Even after 19 seasons of hosting “America’s Got Talent,” Simon Cowell’s biggest fear is not dissimilar from the concerns of a producer getting a freshman show up and running: “What if no one shows up?”
“You end a great year and then the second it ends, I get a pit with my stomach,” Cowell told TheWrap. “What if no one shows up this year? What if they’re not interested? What if they’re not very good? You always have to believe that you can find better people, more interesting people.”
That initial doubt is shared by executive producer Sam Donnelly, who joined “America’s Got Talent” as a showrunner and executive producer in 2013. “Every time you start a new season, there’s that horrible dread that, ‘What if we don’t find all of those people?’”
To Cowell and Donnelly’s relief, a fresh flock of talented contestants keep showing up to audition for the NBC competition series, which has proven time and time again to be a path to success, with Donnelly saying, “I think they keep coming out because I think they think the show is a genuinely, really good platform for them to progress in their career.”
The process of scoping out talent has changed tenfold since “America’s Got Talent” began in 2006, and since Donnelly boarded in 2013, recalling that while the series previous went on the road to find talent across the country, social media has replaced the need for those open calls, with cast directors instead scouring the internet for potential contestants.
As “America’s Got Talent” celebrates its milestone 20th season, the show welcomes back Mel B, who returns to the judging panel alongside Cowell, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara after first appearing on the show from 2013-2018.
“Mel’s like having a firework — She’s so unpredictable and so explosive in a very positive way,” Cowell said, joking that her strong opinions drive him crazy when they’re not in agreement. “She really likes people … so when they’re on stage, she wants to find out about them as people,” Donnelly added. “She’s very supportive.”
Viewers will get a unique look inside Mel B’s return as Season 20 embraces behind-the-scenes approach, giving viewers a peek into what it would be like to be in the seats of the judges, the contestants and the audience. “One of my favorite things about this new way of filming is you’re getting to see the panel in a different dimension — you get the sense of that relationship,” Donnelly said, likening the behind-the-scenes moments to “Muppet Show” levels of chaos and excitement.
“We are showing tons more behind the scenes than we’ve ever done before, and, actually, it felt like I was watching a completely different show,” Cowell said.
Below, Cowell and Donnelly discuss the milestones season and which spinoffs they would be interested in reviving, and Cowell reveals why he prefers to pull double duty as an EP and judge.
TheWrap: What do you think are the biggest success stories that have come from the show?
Donnelly: There’s lots of success stories. There’s Terry Fator back in the early days, Grace VanderWaal, Mat Franco, Shin Lim and Piff the Magic Dragon … they still have their own showrooms on Vegas Strip — Mat’s been there for nearly 10 years, his show is going strong. What is quite nice is seeing acts come on, especially the 20th year, when they’ve been inspired to start doing their talent from seeing people on previous shows.
Cowell: We’re always asked this question about, what is the ultimate dream? A lot of people on this show talk about Vegas, and you do wonder at times you didn’t have this platform, how do you reach an audience? Because it’s not just who watches the television show, there’s the clips that you can get hundreds of millions of views on, so within 10 minutes of auditioning, 70-100 million people are watching around the world, and that is such an exciting moment when you see that happen and what it’s going to do to their lives. Weirdly, even with so many outlets for people to post stuff now, it’s got very crowded, and it’s, “how do you make noise amongst the noise?” What the show does is it gives people a platform. It gives you that first run on the ladder to go, “This is who I am. This is me.” And you can feel it in the room when it happens.
When did you notice that social media was something that you were going to need to pay attention to and start incorporating into the show?
Cowell: I think we all got it at the same time. There’s no question that YouTube was an inspiration for this show, seeing how popular it became overnight, and just the variety of people who would post anything on there — that’s how the show was kind of born — it was like, “you could do a version of that as a competition.” Because of that, it just made absolute sense that we would put these clips online as a secondary window to the point now where we have this catalog which which literally gets, every single day, billions and billions of views around the world, and I didn’t know that was going to happen. None of us did, to be honest with you.
I think Susan Boyle was probably the first time I saw a clip genuinely explode within minutes of being on the show. I was in LA and I knew when the show was broadcasting, and I went online, and I saw someone say, “Did you see that?” and then it just went boom. And that was unbelievable — what it did for her life, her career. I remember thinking this is the lady who lives in Scotland, in this little village, suddenly she’s known all over the world through social media.
Simon, what makes you excited to continue on as a judge? Have you considered stepping away and just being an EP?
Cowell: I did start off being an EP — I loved being an EP on the show, and then as it got more and more popular, I was like, “I’m here, will someone invite me?” And no one did. And then eventually, around about, I think 2015-16, they said would you like to go on the show? From that point, it was an absolute blast. I think if it ever got to a point — which I don’t think it ever will, actually — where I thought, actually, everything’s getting worse, or no one’s any good, or no one wants to bother to turn up, then I would say “this is pointless,” but because of what happened this year, and how good people were, and how interesting they were, and how much people still want this and need this … It is a great job, and it is an amazing feeling when it all works.
There’s already a couple spinoffs for “AGT,” but would you be interested in any additional ones?
Cowell: I would do “Champions” again. You can’t do it every year — you have to wait a couple of years to hope that you really have got a fantastic group of 40 people, whatever it is, because you don’t want to bring back people have been on the show before, because then it’s going backwards. Because the show airs in so many countries, I think in a year’s time, two years time, there will be enough people to do that again.
Donnelly: It’s also good to see talent from around the world — you forget how many territories these shows are in.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
“America’s Got Talent” Season 20 premieres Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes air Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and stream the next day on Peacock.
The post ‘America’s Got Talent’ EPs Simon Cowell and Sam Donnelly Tease Mel B’s Return for Milestone Season 20, New Behind-the-Scenes Moments appeared first on TheWrap.