Piers finds other ways to feed his ego. Howard Stern’s ego is already out of proportion, but he has other motivations, mostly making himself continue to be exposed to new people not interested in him. When I found out Howard Stern was going to be on the show now, it was just a red flag for me to avoid this show even further than I already have.
I doubt there will be any skill toy folks this time around. The writing is on the wall for this show anyways. People are understanding “what they want” for it. It’s keeping some people away, but at the same time, it makes room for others who clearly shouldn’t be there either.
What I would prefer to see is that AGT does a season run SPECIFICALLY to assemble a variety show type showcase that will run for 75-90 minutes and give you at least 12 acts. This would be an excellent idea. You can have categories and then grant winners in each category. You want a singer? Got it. Band? Yes. Dance Troup? Yup. Magician? Sure, why not. Comedian? That’s 15-20 minutes right there you could burn. Skill toy category? Sure, however, that’s 5 minutes max and requires some personality(usually not a problem) and speaking to the audience, ala YoYoMan Tommy Smothers style in general. Bring in an animal act too. Have an acrobatic performance. You know what? It would sell. The show would sell. Advertisers would BUY. Audiences would line up for tickets, provided they were $35 or less. Doesn’t guarantee a yoyo’er would win, but puts skill toys into the spotlight. And they could always double up in a few areas, or have acts do a second performance.
