Simon Cowell Teases the Big Change for Season 18 of ‘America’s Got Talent’

When America’s Got Talent returns for its 18^th season tonight, it will feature the same judging panel it has had for the past three seasons: Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara, who joined in season 15, and, of course, a potpourri of talent including singers, comics, magicians and danger acts, who will fly in from around the world.

“I always think, ‘What happens if we run out of talent? We have no show,’” Simon told Parade in this one-on-one interview. “And then these people fly in from all over the world and all parts of America. For most of these people, this is not their full-time thing; they have regular jobs, and then they just do these amazing things. And that’s always what I’ve loved about the show. The show is 100 percent dependent, not on the judges, not on anyone else, it’s always about the talent and the people. And when you sit there as a judge and those magic moments happen, it’s amazing.”

What will be different this season is the Golden Buzzer. Normally, there’s one per judge, host Terry Crews gets to weigh in as well, and the past few seasons there’s been a Group Golden Buzzer. But this season, thanks to a faux pas made by Bruno Tonioli, who was judging Britain’s Got Talent for the first time and hit his Golden Buzzer a second time—he didn’t know he only got one, then Simon decided he could hit his GB a second time, too.

So, now it looks to be happening in America as well.

“Well, let’s put it this way, we slightly broke the rules this year,” Simon admitted. He also says having more than the normal amount of Golden Buzzers—acts who automatically get to go to the live show portion of the competition and be voted on by America—doesn’t diminish its significance.

“It happened in the U.K. because it happened,” he said. “This weekend in the U.K., it was the eighth Golden Buzzer we gave this year. When I watched it back, if we hadn’t given this person a Golden Buzzer, I would have felt terrible. So, we have given out more this year and I don’t think there’s a single person watching who’ll go, ‘They shouldn’t have had that,’ because when they’re that good and you’re in the moment, it’s a great feeling.”

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And speaking of Golden Buzzers, Simon has selected his for this season and he says she’s amazing.

“This is the start, I believe, of something very, very special for her,” he said. “And what’s so interesting about the show, is it does deliver on its promise. I think now everyone’s coming on the show because they really want to be in Vegas. And there’s so many people now who’ve actually had their dreams come true. So, I think that’s why people now fly in from all over the world to compete. Because if one of these auditions goes viral, which they do, everything changes.”

During our chat, Simon also talked about what it’s like to make people’s dreams come true; how he feels about participating when the acts call him to stage; what he loves about working with Howie, Heidi, and Sofia; the new as yet untitled America’s Got Talent coming this winter; the bad habit he gave up for his son Eric; and his long-running wedding plans.

What makes AGT still enjoyable for you after all this time?

I think surprise more than anything else, if I’m being honest with you. We don’t know anything about who’s coming on the show, so when you get surprised and they’re brilliant, it’s just the best feeling in the world. I love that, and that’s what the show keeps delivering year after year after year. It’s not just the acts, it’s the people. And now they fly in from all over the world to compete, and it is absolutely fascinating.

What is it like to be a part of making people’s dreams come true? You did it on Idol, look at Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, for example. And you have the same thing with Terry Fator, Shin Lim, and others from AGT.

I’ve been very fortunate. Harry Styles is a good example, from One Direction, who’s doing so well. I couldn’t do this show if nothing happened at the end, it would just be pointless. It would be soul-destroying. You have to know that when they’re in the finals and they win, there’s a really, really good chance that something amazing’s going to happen to their life, like last year’s winners the Mayyas when they danced with Beyoncé. It really is like dreams come true. So, I think you could say maybe the stakes are higher now and everybody wants to be in the final and they want to win. But like you said, some of these examples, good things can happen if you do well on these shows now.

You’ve had several panel changes since the inception of the show, what makes this panel with Sofia and Heidi and Howie the perfect mix of judges?

Well, they’re really good fun to work with, and they really are passionate about the talent. They’re not sitting there on their phones distracted. They’re very, very focused on the audition, wanting to know more about the people, and that’s what they’re paid to do, and everyone’s got a different opinion. I would say this year you probably will see more of us disagreeing but in a good way because not everybody likes the same thing.

How do you feel about participating when people call you up? There was that clip from Britain’s Got Talent that went viral, where you got slimed.

Well, I’ve just realized that the audience love it when I’m miserable, so I guess that’s why that happened.

They have to stop production after something like that because you have to go shower and change. You’re not aware of it ahead of time that they built in extra time?

Genuinely, we do not have a clue what’s going to happen every day, and I really mean that. I never want to know anything. So, when things happen, they happen.

You lost your voice the beginning of this season. How hard was that on you not to be able to comment? And how long did it last, is it going to be more than one episode?

I don’t know how many episodes but it was torture. I literally could not get a word out, so I just had to sit there. I tried writing things, I tried to get Sofia to translate. She deliberately said the opposite of what I wanted to say. But I saw the show in a very, very different way. It was interesting, very frustrating, luckily it didn’t last that long. But yeah, it wasn’t great.

It’s always something with you, the bike accidents and losing your voice.

Yep, exactly.

Speaking of the bike, have you stopped riding? Has your son Eric convinced you not to ride anymore?

No, I was out this morning for an hour. I do it every morning, I love it.

Have you given up any bad habits for him?

I have. I’ve stopped smoking. Hallelujah.. And this was tough, let me tell you, but thanks to him I’ve stopped. I do feel a lot better, I’m not going to lie, it does make a huge difference.

So, there’s going to be another version of America’s Got Talent this winter. It doesn’t have a title yet. Is there anything that you can tease about it?

Well, we haven’t quite finished working on it, but the initial idea I really like, which is getting the audience involved in the selection of the acts. And that, as one sentence, I thought, yeah, that’s really cool. So, that’s kind of where we started.

So, there’ll be something maybe on a website where people can vote for who they want to come back?

Exactly.

It sems from watching AGT: Extreme that the danger acts are your favorite. Would you say that’s true? Because with your background in music, it seems that you might prefer the singers.

Well, you know, it’s like a horror movie, you shouldn’t like horror movies but you do. And it’s the same with danger acts, it’s kind of like, “I shouldn’t like this,” but you do like it. All the sword swallowers and that kind of stuff, it’s compelling. And when it’s right in front of you, yeah, it’s fascinating.

And AGT is the only show that gives these people an opportunity to show what they can do, so they can get hired in Las Vegas.

Well, that’s what I realized. It’s not just the end prize anymore. It’s that if you get a great audition on the show, these clips can now get hundreds of millions of views. So, that’s why, I think, so many people enter the show now, because even just by auditioning, your life can absolutely change overnight. I’ve seen it happen. I think they’re all aware of that now, so they all bring their A-game to the auditions. You’re going to see some things this year, which are going to blow your mind. I mean, I couldn’t believe it.

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How are the wedding plans coming?

Always planning.

No date set or anything like that, location?

Not yet.

So, this’ll just be a nice long engagement.

Nothing concrete at the moment but always planning.

America’s Got Talent premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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