America鈥檚 Got Talent returns tonight with fire, acrobatics, singing, magic, a car demolition, lots of crying and a healthy dose of scares.
鈥淭here鈥檚 one act in particular. Wow! I鈥檝e never seen anything like this. It was like Linda Blair decided to audition for The Exorcist,鈥� judge and executive producer Simon Cowell says of NBC鈥檚 durable summer talent competition. 鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 talk. It鈥檚 one of the weirdest, scariest acts we鈥檝e ever had on the show.鈥�
Speaking of magic, AGT pulled off its own impressive ratings trick in Season 12, topping the previous season to become the show鈥檚 most-watched yet
(15.4 million viewers) and, as usual, summer鈥檚 No. 1 show.
Cowell鈥檚 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鈥檙e on a network that loves these kinds of shows, we get good people to come on the show and we鈥檝e 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鈥檚 not that much we鈥檝e 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鈥檚 three or four singers who have a real shot. They鈥檙e different. (In 2016), I said I was hoping we could attract better singers to the show and I think that鈥檚 a big part of it now.鈥�
Q: Why haven鈥檛 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鈥檚 not many. Everyone thinks they鈥檙e easy. They鈥檙e hard. The network has to make a big commitment in terms of hours. They鈥檙e expensive. They鈥檙e 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鈥檛 care less. ... I had some great years on it, but now I鈥檓 not interested. ... (When it ended on Fox in 2016), I turned up to say, 鈥楽orry it鈥檚 going (away).鈥� And then it comes back again.
Q: Any advice for the new Idol?
Cowell: I wouldn鈥檛 have a clue. That format is what I call a 10,000-down-to-one show. You start with 10,000 performers, you go down to 500, then 10, then one. It鈥檚 a very basic format. It鈥檚 got great brand recognition. People have great memories, but it鈥檚 very difficult to remake that. When we first did it, it was a different time. We didn鈥檛 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鈥檝e got to believe that every year we鈥檙e 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鈥檚 one of the biggest stars in Vegas now.
Q: What can you say about America鈥檚 Got Talent: The Champions, which will bring together past AGT competitors and the best performers from Got Talent shows around the world for a winter contest on NBC?
Cowell: It鈥檚 like the Olympics of Got Talent. All the good acts are going to come together for one week and have the ultimate world competition. It鈥檚 something we鈥檝e wanted to do for a long time. I think it鈥檚 going to be amazing.
Q: Do you remember when the international Idol format came together for a global competition, World Idol, in 2003?
Cowell: Let鈥檚 not mention that, because that was a disaster. Sixteen judges. Nobody wanted to be on the show. That was horrific.
