‘ America’s Got Talent’ offers escape for the family
America’s Got Talent is capitalizing on joy. And the plan is paying off in record numbers.
The show ( NBC; Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 ET/ PT), which features returning judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Mel B, is the No. 1 summer broadcast series delivering its most- watched season ever: 16.2 million viewers, up 15% from last year.
Inside the Dolby Theatre, where AGT is shooting the first of its live episodes ( which was its most popular telecast in six years with 16.8 million viewers), the audience is clapping to the tune of Pharrell’s Happy before the show. You’d have no idea that just a few days earlier, violence erupted in Charlottesville, Va.
A warm- up guy tells the thousands in the stands: “Don’t watch the show; be part of it.” He also encourages people to laugh at what’s funny, cheer at what’s exciting and stand up when they feel so compelled. ( They feel compelled often — like, after every performance.)
“I do believe part of our success is a little bit of an escape and a little bit of a safe zone,” executive producer Jason Raff says about AGT. “It’s a fun, entertaining show that takes you away from the headlines of the day.”
To help create that la la land, NBC has enlisted new host Tyra Banks, who replaces Nick Cannon after he left the show in February because of a dispute with the network over a racial joke. But there’s no hard feelings there. He tweeted to Banks, “I know you will be amazing!” after learning she took the position. Banks has since embodied a different kind of host than Cannon: more warmth; less weird.
On AGT, “I’m a little bit more cheerleader and Mama,” says Banks, comparing her new role with the one on America’s NextTop Model, where “I ( was) tough love- slash- comedian- slash- coach. It is different.”
Instead of advising contestants to “smize” ( smile with their eyes), she’s helping nervous young acts such as 9year- old singer Celine Tam and 12- yearold ventriloquist Darci Lynne turn their nerves into excitement, encouraging them to “use that scared energy for positivity,” as she says. She also fields many hugs.
“I always have to go down onmy knees ( to embrace the youngsters). But I have so much body makeup, that I tell all of the guys that work on the stage, I’m like ‘ Every time there’s a kid, you’re going to have to wipe that beautiful black, shiny floor, because you’re gonna have golden dust left behind.’ ”
Banks isn’t the only one who’s shedding her edge for the feel- good show. Cowell, too, is gentler this season, at least compared with the American Idol years when “there was a perceived meanness to ( his persona) that was attractive to the viewers,” says Raff. “He’s not quite the mean judge that he might have been in the past.”
And how could he be, when he’s on a show that guarantees happy tears with the touch of the Golden Buzzer.