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Keith Urban is getting ready to pay it forward when he joins The Voice as this season’s Mega Mentor. The globally-beloved singer-songwriter reflected on the “good…honest advice” he received early in his career — in addition to some “vicious, scathing” comments — and said it was a “no-brainer” to mentor rising artists on the smash-hit competition show.
Urban, who’s no stranger to talent competition shows and previously appeared on The Voice as an advisor to Blake Shelton, said he “jumped at the opportunity” to guide contestants on the show.
“Just getting good advice and honest advice was something I really loved and needed, so it was a no-brainer when I got asked to do it. The first one I got asked to do was be a coach on The Voice in Australia on their first season, and I did it. I loved it. Then I did quite a few seasons of American Idol as a judge…and loved it. So, when The Voice here in the States asked me to come and be a mentor and now a Mega Mentor, whatever that means – I feel like a Transformer – I jumped at the opportunity, because the mentoring part I particularly love. I love that the most. I love being able to try and help an artist navigate some things they’ve got to work on and try and be constructive and helpful but also do it in a supportive way. Nobody wants to get humiliated in front of people, but you do need honest advice as well, so I love that opportunity.”
“I was on a few singing talent TV shows when I was a kid, a bunch of them actually. The first one I did I was nine-years-old and my Mom and Dad got me on to a TV show called Pot of Gold. It was a singing competition show with three judges, one of whom was just a really unfiltered, unapologetic, vicious, scathing kind of judge,” Urban continued with a laugh, per his record label, as he reflected on his own talent show experience. “This was a long time before Simon Cowell’s template. This guy had it nailed, and at nine-years-old I was subjected to this, and I got kind of crucified by this judge. It didn’t faze me, you know? And then I went on other shows after that, but my experience with all of those was really loving good feedback, constructive feedback, even if it was something I needed to work on. I remember the judge telling me to kindly learn how to sing in tune,” Urban laughed. “I’m like, ‘Okay?!’”
Urban is slated to start mentoring The Voice artists prepping for knockout rounds beginning with the episode airing on Monday, April 8. The “Messed Up As Me” artist is the latest country star to join the show, joining coaches Reba McEntire and inaugural coaching duo Dan + Shay, alongside returning coaches John Legend and Chance the Rapper.