Talent Show Judge Told Keith Urban to "Get Out Of Country"

The recent inductee to the Grand Ole Opry says that his first experience with talent competitions wasn't exactly a good experience. As a nine year old, Keith tried out for a TV talent show singing a Dolly Parton tune and the response from the judge was not exactly what was expected.

"He said, 'I desperately encourage you to escape the mediocrity and get out of country and western and get into some real music. Otherwise you'll end up sounding like Dolly Parton and be absolutely useless,'' Keith recounts to Courier Mail, an Australian newspaper. "So that obviously had a big impact on me! And then he said, 'Kindly learn to sing in tune because you are intrinsically a good musician.'"

If it had not been for Nicole Kidman, Keith's wife, and the support of of his friend Blake Shelton, he may have passed on the opportunity to be a judge on the Australian version of the Voice.

"It would be a beautiful world if it was only about the way people sounded, but it's not, it never will be,'' says Keith. "Even Adele said, 'I make music for the ears, not the eyes' but she still has to maintain a particular way of looking, of presenting herself when she appears on the Grammys or makes a music video."

Good thing Keith Urban didn't take the advice of that talent show judge...