“It’s not safe” was Keith Urban’s sentiment as he slowly crawled under the judges table during last night’s first round of American Idol auditions in New York City.

He wasn’t referring to his position between divas Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, either.

The moment took place during the audition of singer Ben Gaisey, which was part of the premiere Idol episode broadcast last night (Jan. 16).

Obviously, Keith was trying to keep a straight face, but when that began to fail he had no option but to seek safe shelter beneath the table.

It’s not safe! #IdolAudtitions #IdolKU -KU

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) January 17, 2013

The performances of the judges during this first night’s show were somewhat unexpected, except for veteran Idol judge Randy Jackson, who seemed to cut to the chase in his typical “it wasn’t good, dude” fashion.

Mariah Carey is the ‘think outside the box’ judge with her offer of alternative careers, as she did with Justin Bieber wanna-be James Bae. And Nicki Minaj took on a softer, mothering role with only encouraging and positive things to say.

Her mistake, though, was asking young James if he had a girlfriend.

Keith Urban played the sympathetic but honest judge. He spoke the truth and didn’t give in to pressure from his fellow judges, such as in the segment featuring the 22-year-old “Turbanator.”

Yesterday we were all wondering, “What type of judge do you think Keith Urban will be?” And after watching, some of the early responses so far included words such as “passionate,” “sincere,” “amazing”:

@995wycd @keithurban @americanidol Sincere

— IdolKUfans (@IdolKUfans) January 16, 2013

“@995wycd: .@keithurban on @americanidol tonight—>> cbsloc.al/S50VNK What kind of judge do you think he will be? In One Word -passionate

— Deb Meissner ♥☮♥ (@dgm2) January 16, 2013

And a couple we couldn’t pronounce, but we get the general idea:

@995wycd @keithurban @americanidol SUPERFANTABULOUSAMAZING!!!:)

— Justine (@Justine2726) January 16, 2013

As for what it has been like being on the judging panel so far with Randy, Nicki, and Mariah, Keith Urban had his own description.

The second night of American Idol Season 12 airs tonight (Jan. 17) at 8pm ET on Fox.

- Nanci Haskin/99.5 WYCD/Detroit