yet Archived 2012-06-08 at the Wayback Machine", Ottawa Citizen, 8 September 2008. Retrieved on 2008-09-13.
  3. ^ a b Angus, Kat. "Alberta's newest Idol still 'a small-town boy' Archived 2008-09-14 at the Wayback Machine", Calgary Herald, 12 September 2008. Retrieved on 2008-09-13.
  4. ^ Worboy, Martha. "Alberta piano man crowned Canadian Idol Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine", The Gazette, 10 September 2008. Retrieved on 2008-09-11.
  5. ^ "'Idol' winner releasing Christmas songs[usurped]", Canadian Press, reprinted on Jam!, 21 November 2008. Retrieved on 2008-11-26.
  6. ^ "'Canadian Idol' winner Theo Tams releases debut 'Give It All Away' on May 19 Archived 2009-04-28 at the Wayback Machine", Canadian Press printed on 16 April 2009. Retrieved on 2009-04-21.
  7. ^ McKenzie, Kristen (15 May 2009). "Theo Tams anything but idle since Canadian win Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine", 24 Hours Vancouver. Retrieved on 19 May 2009.
  8. ^ "CTV News | Top Stories – Breaking News – Top News Headlines". Ctv.ca. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.[dead link]
  9. ^ "StereoGoesStellar | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Tams plays to hometown crowd". Sunny South News. 2 November 2010. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  11. ^ "News". Theo Tams. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Top 100 - Our Favourite Pop Culture Mementos of 2008". CBC News. 30 December 2008. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Get Creative and Help Canadian Idol Theo Tams". The Star. 11 April 2010. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010.
  14. ^ "'Idol Theo Tams sees true courage | CTV News". Ctv.ca. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2014.

External links[edit]

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