Keith Urban has enjoyed a long and successful career as a country music star, and even as he continues to tour and put out albums, he has paid it forward to aspiring artists as a former judge on American Idol and a coach on The Voice Australia. All of a sudden, though, I’m curious about the feedback he gave to artists on those singing competitions, after the “compliment” he just paid Miley Cyrus. Urban was asked about the “Party in the U.S.A.” singer on a podcast and described her voice as sounding like an ashtray.
As strange as it sounds, that’s exactly what happened, and it was meant to be a good thing. Keith Urban visited the Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie podcast, where he sang a bit of Miley Cyrus’ empowering yet heartbreaking hit song “Flowers”. The hosts asked him his opinion of Cyrus’ music, to which Urban replied:
I love Miley. I’ve always loved Miley. I love that voice, man. She sounds like an ashtray. And I mean that as a compliment. I literally mean that as a compliment. She sounds like the carpet at the RSL. Your shoes are sort of sticking to it as you walk through. I love it.
I can’t say I’m personally familiar with an RSL carpet, but Keith Urban sure does paint a picture, doesn’t he? Describing Miley Cyrus’ voice as an ashtray or sticky carpet just shows why he’s such a successful songwriter, because being able to come up with those similes off the top of his head is quite a gift.
The thing is, he’s not wrong either. Miley Cyrus has always had a gravelly tone that sets her apart from other pop singers, and that’s definitely one of the things her fans love about her. Keith Urban's choice of phrase was definitely out there, but I totally buy it as a compliment.
There’s another singer with ties to American Idol who must love that ashtray/crunchy carpet sound, and that is Kelly Clarkson. She’s been known to cover Miley Cyrus’ songs during the “Kellyoke” segments of her talk show, and in fact, it’s happened so often that Cyrus apparently called Clarkson out when they ran into each other at the Grammys. Hopefully the Hannah Montana alum saw it as a sign of respect — just as I hope she takes the “ashtray” comment in the way it was intended.
There seems to be a lot of positive opinions about Miley Cyrus in the American Idol world. While the safety pin-clad fashionista has served as a coach on The Voice, current Idol judge Luke Bryan said Cyrus was one of the major pop stars who was considered to join ABC’s singing competition as Katy Perry’s replacement.
Carrie Underwood ended up getting that gig, and Keith Urban had a sweet take on that situation, too, calling the Season 4 winner “perfect” because as a former contestant herself, she brings a perspective that neither Lionel Richie nor Luke Bryan can provide.
That may be true, but she’s no ashtray.
