BWW Interviews: AMERICAN IDOL's Keith Urban Talks Season 12!

Related: AMERICAN IDOL, FOX, Reality TV

I'm trying to give specific direction, if it's something they can work on. And again, it's just my opinion. It's not to say it's a fact. They can take it. They can leave it. But I try to deliver it in a way in which I'd like people to deliver it to me. Again, it's really based on the person.

American Idol has millions of fans. Are your daughters two of them?

They actually came down to the state yesterday for a little while. Nic and I love them being around that kind of environment, watching people sing, watching them perform and being around the music. It's ... being around that and being around the movie sets since they were born. They're certainly music fans. They haven't watched the show yet, but I have a feeling they will be this season.

Have any of them started singing a tune? Do you think they have that musical promise?

I don't know. It certainly won't be through lack of access to it all. We have instruments around the house and I sit at the piano and play with both the girls.

Just this morning I had the music cranked up during breakfast and they would sort of eat a bit and then start dancing around the floor and then go back and eat a bit more and then dance a bit more. I just thought, "What an awesome way to start the morning, having a little food and dancing."

What's the secret to getting on Mariah's good side?

I don't quite know what you mean by getting on her good side. I think Mariah responds to people in her own way. I clicked with her the first time I met her.

I think there's just sort of a-for me, I've always found this immediate connection with signers and musicians in general because I'm so used to playing in bands. I've been in bands where we've had guest artists come up and sing. So for me, when I joined this panel I felt like I just joined a band, you know, I'm on guitar. Randy's on bass, we've got two chick singers and this is our band. That's what it feels like to me.

Do you take your work home with you and if so does Nicole have any favorites that you two talk about or disagree on?

Sometimes we've watched the show, sat down and watched it. Particularly it was funny watching the audition rounds because they had happened so long ago. We would sit down to watch them and Nic would be wanting to know, "Does he go through? Does she go through?"

It was actually good to watch it like that because I'd gotten a bit of time away and getting to see them and hear them like that was great. I wouldn't say I take my work home with me, but if someone really stands out I certainly-Nic is always curious if I've seen somebody that stands out.

As the competition is starting to dwindle down, could you see the show taking on mentoring roles and is that something that you think would be interesting?

I absolutely think it would be interesting. That certainly is something I would enjoy. It's a mixed blessing in some ways why I like it because I would like it from the standpoint of it not being recorded. That would kind of defeat the whole point of doing a TV show, but I love that mentoring dynamic. It's why I'm involved in the Grammy Kids Camp and that sort of thing too because there's just so much that we have to pass on.

There are so many questions young artists have and I think there's just a lot of learning curves we can help them not have to go through, I would say this, without keeping them from their own journey. Everyone's got to make his or her own mistakes too. There's never getting away from that. I do think there are certain habits and things that young performers do because of their age, because of the adrenaline, because of their inexperience, that you can actually be of help to them, but I would want to do it in a more quiet way.

I don't like people being too aware of that advice. I think it's a very dangerous thing when it gets too cerebral. I think it's just a quiet thing from one artist to another to help them and the audience shouldn't know anything about that. So I guess to answer your question that kind of thwarts that fact that it would be recorded, but I do love the idea of mentoring.

Do you think that we might be in for another country singer win, kind of like a Carrie Underwood type?

There are a few in there for sure. Certainly Kree is an extraordinarily gifted singer in an unusual way because she's so effortless in the way she sings. There's nothing over the top, sort of big theatrical-there's nothing theatrical and large about her as a performer. She has this incredibly authentic voice in the same way that Adele has that incredibly authentic voice and I just believe her when she sings. So she's definitely a contender.

Have you discussed with the producers or with Mariah or Nicki to perform live on American Idol at some point either solo or with one of the other two or with Randy?

We've been asked that question earlier on in one of the press conferences if we'd be up for singing and I threw my hand up and said, "I'm up for it. Let's go." We were met with arousing silence so I figured I'm the only guy. I'm going to keep poking Randy to see if we can put a little band together because I would love to do it. I think it would be fun and I think-I just think it feels quite natural for us to be able to do that.

How are you feeling about the live shows coming up?

I think they're going to be great. Performing is meant to be in front of people so already for me last night having 7,900 people in that theater and a live band I'm like, "Here we go. Okay, now we're doing this. This is what it's supposed to be like." I love the live part of it. Randy shares that enthusiasm with me too. It's what I've been looking forward to since we started.

We know that Nicole can sing. Will we ever see a duet between the two of you?

I think the only one that you can find is on Youtube when we inducted sort of Simon Baker into the Good Day USA Hall of Fame. We put a little song together and we both sang that for him, but past that, no I think nothing professional. We just enjoy singing at home.

How much are you influenced at all by not only performance and voice and presentation but attitude, appearance and all those things?

The reality is if it were only about The Voice the chairs would never spin around. There's a certain point when the rest of it comes into play. It just does. The Voice is very important, obviously, because that's the vehicle that's being used to carry the art and the expression and all of that, the creativity. But in this day and age there's more to it than that.

Now having said that, Adele famously said, "I make music for the ears not the eyes." There's a lot to be said for just an extraordinary voice. It can make up for all the rest if it's not there, as far as the entertainment aspect or the dancing and all that sort of stuff.

There really isn't one rule across the board, but it's just got to be the right combination I think for each person. Someone who might have a lesser voice may have an extraordinary charisma and presence and way about him or her that's just magnetic. As Jimmy Iovine said, "It just really comes down to feel. How does that artist make me feel? Do I feel something from that artist?" I think that's really spot on.

Your schedule is crazy busy right now with concerts tours, appearances, being and Idol judge, husband and dad. Do you have plans to take it down a notch any time soon or are you in the zone for the time being?

I like the balance of it. It's a huge honor that I get to do all of it. That includes being a husband and a father. I feel immensely grateful that I get to do all of these things. I think like a lot of the times it looks exponentially more-it just looks more from the outside. I think the way it actually works from day to day is navigated a lot more peacefully than I think it would probably appear on the outside. That's not every day certainly, but most days it's balanced pretty well.

I have an extraordinary team around me because it really does take a village. I'm certainly not doing everything on my own. I just have tremendous thanks for all the help I have to make all of this happen. And I have an extraordinary wife in Nic who's an amazing mother. She just does a beautiful job of helping keep it all in balance.

Don't miss tonight's American Idol Semifinalist Round Part 3 airing 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT on FOX. In a new twist this season, the competition moves to Las Vegas, where the Top 40 semifinalists were split into guys and girls. Tonight, 10 Girls will perform and the judges will be faced with the tough decision of choosing which five will stay and which five will be sent home. Watch to find out if your favorites make the cut!

Photo credit: RD / Orchon / Retna Digital

Photos courtesy of FOX Network

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