The TV Column

America's Got Talent back, so is crusty Cowell

America’s Got Talent judges for Season 11 are (from left) Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell.
America’s Got Talent judges for Season 11 are (from left) Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell.

Have you missed Simon Cowell? Well, he's baaaaack!

Bring on the pain.

America's Got Talent returns for Season 11 at 7 p.m. today on NBC, and Cowell is the newest judge as the auditions get underway.

Cowell, the show's creator and executive producer, replaces Howard Stern and joins the panel alongside Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Mel B (full name Melanie Janine Brown).

Nick Cannon returns as host as the series shifts back to Los Angeles from New York this summer once the live and results shows kick in.

Show of hands: Who remembers the two hosts before Cannon?

Regis Philbin was the original host for one season, and was followed for two seasons by Jerry Springer. Cannon took over in Season 4.

I have a vague memory of hoping during Season 2 that the audience would start chanting, "JER-REE, JER-REE," and the contestants would start whaling away on one another only to be separated by big beefy guys in T-shirts.

Never happened.

This will be Mandel's seventh season on the series, making him one of the show's longest-running judges. He replaced David Hasselhoff in 2010.

Season 11 will be Klum and Mel B's fourth. Former Spice Girl (Scary Spice) Mel B replaced Sharon Osbourne in Season 8, and Klum joined as the fourth judge that same season.

Stern announced last fall that Season 10 would be his last, so Cowell stepped up.

About the new panel, Cowell told The Hollywood Reporter, "Without sounding too arrogant, I am going to call us the Fantastic Four. I like this panel because they are slightly nuts. And now let's find a star."

America's Got Talent is TV's top-rated summer show, averaging 12.5 million viewers each week. Its appeal is that it goes beyond the increasingly stale singing competitions to include acts of all ages and talents.

NBC boasts that the series "has brought the variety format back to the forefront of American culture by showcasing unique performers from across the country ... featuring a colorful array of singers, dancers, comedians, contortionists, impressionists, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists and hopeful stars, all vying to win America's hearts and the $1 million prize."

The $1 million, by the way, is spread out over 40 years.

Variety of talent? Last summer's winner was Paul Zerdin, who took home the grand prize with his creative approach to ventriloquism that used a variety of comedic characters and personalities.

For Season 9 in 2014, America voted for a magician to win for the first time. That was Rhode Island native Mat Franco, who went on to headline the America's Got Talent Live stage show, as well as the Magic Reinvented Nightly stage show, both in Las Vegas.

Franco didn't stop there. He also starred in the two-hour Mat Franco's Got Magic special that aired Sept. 17, 2015, on NBC and featured appearances by Neil Patrick Harris, Klum, Mel B, Penn & Teller and others.

Past winners also include the Olate Dogs (Season 7) with pet tricks; jazz singer Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. (Season 6); and Mississippi native and soul singer Michael Grimm (Season 5).

The fifth season also introduced America to 10-year-old classical singer Jackie Evancho, who finished second. She has gone on to release several best-selling albums. Evancho is 16 now.

Hip-hop violinist Lindsey Stirling was seen on Season 5. She has since released two albums. The second, Shatter Me, sold 56,000 copies in its first week and reached the No. 2 position on the Billboard 200.

Finally, proof that America's Got Talent has staying power, Season 2 winner Terry Fator, a ventriloquist, singer and comedian from Dallas, has been headlining a show in Las Vegas since 2007 and currently performs at the Mirage Hotel.

Bonus round: If you are a real fan, name the 2006 Season 1 winner. You have 10 seconds.

It was 11-year-old singer Bianca Ryan (she's 21 now). The New Jersey native has quietly released three albums and a couple of singles and was in an independent film that was made for peanuts and nobody saw.

Maya & Marty, 9 p.m. today on NBC. This new summer filler stars Maya Rudolph and Martin Short from Saturday Night Live. The variety program will feature comedy sketches, musical numbers and celebrity guests.

Joining the duo will be fellow SNL talent Kenan Thompson.

American Ninja Warrior, 7 p.m. Wednesday on NBC. Season 8 kicks off in Los Angeles.

The Night Shift, 9 p.m. Wednesday on NBC. The hospital drama raises the curtain on Season 3.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 05/31/2016

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