Howard Stern Becomes Judge on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Howard Stern has signed a deal to join the judging panel of NBC’s America’s Got Talent in 2012. “I’m going to be Piers [Morgan] on steroids,” Stern said in the announcement, referring to former lead judge Piers Morgan. “I’m going to go there as a serious judge.”
Stern announced the gig on his Sirius satellite radio show this morning, where his longtime manager, Don Buchwald, presented the host with the official contracts from NBC. Stern had been a fan of America’s Got Talent for some time, frequently talking about the show on the air and often musing that he would be a better judge than the stars on the panel, who include his friends Howie Mandel and Sharon Osbourne.
“This nonsense of Howie and Sharon putting through less than talented people has got to stop,” Stern told his audience. “Under my administration, there will be no Frank Sinatra impersonators winning for the year. If people think I’m the crazy man, I am not. I am the voice of reason.” He later vowed that “goofy acts are not going through.”
Stern promised his listeners that the new gig will not interfere with his regular duties on his Sirius radio show. The production of the series will move to New York to accommodate Stern, who rarely travels and is tied to his radio studio in Manhattan.
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