Returning as judges for season 16 are Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara, as well as host Terry Crews. “AGT has been consistently the No. 1 show of the summer for many reasons: the relatability, the excitement, watching somebody like you and me who has a hope and a dream, and watching it come true, and watching their lives change forever,” Mandel told a small group of reporters during a conference call for the premiere. He also spoke about the return of Cowell, the new elements for the season and Golden Buzzers. Check it out. What was the first thing you said to Simon when you saw him in person for the first time? I said, “You’re back; no pun intended.” I was just happy to see the man in the room standing upright; and I was amazed. He came at us with more energy, and you know how they say a pregnant woman has that glow? He has that glow. I think because of rehab and physical therapy, he probably has exercised, and stretched and done things in his life because of this back injury that he’s never done before. He says he even feels better than he did before he fell off the bike. So, he has this energy, this glow, he’s just excited to be alive and back, and here, and that’s a pervasive feeling on the whole season. One of the changes this season is the Judge Cuts are going to be eliminated at least on screen. How is the process going to change? How will we get to the contestants for the live shows? Without giving any spoilers, there are a couple of surprises where we did things that have never been seen before; and I’m talking about in the judging process that you will see; and so, in the mechanics of the show, we took some liberties and we thought, “Hey, we deserve it; we’re going to do it,” and we did it, so I think we’re going to surprise the audience a few times. And the deliberation, we just wanted to make a more entertaining, less-drawn-out production than we have; the process is basically the same. We talk constantly, even off-camera, and we’re legitimately passionate about who is chosen to go all the way to the live shows. So, the actual process is the same; the location is different. We went to Simon’s house instead of in a studio—which was nicer. I didn’t have to use a public restroom, and I’ve got to tell you that Simon’s guest towels are to die for. But that’s something that you won’t see at home. If you notice a smile on my face during deliberations, it’s the look of a guy who just used a very clean, sanitized bathroom. Knowing the germaphobe that you are, how much do you enjoy getting called to stage and participating in the acts? The truth of the matter is, aside from my own personal issues, I’ve never enjoyed being called. There’s a lot of pressure. Each and every one of these moments for whoever it is that calls you to the stage, is a life-changing moment: They’re either going to do great or they’re going to crash, or it’s even worse to be in the middle because you’ll be forgettable. So, when you are asked to be part of the act as a judge, you feel the responsibility of doing everything correctly; and maybe if it didn’t go well, maybe part of that or a little piece of that is your fault and that weighs really heavy. So, I have never enjoyed going to the stage because I don’t want the responsibility. What was it like having a live audience for these season 16 auditions? It feels like we’ve all been waiting for this light at the end of the tunnel. To hear the roar of an audience [auditions were shot with a limited audience], the excitement of an audience, to look at the spark in a performer’s eyes; to look to my left—because I’m at the end of the thing—and to see everybody there just doing what we do, what we love to do, and being together; there’s another level that has never really existed in all my years at AGT. Sofia is now getting a taste of what the traditional experience of America’s Got Talent is all about after last season. How is the dynamic now with Simon sitting there with her? Listen, it’s hard to be the new kid on the block anytime. I thought that last year, she just acclimated wonderfully to a situation that I don’t think the world was acclimated to. She’s probably one of the best additions we’ve ever had to our show in the history of our show. She’s funny, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, and she’s Sofia, and that was great. All of us have become friends and we talk as much off-camera as we do on camera; we’re legitimately friends—and she thought that was the best experience, she said, “I’ve never had a job like this; this is amazing; this is entertaining.” And now, Simon shows up and he’s sitting beside her, we have an audience, and we have it so much better and even more exciting than she could have ever dreamed of and she has shared that with us; she thought last year was great. This was a nice respite from whatever we were dealing with day to day having to do the show during a pandemic. We looked forward to showing up to work every day and she had a great time. AGT helped get us all through by grabbing onto the making of our show during the pandemic. It was something that we, each and every one of us, looked forward to and had a great experience. It was a highlight of 2020 for us. Is it frustrating when your turn comes up to be the Golden Buzzer early in the season? Do you think, “Maybe several episodes from now, there’s going to be somebody better and I’ve already used my Golden Buzzer?” The truth of the matter is we don’t take turns doing Golden Buzzers; if the Golden Buzzer moment hits your psyche—we know that we each have one Golden Buzzer per season—and if that hits you, there’s no such thing as it being my turn. I will say to the other three, “I’m loving this, I want to press the button,” and they’ll go, “OK,” so they know what’s going on. So, it hits you in the moment; that is not a planned moment. What happens is you’re seeing something in the moment and you go, “Oh, my God. This is moving me. This is the best thing I’ve seen in so long and my heart is pounding, I’ve got to do it.” And you go, “OK,” and you give somebody the Golden Buzzer. The thing about it is after you give somebody the Golden Buzzer, you don’t know what’s up next, you don’t know what’s coming in the next few days. There are so many times—and you’ve seen judges say it out loud—“If I had another Golden Buzzer, I would give it to you.” I don’t know what’s coming, so there are those moments when somebody else’s Golden Buzzer is pressed and you go, “Oh, I wish I would have just waited; I already spent my money.” It really isn’t a competition between us, but sometimes it’s fun to play that, “My Golden Buzzer is going to win.” “My Golden Buzzer is going to be loved more by America.” Those are the discussions we have after. America’s Got Talent returns tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
