On the Set: America's Got Talent Judges Talk Twerking, Boot Camp Tweaks and the Golden Buzzer
It's the first day of America's Got Talent auditions in Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, and the circus has come to town. An 8-year-old boy throws knives at and around his father. A drum-dance hybrid group named Street Beat rhythmically slams dozens of garbage cans. But it's a soccer-playing pig named Mudslinger that makes the crowd go hog wild, especially when judge Heidi Klum jumps on stage for a kiss. "The pig wants you to bend over — and so does every pig in the audience," quips fellow panelist Howie Mandel before Klum plants a wet one on the swine.
"Isn't it great?" marvels Howard Stern as he gathers with Klum, Mandel and judge Mel B backstage during a break. "We actually appreciate so many different kinds of talent. There's no category, even the kook category, that's given short shrift." And even though the NBC reality competition is entering its ninth season, the judges all agree the talent has never been stronger.