New judge promises to be anything but dull
America’s Got Talent is getting a dose of shock jock with Howard Stern joining the judges panel for Season 7.
“America’s Got Talent is a family show, and I have been disrespecting family values for years,” Stern joked at a recent press conference. “I respect what America’s Got Talent is. It is a family show; it is not The Howard Stern Show. It is a show that I love. I have been watching it for years and I don’t want to come in and do The Howard Stern Show. I don’t want to interrupt the flow of the show, I only want to make it better,” he said.
Judge Howie Mandel is happy to welcome Stern to the America’s Got Talent family. “It’s like summer camp, honestly. Like you look forward to it,” he told Huffington Post. “This summer we get to hang out with each other and we’re all over the country. You can’t ask for more. To be witness to people creating entertainment — not necessarily specifically singing or dancing – and watch them become household names and maybe even be part of it in our constructive criticism, has been nothing but a joy,” said Mandel.
Host Nick Cannon is also looking forward to having Stern on the show. “He’s a great man, it’s like one big happy family,” he told HuffPost.
While Stern can be expected to be a bit controversial, he’s committed to keeping things clean on America’s Got Talent. “I took a leap of faith,” he told Rolling Stone. “That’s the only reason I did it: I thought it would be fun, and I thought I might be good at it because I sit at home watching this thing, and I’m doing commentary to the wall.”
America’s Got Talent premiers Monday, May 14 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
