Canadian Idol judge Zack Werner has a message for anyone who isn't sure they are good enough to audition for the CTV show when it rolls through Ottawa this weekend.

"It's cool to challenge yourself," said Werner. "Even if you suck."

Those who fall somewhere between talented and well, sucking, said Werner, will probably just like the scene at the St. Laurent Centre (tryouts run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday).

"It's a cool place to come and hang out with other kids and share a love of music," said Werner, "and dream of doing something more fulfilling and challenging with their lives."

And if you have serious chops? Well, Werner said you could do far worse than three seasons of Idol alumni, who earned eight Juno nominations this year.

"People are building real careers as part of the show ... the odds of your band getting a record deal out of Ottawa, I mean how many bands out of Ottawa in the last 10 years have gotten record deals?" he said. "It's pretty slim."

Encouraging words from Werner, who usually doesn't do much to dispel his image as 'the crusty' one of Idol's four judges.

Werner said he realizes he can come off as "caricature-y" on air, but actually strives for just one thing -- whether he appears rude, angry or even to be suffering the odd moment of chin-quivering emotion.

"I try to be in the moment, and just let it happen," he says. "I try to be as fully on the edge, for good or for worse, as I possibly can be."

Currently an entertainment lawyer who runs Toronto-based Venus Management and Venus Records, in a previous life Werner played in several bands, including fronting Thick As Thieves, which scored a record deal with BMG and opened for Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam before breaking up.

Though he went on to pursue a solo career, Werner's performing days are mostly behind him. He now spends his time finding new talent, like Ali Milner, the 15-year-old jazz singer from Whistler he's currently promoting when he's not critiquing Idol contestants.

Werner said judges on the show have no interaction with any of the finalists off-camera, which is why he had trouble believing it when American Idol finalist Corey Clark alleged last year to have had a fling with judge Paula Abdul.

"If she did it, she would have had to have gone way out of her way to do so," Werner said. "It's kind of shocking that someone would bother."

Not interacting with the finalists, except when they are on camera, doesn't stop Werner from rooting for one in particular. That includes Melissa O'Neil, the Calgary teen who won last year (and who plays the Ottawa Civic Centre with runner-up Rex Goudie on April 6).

"I wanted Melissa to win," he said. "So I was emotionally on her side and I felt her journey perhaps more than I felt other contestants'."

And the year before that, when Kalan Porter was the Idol winner, it was Werner who seemed most affected when Top-3 finalist Jacob Hoggard went online to ask fans not to vote for him and then followed up with a mediocre performance. Hoggard, who later said he tried out for Idol on a drunken dare and never wanted to win, went on to score a record deal with his Vancouver-based band Hedley. The band is nominated for several Juno Awards and scheduled to play at the ceremony in Halifax next month.

"It pissed me off," said Werner.