Cowell promises a lively America’s Got Talent
America’s Got Talent returns tonight with fire, acrobatics, singing, magic, a car demolition, lots of crying and a healthy dose of scares.
“There’s one act in particular. Wow! I’ve never seen anything like this. It was like Linda Blair decided to audition for The Exorcist,” judge and executive producer Simon Cowell says of NBC’s durable summer talent competition. “She doesn’t talk. It’s one of the weirdest, scariest acts we’ve ever had on the show.”
Speaking of magic, AGT pulled off its own impressive ratings trick in Season 12, topping the previous season to become the show’s most-watched yet (15.4 million viewers) and, as usual, summer’s No. 1 show.
Cowell’s Talent format can be seen in 184 countries. He spoke to us about AGT, the reality-competition genre and another talent show fans might remember, American Idol.
Question: How has AGT been able to add viewers when the audiences for most reality shows are shrinking?
Simon Cowell: I think you just get that perfect combination. We have great producers, we’re on a network that loves these kinds of shows, we get good people to come on the show and we’ve got a great judging panel (that also includes Mel B, Heidi Klum and Howie Mandel). NBC stuck its neck out in the beginning with this show. When no one else was interested, they took a chance.
Q: What can viewers expect in Season 13, and are any changes planned?
Cowell: To be honest, there’s not that much we’ve needed to do over the years to change the format . ... I watched the first episode and was blown away. You go from happy act to sad act to thrilling act . ... There’s three or four singers who have a real shot. They’re different. (In 2016), I said I was hoping we could attract better singers to the show and I think that’s a big part of it now.”
Q: Why haven’t there been many new reality-competition hits in recent years?
Cowell: If you look at the last 15, 20 years as to how many formats have worked long-term globally, there’s not many. Everyone thinks they’re easy. They’re hard. The network has to make a big commitment in terms of hours. They’re expensive. They’re much harder than people think.
Q: You were a judge, but not a producer, for nine seasons on Idol, which was revived this year on ABC. Have you watched?
Cowell: Has it started? (Big laugh.) I couldn’t care less . ... I had some great years on it, but now I’m not interested . ... (When it ended on Fox in 2016), I turned up to say, ‘Sorry it’s going (away).’ And then it comes back again.
Q: Any advice for the new Idol?
Cowell: I wouldn’t have a clue. That format is what I call a 10,000down-to-one show. You start with 10,000 performers, you go down to 500, then 10, then one. It’s a very basic format. It’s got great brand recognition. People have great memories, but it’s very difficult to remake that. When we first did it, it was a different time. We didn’t have any competition.
Q: Can talent shows still create stars?
Cowell: 100 per cent. For me, this is the No. 1 reason for doing it. I’ve got to believe that every year we’re going to find someone who has that star quality and will have that career. The best ambassador is (Season 2 winner and ventriloquist) Terry Fator. Just before he entered the show, he told me he booked a theatre himself, a thousand seats, and one person shows up. He was broke. He goes on the show, and he’s one of the biggest stars in Vegas now.