Video of Kanye West’s American Idol ‘surprise’ audition finally hit the web today, as Fox starts ramping up promotion for the show’s final season. It’s actually pretty funny.
The audition starts with Keith Urban asking West the usual questions for Idol hopefuls. Backstage, Ryan Seacrest asks West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, if she’s nervous.
“I’m not nervous because I do really believe in him,” Kardashian says. “And I didn’t give any advice on singing, rapping... I just, you know, I hope they really believe in him.”
And then West performed a verse of “Gold Digger” with references to judge Jennifer Lopez.
The video was first released to E! News. It was actually taped last fall, while Idol was doing auditions in San Francisco. Seacrest and Lopez told E! News in November that it was a complete surprise.
“Kanye just walked in the room, that's all I can tell you! That's all I know,” Lopez said at the time. “For a minute, I was like, 'Is that Kanye?'...Even though I've seen him a million times, in that setting I just didn't expect it—but it was really funny."
The final season of Idol begins on Wednesday.