The one critique that's 'burned' in Keith Urban's memory

Now, we all know Keith Urban can dish out some tough criticism as a judge on "American Idol."

But the country crooner told Conan O'Brien Tuesday he's gotten his fair share of disapproval in the past.

It all started when 9-year-old Keith decided to audition for a talent show in Australia called Pot of Gold, and one judge in particular went straight for the throat.

"He said, 'I desperately encourage you to escape the mediocrity, get out of country Western and get into some real music. Otherwise, you'll end up sounding like Dolly Parton and absolutely useless.' And he said, 'Kindly learn to sing in tune because you're intrinsically a good musician.' And I remember saying to Mom and Dad, 'What does intrinsically mean?'" said Keith Urban on "Conan."

Poor little Keith! He confessed that, to this day, that judge's comments are still burned in his memory, calling it a "crucifying critique."

Yeah, ouch. But we gotta hand it to him, 38 years later, Keith has totally proven that guy wrong.

On top of serving as an "American Idol" judge for three years now, the singer was also a coach on "The Voice" and has recorded nine studio albums and 17 number one singles.

And he's married to Nicole Kidman. A.K.A., he's totally awesome.

And his music career isn't even close to slowing down. During his appearance on "Conan," Keith debuted his newest music video for "Raise 'Em Up," the fifth single off his album, "Fuse."

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