Tim Halperin is startling. The YouPlusDallas team is standing in line for our press passes at the House of Blues box office, when Halperin unexpectedly descends a staircase near our position in line; a bold move for any artist, especially skyrocketed-to-fame American Idol alums. He could potentially encounter a teenage screaming mob at any point in the open. When he catches the eyes of a girl with long blonde hair, she immediately runs up to him upon recognition, freaking out on cue, but this doesn’t shake him. Handling the situation in a professional manner, pictures are taken, hugs are given, and finally, it is my turn to approach the blue-eyed singer. “Hey!” he says, energetically shaking my hand, “Is everything going okay?” Fulfilling our last minute video interview request, Halperin charms the box office into granting us an extra photo pass and we head into the venue to set up for our interview.
His wrists are covered in bracelets, beaded, woven and banded multicolors engulfing his forearms: decoration that will color his time at the keyboard in the hours to come. Wearing a white T-shirt under a puffy brown vest, Halperin guides our team the back way through the House of Blues kitchen and up the freight elevator. The doors open to the exclusive Foundation Room and we settle into a colorful side room, the walls adorned with images of kama sutra poses.
“American Idol,” he exhausts a sigh heavy with the weight of life-changing memories, “good times.” Having recently come off a successful stint on the 10th season of the unflinchingly popular reality television show, Halperin ran into a bit of an issue following the season’s end. “I couldn’t release my own music for a little while and that was hard for me because I had been a singer-songwriter for a couple of years, so coming off the show was difficult; but on the flip side, it was incredible.” (more…)
