Simon Cowell vows to shake things up on America's Got Talent. Used to being behind the scenes as an executive producer on the show, this year Simon steps in front of the camera as a judge.
Speaking to US Weekly about why he decided to do the show, Simon said "I’ve been thinking about it for a while. We did actually talk about me doing the show a few years ago, and at the time I couldn’t do it,” he explains.
"But having been on the British show ever since it started, every time I used to turn up and watch America’s Got Talent, there was a part of me that always thought, ‘You know what? It would be a really fun show to do.’ So when it came up again this time, I thought it was just too good an opportunity to turn down. And I want to experience what it’s like judging American talent on this show, compared to just British talent.”
Taking over for radio host Howard Stern, Cowell says he will shake things up a bit from his last gigs judging talent in the U.K. "It’s definitely going to be a lot different,” he says. "And it should be. We are always looking for someone good.”
Simon adds that he doesn’t expect the search to be boring: “Over the years we’ve had some real wackers, but that kind of makes the show interesting. I mean, this is a show where there shouldn’t be any rules, there aren’t really any rules, so everyone is welcome. Well, almost everyone!” he adds, laughing.
But does Simon want to find a great singer? Or maybe a magician? An acrobat? Guess again!
“I love the animal acts, ever since I’ve done the show, I’ve always had a feeling in the back of my mind that we’re going to find a dog or a cat that can actually sing. And that would be almost a life’s ambition.”
The next Grumpy Cat perhaps? Simon has bigger plans in mind: “Grumpy Cat doesn’t do anything, he just looks grumpy — so I think we can do better than that!”
When we spoke to Simon at Britain's Got Talent about doing the show stateside he told us "I know it's a lot to take on, but I love doing the british show as it's so much fun to do, I thought I would try the American one too this year".
We can't wait for Simon to join Howie Mandel, Mel B and Heidi Klum on the panel. Judges auditions start later this year.
