Keith Urban Says He Will Love Being A Mentor

Keith Urban says he will love being a mentor on The Voice when he takes on the role of Mega Mentor on the April 8 episode of NBC's The Voice.

He told us how appearing on the talent shows when he was young helped him. Keith said, "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 on American Idol and loved it."

Keith, with his fellow coaches on The Voice Australia, Seal, Delta Goodrem, and Joel Madden, during The Voice Final Four Press Conference in 2012.

Photo - Ryan Pierce/Getty Images

Urban continued, "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, try to be constructive and helpful, and 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."

Keith recalled his experiences as a contestant on talent shows. One was not so good. He said, "I was on a few singing talent TV shows when I was a kid, a bunch of them actually. The first one I did was when 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. (laughs) 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?"

He concluded, "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. (laughs) I'm like, 'Okay?!'"

Season 25, which premiered on February 26, features coaches Chance the Rapper, Dan + Shay, John Legend, and Reba McEntire. Urban will begin mentoring beginning with the April 8 episode.

Keith previously appeared on The Voice as an adviser to coach Blake Shelton during Season 15. He also served as a coach in the Australian version of The Voice for Seasons 1, 10, and 11.