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Theo Tams
Theo Tams after performing in a concert during the Top Three Tour for the sixth season of Canadian Idol.
Background information
Birth name	Theo Tyson Tams
Born	12 July 1985 (1985-07-12) (age 24) Lethbridge, Alberta
Origin	Coaldale, Alberta, Canada
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Piano Vocals Keyboard
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Sony Music Canada
Associated acts	Mitch McDonald, Drew Wright
Website	theotams.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.

Before Idol

Tams grew up in Coaldale, Alberta, and he attended Immanuel Christian High School in Lethbridge. Tams played trumpet in high school,^[1] 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

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.^[2]

Tams most often performed while playing piano. His performances included "Apologize" by OneRepublic, "Collide" by Howie Day,^[3] Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry",^[4] and Jann Arden's "Good Mother".^[5] 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."^[3]

He won Canadian Idol on September 10th, 2008. He was announced Canadian Idol after singing three songs on the final performance show that included "Sing" (released to radio and digital download on 11 September 2008),^[6] 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.^[4]

Performances

Post-Idol

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. He 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.^[7] It peaked at #69 on the Canadian Hot 100.

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.^[8] A cross-Canada tour is planned for September.^[9]

Personal life

Tams came out as gay during the show's run by referring to a male partner during one of his post-performance interviews.^[10] 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 a gay couple in the video for his single "Lazy Lovers" .^[11]

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

See also

Music of Canada portal

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

References

External links

• Theo Tams
• Theo Tams at MySpace