Australian country singer Keith Urban tore up the charts with a string of hits since his debut in 1999 on Capital Nashville. With nine studio albums under his belt, he took a breather to judge Fox's American Idol and concentrate on family life with Nicole Kidman this spring.
We gave him a call to discuss judging one of the biggest singing competitions in the world.
Windy City Times: Hi, Keith. How are you?
Keith Urban: Good, thank you.
WCT: First off, I wanted to know what your opinion is of MK Nobilette the first openly lesbian contestant [and member of the LGBT community] to make the voting rounds. Do you think the story is more important than the singing?
KU: Well, I mean the story is beautiful and it's very inspiring. I think she is, as far as a singer, she has a really beautiful voice. I think where MK hit a wall with the show was simply in regards to the performance and the fact that it is a visual medium too, it's not just audible. Some sort of visual way of performing is really important. It doesn't mean running around the stage, it just means performing in such a way that it sort of like goes through the camera and connects with people. I think she is obviously going to keep working on this because she is really, really gifted, so I will be interested to hear more from her.
WCT: There is a lot more country music represented on American Idol this season. What do you think about it?
KU: I think country has always been fairly well-represented. It might be a little more prominent now. I don't know if that's because I'm there or what it is. Last year was good with that too, and this year I like that we've got diversity in the country area this year because you've got somebody like C.J. And Jessica who can fit into that genre. I like the diversity that we've got. I also think that Idol has always played very, very well in those places, Midwest and the sort of rural states that have huge country audiences, so I am really grateful to be on the panel because of that, and hopefully we can discover some exceptional country talent this year too.
WCT: Are you able to be objective when the contestants sing country?
KU: I just respond to feeling. It's got nothing to do with genre. It's got everything to do with the sense of believability and authenticity and a feeling. It could be something someone comes in and performs that doesn't really fit any particular genre. I am just going to react and respond to how it makes me feel.
WCT: Who is a frontrunner on this season?
KU: I've got asked that question at the end of the show [March 27] and I truly can't say; I don't really know at this stage. I don't have a personal front runner because we've already seen, for me, the surprise of who ends up in the bottom three each week and it's not really been consistent. So I think what I am liking about this season is America's responding to the performances from night to night.
It doesn't seem like there is such an intense fan club for any particular artist where those will override the performance and I like that. I think that's what makes the show interesting for me from week to week right now, is anybody can be the front runner. So it's going to be interesting to see who's in the top three, let alone, one and two. I really don't know who that will be.
WCT: What have been the challenges for the performers on the big stage?
KU: I think it's one of those places where you can be very, very young—15, 16, 17—and have a great voice, be a great singer, have a good look, be everything like that, but if you don't have any experience in front of an audience, it can really throw you and I think we have seen that a little bit this year.
I notice even from rehearsal to the show that night, it's a particular thing to be able to perform in front of an audience with the energy and the cameras on and all that sort of stuff.
It's been an interesting group, because now I am watching a lot of them really rise to that. I think the very first show threw a lot of them, and then the second week got a little easier for them and I think most of them are in their groove now and we are seeing that consistency starting to rise.
WCT: Do you think it was time for MK and Majesty to go, or would you have liked them to stay longer?
KU: It's tricky because on one hand, if we don't use the save, everybody boos us, but you could really answer it also by saying we agree with America, because that's why they're singing because they are at the bottom based on everybody's votes. I think so far, the three of us haven't agreed across the board on saving somebody, so in a couple of cases, at least one of us would've wanted to save that person, but I think we are really coming down to the wire now, so this week or next, it will be interesting to see who we have to use our save for.
WCT: What do you think of only one guy being voted off so far?
KU: I don't know what to make of it, I mean, it's just the way people are voting. Everybody's performing and everybody's responding and voting accordingly, so what I find interesting more so is the fact that nobody seems immune to being in the bottom three. I mean you've got somebody like Sam that seems to have an absolute army of devoted female fans and yet he can end up in the bottom three as well if he does a sort of subpar performance. That part has been interesting to watch this year from week to week.
WCT: What advice would you give someone after Idol to achieve success like Kelly Clarkson?
KU: For me, it's the same advice across the board, which is it's what you do with this going forward now that's going to make it either work or not work, because winning Idol doesn't automatically catapult you into the stratosphere. You have to then set about finding the songs and making a record, then you've got to go out and do all the interviews. You've got to be able to do all the work. It can get you to the front of the line a little quicker, but it doesn't mean that it's going to happen right away.
It has been interesting with this show that over the years we've seen just as much success come from the non-winners as the winners. So I think that's also testament to the people that that judges have chosen over the years, obviously the Chris Daughtrs and the Adam Lamberts and the Jennifer Hudsons, etc. who have gone on to have exceptional careers, so it's really what you make of it after the fact.
WCT: Has sitting on the judging panel with Harry Connick and Jennifer Lopez changed your approach in any way?
KU: Not at all, no. I mean, I respond to what I feel, what I see. I don't overthink it. I respond to something. The only time for me it gets sort of into the thought is like if I can then pinpoint what it is that I am missing in this performance and how they might be able to fix it. I mean in some cases you've got people that just hit a wall, you can just see they've hit a wall where they now need to go and live life. And they need to keep either writing songs or they need to keep performing live; they need to do something, but now they just need all the experience. And I find that there is not a lot of advice that you can give other than you've just got to get out there and live life and it's just going to take some time now.
I think that is what happened to Majesty last week, is that we felt like we were starting to see the same thing. She's got extraordinary talent, she really is gifted, but she now needs life. She just needs to get out there and really define who she is and find herself as an artist.
WCT: Would you ever let your kids go into showbiz?
KU: Absolutely! If they are willing to work for it, if they have an aptitude towards it and a real desire to work towards really anything, whatever they have a passion for, they just need to work at it. That's the big thing that I find constantly with Idol even, is that it's not just about having the talent, it's about having the passion for it.
WCT: Your wife Nicole told Jimmy Kimmel recently that you started teaching Faith to play the guitar. How are the lessons going?
KU: I don't know if I really am teaching her to play guitar, but she can sort of mimic a little bit of what I am doing strumming-wise. That's really what I am trying to teach her, she's only three. But what I love is how she gravitates towards the guitar. She's got a little pink guitar, she will go get it and hold it and she sits and strums with it right. I hope she keeps going with that because it does seem to be something that she reaches for.
WCT: On the upcoming Raise 'Em Up Tour, how do you choose the set list?
KU: I mean, I find the biggest challenge is the same one each year. Thank God it's a beautiful problem, is that there is "x" amount of songs that people want to hear but we've only got, you know, a couple of hours to play whatever it is. What I am trying to figure out is which of the songs people would be really, really upset if we didn't do and which of the ones that people who have seen us over and over again would be happy to leave out of the set list and instead replace with something new.
So that's what I am in the midst of right now, is figuring out which of the older songs do we absolutely, positively have to have in there regardless, and then from there, threading in some sort of obscure ones and certainly a lot of songs off Fuse. I think the set list is going to feature a good chunk of songs off of Fuse simply because of the feedback I have been getting from a lot of people on songs on that record they want to hear.
WCT: I hope you are coming to Chicago on this tour.
KU: I hope so too. I know we are putting all that together right now but I hope we get to come back.
American Idol sings for its supper every Wednesday and Thursday on Fox.
