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.
Tams most often performed while playing piano. His performances included "Apologize" by OneRepublic, "Collide" by Howie Day, Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry", 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."
He won Canadian Idol on September 10, 2008, after singing three songs on the final performance show that included "Sing" (released to radio and digital download on 11 September 2008), 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.
Read more about this topic: Theo Tams