America's Got These Judges

[David T. Cole]

Deal with it.

 

Season 1:  Regis Philbin

Seasons 2 & 3:  Jerry Springer

Seasons 4 & Up:  Nick Cannon

Edited April 28, 2014 by CuriousParker
Added Host Names & Season(s)

[David T. Cole]

Only one American?  Geez.

 

Season 1: 

• David Hasselhoff
• Piers Morgan
• Brandy

 

Seasons 2, 3 & 4: 

• David Hasselhoff
• Piers Morgan
• Sharon Osbourne

 

Seasons 5 & 6:

• Piers Morgan
• Sharon Osbourne
• Howie Mandel

 

Season 7:

• Piers Morgan
• Sharon Osbourne
• Howie Mandel

 

Seasons: 8 & Up:

• Howie Mandel
• Howard Stern
• Melanie Brown
• Heidi Klum

Edited April 28, 2014 by CuriousParker
Added Judge Names & Season(s)

[Kromm]

And he's a total sellout!  Come on Howard!  It's like a pit bull acting like a cocker spaniel.

[A Boston Gal]

It's his warmish, prickly-fuzzy, PG-13 persona, suitable for American family viewing. It may not be the "real" Howard, but he wanted this job, and knew that's how he had to come across to be selected as a TV judge. I can't blame him for this choice, but can understand how some fans of his may see it as selling out.

[Kromm]

I know he's controversial lately with this album with promos where he wears whiteface makeup and takes digs at white people, but for my money Nick Canon is one of the most underrated hosts on TV.  

[maraleia]

It is interesting that only two American's have ever been judges, Howard Stern and Brandy. Anyway looking forward to the judges interacting this year.

[A Boston Gal]

I think it's a symptom of everyone trying to recreate the original "Mean Brit Judge" magic of American Idol's early seasons.

[Maverick]

 

Only one American?  Geez.

 

Season 1: 

• David Hasselhoff
• Piers Morgan
• Brandy

 

Seasons 2, 3 & 4: 

• David Hasselhoff
• Piers Morgan
• Sharon Osbourne

 

Seasons 5 & 6:

• Piers Morgan
• Sharon Osbourne
• Howie Mandel

 

Season 7:

• Piers Morgan
• Sharon Osbourne
• Howie Mandel

 

Seasons: 8 & Up:

• Howie Mandel
• Howard Stern
• Melanie Brown
• Heidi Klum

 

 

 Stern replace Morgan in Season 7

 

 

It is interesting that only two American's have ever been judges, Howard Stern and Brandy. Anyway looking forward to the judges interacting this year.

 

Three.  David Hasselhoff.  

[maraleia]

@Maverick you are correct the Hoff is American as well. Looking forward to the antics of the judges this summer.

[Ohwell]

I think you mean the "jooges," per Melanie.

[Kromm]

I think you mean the "jooges," per Melanie.

Ah yes, the original Cat Deeley pronunciation too (before they corrected her in future seasons of SYTYCD and made a joke of her prompting the audience to say the word instead.

[Shermie]

I completely agree. Is there an Emmy for reality show host, because Nick should win it. He has such a way of comforting acts that are buzzed because they thought they were so talented, without giving them false hope. He'll jump in with a clearly bad act, just to give that person their one moment and turn it from something embarrassing into something fun.

 

I didn't watch the first season, so I don't know what Regis was like, but if he did his shouty thing that he did on the talk show, then no thanks. I dislike Jerry Springer (soooo smarmy), but he was pretty good as a host, until Nick came along, that is.

[Kromm]

I completely agree. Is there an Emmy for reality show host, because Nick should win it. He has such a way of comforting acts that are buzzed because they thought they were so talented, without giving them false hope. He'll jump in with a clearly bad act, just to give that person their one moment and turn it from something embarrassing into something fun.

 

I didn't watch the first season, so I don't know what Regis was like, but if he did his shouty thing that he did on the talk show, then no thanks. I dislike Jerry Springer (soooo smarmy), but he was pretty good as a host, until Nick came along, that is.

Neither Regis nor Springer really engaged the acts.  They were more there to introduce the acts than champion them. 

 

Nick comes off very convincingly as being on these people's side, even with the lamest act.  Maybe its years of having to put up with Mariah, but he clearly knows how to comfort people without being bursting ego bubbles.  

 

BTW: There IS an Emmy for Reality Show hosts, and sadly Nick has never even been nominated.  Of course those awards suck--they took forever to even realize that Cat Deely needed nominating too (she has been now), and for years automatically gave it to Jeff Probst (who sucks)--only eventually breaking down and giving it to someone deserving (Tom Bergeron).

Edited May 30, 2014 by Kromm

[Maverick]

Let's not speak too much about the reality show host Emmy, lest it dredge up memories of the first year it was awarded and all the nominees co-hosted the ceremony.  Oy vey.

[Shermie]

Surely the great Phil from The Amazing Race has won the hosting Emmy?

[Kromm]

The disguise thing seems to be a real theme with Nick and his comedy this year.  It's not JUST the Mime.  And it's not just the Whiteface bit he did to promote his album a few months ago.  I also noticed that this promo for AGT that got posted a few days ago features Nick, not only as The Mime, but in other disguises too (as a Magic Assistant, a Viking, and finally as a Kung Fu Leroy type). 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRlBAAlwnuw

 

BTW: Here's the Whiteface stuff, in case anyone hasn't seen it.

 

Edited June 1, 2014 by Kromm

[DrLar]

Sup with Heidi and her belly high cleavage? mmm (I love me some Mel B in that outfit please)

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I love me some Mel B in that outfit please

Could happen if the producers need a ratings boost. I noticed that Mel's melons, after being on display for over half of the first episode, seem to have gone into hiding and have hardly been seen since. Of course they'd have wanted to hook as many viewers as possible for the season kickoff.

[Ohwell]

I'm a straight female, but I think Mel has a bangin' body.  The only thing I notice is that sometimes she looks like those melons give her breathing problems, like she's about to choke or something.  

[helenamonster]

Another straight female who doesn't mind some hot Mel. Also, I could listen to her talk for hours. I've always loved her accent. I know it annoys some people but I think it's great. "You're noots!"

[Kromm]

Heidi's extraneous with Mel around.  Not that I don't appreciate 2 women on the panel.  It's just that Mel is genuinely interesting, and Heidi... not so much.  

 

They could replace Heidi and I'd barely notice.  Mel, on the other hand, would be a real hard act to follow.

[DrLar]

Does Heidi have another blouse? she always seem to wear the belly high cleavage one, while Mel B has more different outfits.. 

 

The card trick guy has the same mind as me.. agree that Heidi is pretty but t for Mel B is the hot one..

[helenamonster]

Heidi's extraneous with Mel around.  Not that I don't appreciate 2 women on the panel.  It's just that Mel is genuinely interesting, and Heidi... not so much.  

 

They could replace Heidi and I'd barely notice.  Mel, on the other hand, would be a real hard act to follow.

 

I love how Mel will have such understated reactions to things sometimes. Like this past week, with the Bikini Opera Singer. "Oh my word." My mom and I laughed for a good minute at that.

[EVS]

I have teenage boys and can't get through an episode without hearing at least 3 or 4 times how hot they think Mel B is. They don't find Heidi attractive at all. They thought Heidi was much older than Mel B and were surprised to find out they were almost the same age.

On a related note, I showed them a picture of Howie from St Elsewhere days and my 15 yr didn't recognized him at all and totally couldn't guess who he was.

Edited June 19, 2014 by EVS

[Ohwell]

I took me a while to get past Mel B's accent--I used to hate it--but now I find her and her accent rather endearing.

[Kromm]

I took me a while to get past Mel B's accent--I used to hate it--but now I find her and her accent rather endearing.

Eets bludy fantastik!

[Brattinella]

I like looking at pretty ladies, too, but Mel B is over-the-top and I'm really tired of the commercials where her boobs are almost entirely exposed!  Did we really need this?

[Kromm]

I like looking at pretty ladies, too, but Mel B is over-the-top and I'm really tired of the commercials where her boobs are almost entirely exposed!  Did we really need this?

There may be an inherent divide on that subject between the exposed boob enjoying posters and people who less inherently enjoy boob viewing.

Edited June 22, 2014 by Kromm

[UncleChuck]

This is REALLY a Mileage May Vary issue...

Mel B. is definitely HOT and I like her a lot...and her charming accent.

But IMO Heidi Klum is the hottest, most perfect woman on the planet.  Period.

[Kromm]

This is REALLY a Mileage May Vary issue...

Mel B. is definitely HOT and I like her a lot...and her charming accent.

But IMO Heidi Klum is the hottest, most perfect woman on the planet.  Period.

I would have readily agreed with that just a few years ago.  But something about her rubs me the wrong way more and more the past few years.  It kind of came to a head last year when she seemed so dour and judgmental about one of the comedians I remember finding very funny. Then THIS year she's accepting the sex humor from the little boy?  I just don't get it.  

[helenamonster]

Kromm, are you referring to Taylor Williamson? Because I was thinking the same thing during the 12-year-old's performance. Heidi absolutely hated Taylor (which, imo, ended up working in his favor), so I'm very surprised she had any patience for this kid, let alone gave him a yes. Didn't she say something tongue-in-cheek about loving comedians when he came out? I think she did because I remember looking at my mom and going, "She hates comedians." So, yeah, there's no logic in it. Unless her love for contestants under 18 trumps her hatred of comedians.

 

Speaking of logic, I find Howard to be lacking in it as well. He promotes himself as the voice of reason but has given some seriously over-the-top praise to many acts so far this season, especially the (imo) mediocre singers. Last season, he was all about that little girl who did the screamo music with her brother on the drums, and then they performed during the live rounds and he declared to be over it. I think the only explanation for this flip-flopping is the producers telling the judges what to say, which totally defeats the purpose of having judges in the first place. You basically have to sign your soul over to AGT just to audition, so even if the judges didn't put through someone that the producers might have wanted to keep, couldn't SYCOtv or whoever hold onto the acts they liked for something else?

 

I think Mel is the best judge right now. My childhood love for the  Spice Girls might be clouding my judgement, but I find her to be very entertaining, as well as very specific with her comments and criticisms. And then there's the pretty, which is just a bonus.

[peggy06]

I like Mel B. the best, too. Her reactions seem very natural, unscripted. While she does have her fads, I find myself agreeing with most of her critiques. (Not the one about the rollerblader, however. I would NOT go to see his show.) I like her accent and find her personality to be refreshing.

 

The show and most of the contestants seem to fawn all over Heidi's looks, which makes me uncomfortable, with Mel sitting there right beside her being treated like chopped liver. Heidi is beautiful, but so is Mel IMO. Furthermore, I find Heidi seems to try to take a cue from Howard. Her comments are not terribly on point, or interesting to me.

Edited June 23, 2014 by peggy06

[DrLar]

I'll love to be the next Heidi's ex-boyfriend.. 

[needschocolate]

I don't get Howie's hatred of musical contestants preforming songs they wrote instead of covering someone else's song.  I think if you can write a nice song and preform it well, that shows more talent than just performing someone else's song well.  Sure, there is a risk in singing your own songs - they might not be as good as you think they are.  However, there is also a risk in performing a song someone else made famous - you will be compared, at least subconsciously, to the original. 

 

The performer should decided which risk he wants to take.  And the judges should judge the performances equally, whether they covered a song or sang one of their own.  Howie seems predisposed to dislike performers singing their own songs. 

[theatremouse]

Yeah, I understood Howie's point, which seemed to be essentially "this is a poor strategic decision", but he also seemed to be holding that entirely against them on top of it, rather than offering that as advice and then judging based on what they actually did. It's one thing to say, eventually the viewers will vote and if you actually want to win, bank on them loving your version of a song they already love; then once they know who the heck you are, you can convince them they will like your original stuff.  And that I think is a valid point. But his job as a judge is not, in my opinion, to say "the home viewers won't like this," before he's even heard a note. It should be, does he like it after hearing it, and whether the home viewers do or not, is it any good? He should treat it the same as someone doing a cover of a song he personally never heard before, and decide same as always if he liked their act or not. Although on this show of course it seems like the singers have about 12 approved songs to do and they just cycle through them ad nauseum.

Edited July 27, 2014 by theatremouse

[DrLar]

Nick Cannon continues with his WTF shoes, geeesh...

[maraleia]

I still can't figure out why Heidi is there. She adds nothing to the show and hasn't ever done anything artistic other than model and host TV shows.

[Kromm]

I still can't figure out why Heidi is there. She adds nothing to the show and hasn't ever done anything artistic other than model and host TV shows.

She's there to represent the "doesn't understand any humor" segment of the population?

 

Occasionally Mel with will say something is "not foonay!", but that seems more like individual taste.  With Heidi it's more like she has to think hard about the idea that something COULD even be funny before rendering an opinion on it (and if you have to think about if something is funny, almost certainly you won't FIND it funny).

Edited July 30, 2014 by Kromm

[Kromm]

Nick Cannon continues with his WTF shoes, geeesh...

[shrugs]

Everybody's gotta hobby, right?

[helenamonster]

Continuing from the judge discussion in the Week 1 Performance thread:

 

I think the main issue with how the judges are presented based on gender is how Howie and Howard seem to look down on Mel and Heidi, and it comes off as being because they are women. I already think Howard Stern is a sexist asshole...I only listen to his show when he's interviewing someone I like, and the way he talks to his female guests is disgusting. And I feel like Howard's sexist behavior rubs off on Howie, who seems to want to be all buddy-buddy with him.

 

Heidi rarely has anything insightful to say, but it's not because she's a woman. I've seen episodes of Project Runway here and there and she seems to know what she's talking about on that show because that's her area of expertise. She's kind of useless on this show because she doesn't know anything about singing, dancing, comedy, magic, etc.

 

Howie is too busy being amused with himself to be any good at this job.

 

So while I dislike Howard on a personal level, I think he and Mel are the strongest judges. If they got rid of Howie and Heidi and replaced them with one insightful judge, I think the panel would be pretty tight. Preferably someone with dance experience. I think a lot of dance acts get by because none of  the judges know the difference between good and bad dancing. It would be nice to have someone be able to notice things like unpointed feet, cheating on steps, etc.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

She's kind of useless on this show because she doesn't know anything about singing, dancing, comedy, magic, etc.

I don't see anything wrong with a judge providing the POV of an uninformed viewer. For some types of acts they pretty much all are. I just wish they wouldn't pretend they know what they'd doing when it's obvious to more informed viewers they don't.

[helenamonster]

You're right, LoneHaranguer. I wouldn't mind if they started of some off their comments with "I don't know anything about [magic, opera, whatever], but I thought..." I can't think of a specific example, but sometimes it does come off as them acting like they know what they're talking about in a field with which they have no expertise.

[DrLar]

Heidi looked awful on the Emmy's, I guess it's the dress maker or just her?

[PepperMonkey]

WOW OH WOW OH WOW, they are really shilling for Mara Justine. I must be insane; I was not impressed at all for her performance. Must sound 1000 times better in the Hall?

[PepperMonkey]

Because it cannot be said enough:

Howie is not funny.

[UsernameGoesHere]

Because it cannot be said enough:

Howie is not funny.

 

The filler we get of him during the results each week is really painful. I watched 30 seconds of Howie disguised as an usher and then muted it.

Edited August 28, 2014 by UsernameGoesHere

[Lonesome Rhodes]

TPTB knew they couldn't allow Piers to appear LIVE nor in person.  They edited the stew out of the segment and it still reeked.  That man is most foul, indeed.

[PepperMonkey]

Piers is a self-admitted ass, but at least he recognizes it.

I would take 3 Piers and a MelB over Howie Mandel all day long.

[Miss Scarlet]

I never watched the show when Piers Morgan was on, but from what I've seen of him in other things, his criticisms are usually on-point. I thought it was funny that they had him call in for the question period.

 

I've never liked Heidi's judging on this show, but I do think she's smart. She seems like a good business woman (either that or she has really great agents/advisers) and I'm impressed with how articulate she is given that English isn't her first language. So I don't know why she can't give better critiques. Maybe she is just too afraid to say what she really thinks or there's some producer influence going on that prevents from doing so. I agreed with her last season that Taylor Williams wasn't funny, but her comments to the comedian this week were off-point. His jokes were lame and not funny, but I don't think they were offensive.

 

Sometimes I do wonder if her, Howie or Mel B. belong on the panel. Are any of them really qualified to judge talent? Has Mel B. done anything besides the Spice Girls? Is she considered a good singer/dancer? Although Howard's expertise in radio doesn't really help him in judging the acts (except for generally knowing what people will find entertaining) at least he gives good feedback and I think he's on-point most of the time.

[Pazz]

 

Sometimes I do wonder if her, Howie or Mel B. belong on the panel. Are any of them really qualified to judge talent? Has Mel B. done anything besides the Spice Girls?

 

Of the four judges, I put Mel B. closest to being the "dance act" specialist because of her runner-up status on Dancing with the Stars. She never had salsa in her season (in favor of Mambo) so I'm not sure how much I believe her critiques on Baila Conmigo or John and Andrew, but she was okay with D'Angelo & Amanda last season. Of course I have to believe she can understand pitchy musicians post-Spice Girls, but she also was part of a manufactured group and should be able to spot chemistry or X-factor (since she judges the UK Version).

 

As for Heidi, I think with her years with models  and designers (either with Project Runway or Germany's Next Top Model), she should be able to understand presentation or how one should be able to fill the Radio City Music Hall stage. As questionable as Kelli Glover was vocally, Heidi should be able to say that the staging was poor. Possibly even her walking was weak.

 

As much as I hate Howie, I think that the eccentric acts wouldn't have a chance to show their skills without a "Howie-type" on the panel. Britain has David Walliams.

 

Thinking more about it, do the judge's personalities/specialties affect their choices of Wild Cards or is it producer manipulation? I put the two most recent seasons here since prior to that, there was a Wild Card show.

 

Howie: Red Panda*, Mike Super

Howard: Leon Etienne & Romy Low, Wendy Liebman

Mel: Tone the Chiefrocca, Bad Boys of Ballet

Heidi: Duo Resonance , Flight Crew Jump Rope

 

*Red Panda was a last minute replacement. I'm not sure if Howie would have been allowed to pick a Vegas cut or a family emergency withdrawal like Red Panda was.