America's Got Talent producer Simon Cowell said Monday that he decided to hire Howard Stern to replace Piers Morgan because the show had become "too predictable." In an interview with today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times , Cowell said that the show needed "a shakeup." Cowell will join Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel on the judging panel. In hindsight, he said, it was a mistake to have had two British judges (Morgan and Osbourne) and one American (Mandel) on the judging panel. "I want to bring on a fourth judge as well, definitely an American," he added. Cowell expressed confidence that Stern will obey the rules of broadcast television when he makes his debut on the show. "Will he be controversial? Yes, because he's Howard Stern. ... I love the fact that he's survived all these decades. ... He really understands what Americans like and he's not afraid."

20/12/2011