New Idol Judges Meet Media
On Monday, the new judges for American Idol got together in New York for a press conference to talk about the 2013 Season. Country superstar Keith Urban joined Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest. Keith told the media, “One of the things I’ve loved about Idol is hearing someone that has potential, and then watching that absolutely flower throughout the course of the whole series, and you see them in the finale just shine like Carrie Underwood did.”
Keith speaks from first-hand experience, having performed “Kiss A Girl” on the finale with winner Kris Allen in 2009. Back then, Keith told Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton that he was a fan of the show: “My wife got me hooked on this show quite a while back, and what I love about the show is that people you think are killer one week can be terrible the next week, so it’s an unpredictable show, just to see people rise up is just amazing.”
LISTEN TO KEITH ON CCUSA: 12-39 idol
This past Monday, reporters caught up with Keith as he arrived at the Idol press conference and auditions at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. He was asked how he hoped his judging skills will be: “Hopefully authentic. I did a few of these shows, similar shows, when I was very young in Australia, and I sort of was crucified by a judge, so I don’t know that I’ll ever be that guy, but I also think we need to know really truthfully what we’re doing right or wrong.”
Keith was then asked if he thought having a country star as a judge would be good for country music: “I think it’s always had that thing, the show is very diversified, it has a huge diverse audience, and it’s certainly produced some great country artists already, so it just seems fitting.”
Keith Urban will be judging the auditions through the fall, and Season 12 of American Idol will premiere in January on Fox TV.