Ben Mulroney wants more flavour. No longer plain and unassuming as vanilla, he's ready to rock out as host on the third season of Canadian Idol and he's even chosen the right ice cream to describe his enhanced role.

"I think a Cherry Garcia. Let's go with that for now," says the 29-year-old, likening himself to ice cream makers Ben and Jerry's tasty tribute to the late rock legend Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.

During the first season, Mulroney believed his place to be "on the third rung, behind the music and the judges." Now, on his third year, the host plans to be more involved, especially with the competitors.

"I'm going to try and help the kids get over some of the stage fright they might have or, you know, smooth out the learning curve for them," he tells Eye on Idol in an exclusive interview.

Much like the competitors who graduate from the Idol school, Mulroney feels his experiences have helped him grow.

"I feel like I've got an eye for more than just the host. I used to just watch the show as a viewer would and now I kind of have a producer's eye for it, I think."

It seems he's also become more of an outspoken "big brother" to thousands of Idol hopefuls. During auditions and in front of the camera, the 6-foot-1 host fends for competitors who've just had the fire in their eyes extinguished after a shower of cold comments from the judges.

"Sometimes they say things that absolutely don't make sense," Mulroney says. "The judges will say, 'This is only one avenue whereby to pursue your dreams, so this is not the end-all, be-all of the music industry.' You can't say that and tell the person never to sing again."

However, he maintains he's not there to make dejected competitors feel better; rather, he's speaking for the viewers whom he believes will be yelling at their TVs in disagreement with the judges' opinions.

"I'm just speaking on behalf of the people watching at home and also as a person who would never have the courage to go up in front of a firing squad and sing my heart out," he says. "I'm speaking as a fan of these kids who came out and made the show possible."

The Idol family

Ben on his relationship with the judges Ben on kids from season 1 and 2

For all the heated debate the judges' comments generate, Mulroney praises television's famous foursome for their collective ear for music and ability to quickly assess the strengths and weaknesses of a particular singer.

"One thing people don't see is the long conversations we have over the long days that we put in. And these guys know more about the business than anyone. I learn so much from them because of that," he says.

Like any normal family dynamic, Mulroney seems to display the classic love-hate relationship one has with a parent, sibling or other close relative. While he'll be the first to elevate the judges' stature, he'll also poke holes at their personas, albeit in his own gentle way.

"They're annoying as hell sometimes. They can be babies, but who isn't when you're on the road?" Mulroney says as he flashes a grin. "They are pains in the ass, but some of the nicest and the most generous people I've ever met. They take care of me, I take care of them. We try to help each other out as much as we can."

According to the host, their camaraderie also includes gift-giving, personal phone calls on each other's birthdays and occasional dinners.

He breaks down the Idol family dynamic: "Farley's like a big brother. Sass is the hot cousin. Jake is the know-it-all uncle, who actually knows quite a bit." With a few chuckles, Mulroney continues: "Zack is the guy who just keeps showing up to dinner. You're not quite sure who he's related to but you're glad he's there."

But if he were to pick someone at the Idol dinner table to which he'd most likely give his last slice of cake, Mulroney would probably choose his comedic counterpart, Jon Dore, whom he calls "a frickin' genius."

First impression of Jon Dore Ben shares a Jon Dore revelation

"I think he's got more talent in his gut than I will ever have mastered during the course of my career. I think he brings something to the show that we absolutely need. He loves music and he incorporates that into almost anything he does. He's so creative, so generous, so nice and so funny," he says.

He recalls the first time he met and hung out with Dore. During the first season of Canadian Idol, Mulroney tagged along with the comedian to a pub in Calgary where he fleshed out some ideas for an open-mic night at Yuk Yuk's. After watching Dore's act, he says he instantly became "a Jon Dore groupie."

After three seasons of countless jokes -- some caught on tape but most behind the scenes -- Mulroney has learned a thing or two about the comic's grooming habits.

"He shaves his neck more than any man I've ever known," he says. "If you watch the first three episodes of the show, I want you to watch the neck hair. On certain shows, it's bushy and on the next city, it's gone, and by the end of that city it's back again. It's very impressive."

TV-savvy kids

While the main cast has stayed the same each season, it's the revolving set of characters -- those young, brazen and passionate competitors -- that makes people tune in to the show every year.

Apart from the changing faces, Mulroney has noticed differences in each crop of kids. Whereas Season One's competitors were "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed," last year's contenders were more television-savvy, according to the host.

"They knew how to play to the camera. They knew how to put their best foot forward and their best face forward to the camera. Very little directing on my part. They rolled with the punches a lot easier."

He also says Season Two's Top 10 brought their own sound, appeasing concerns Mulroney had had about competitors who would only try to emulate what they saw on Idol's first season.

"Instead, we got a jazz singer like Theresa and a deep, rich voice in Kalan Porter, and we got the Jacob Hoggard factor, which no one saw coming. We had a completely different experience than the year before and it's entirely due to the kids."

With the instant fame and frenzy that Canadian Idol bestows on its singing stars, Mulroney offers advice to the showbiz newbies.

"At some point, the show ends and the Top 10 closes and we start again the next year. Be prepared to enjoy it for what it is at the time. But if they want to keep that feeling, they have to work," he says. "They have to be prepared for it to go away and fight to get it back."

He also cautions those who are quick to shed their Idol skin and tell those fans to "go fly a kite" to think twice about making the risky career move.

"You might not have connected with anyone beyond the show and the only people listening to you and buying your records are the ones who supported you on the show. You might not have made any fans beyond that," he says.

Perhaps no one knows the importance of fan support better than Mulroney. As the son of Canada's former prime minister Brian Mulroney, he grew up in a political world where public opinion polls, elections and a referendum were the norm. And while he may not be running for public office, Mulroney's current success as host of etalk Daily and Canadian Idol is similarly dictated by the number of fans who tune in to his shows and who affect TV ratings.

He is well aware, however, of the difference between his father's kind of limelight and his own. He says that in the beginning of his career, the ex-PM tried to give him some advice on handling fame, but these days, the younger Mulroney appears comfortable managing the spotlight.

"We realized that anything that came out of his mouth was viewed as policy that affected millions of people. Anything that comes out of my mouth is a phone number or the name of a hometown," he says.

"The consequences of what I say to the press are completely different from the consequences of what he used to say to the press."

After living a great part of his life in the public eye, does Mulroney ever despise being on camera? Except for having to wear make-up, which he says ruins some of the free clothes he gets, he can't think of one bad thing.

"It teaches you to be self-aware," Mulroney says. "You want to present yourself as best as you possibly can. Being on camera only reinforces that for me. It's a constant reminder to be nice and polite to people."

So while he plans to ditch the vanilla in his act and kick it up a notch with some rock-inspired cherry flavour, audiences can still count on one thing: he'll still be the same pleasant and well-mannered guy on and off the screen.

"When I'm sitting at home and I've got my big-ass plasma screen and my speaker system that could blow out a hole behind me, I keep it turned down because I don't want to bug my neighbours," Mulroney says.

"I've always been that way. I've always turned the TV down because I don't want to piss anybody off."

Eye on Idol