Brandy Out, Sharon Osbourne Gets Talent
It's official: Brandy has been eliminated from America's Got Talent.
NBC announced Thursday that Sharon Osbourne will join David Hasselhoff and British TV personality Piers Morgan on the judging panel for the next season of the Simon Cowell-produced competition series.
"Sharon Osbourne is show business personified and she has seen and done it all," Craig Plestis, executive VP of alternative programming, development and specials, said.
"She will make an excellent fit with David and Piers, who we're delighted to have back for another great season."
Although America's Got Talent was a successful summer show last year, averaging 11 million viewers, per Nielsen Media Research, there has been plenty of speculation over whether Brandy Norwood would return ever since it was reported that the singer-actress caused a fatal chain-reaction collision on a Los Angeles freeway in December.
While the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office is still in the process of determining whether to file criminal charges against Brandy, the former Moesha star has been named in two multimillion-dollar wrongful death suits. One $50 million complaint has been brought by the parents of the woman who died and the other filed on behalf of the victim's two sons, who were riding in the car at the time. (California law does not permit parents who are not financially dependent on the departed to file wrongful death claims, so the first case is legally iffy.)
The California Highway Patrol did find Brandy to be at fault and recommended in February that the city attorney charge her with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, but investigators ruled out alcohol- or drug-related impairment and determined that she wasn't on a cell phone or otherwise distracted at the time of the crash.
While no official connection has been made between Brandy's latest career change and her off-camera troubles, the 28-year-old performer admits that she's got bigger things on her mind than which flame-throwing juggler should advance to the next round.
"Brandy has enjoyed her association with the program," a rep said in a statement released by NBC. "However, she felt she couldn't give the new season the attention and commitment it deserved."
Meanwhile, Osbourne won't be the only new face on Talent this summer. The network has also tapped Jerry Springer to replace Regis Philbin as host after the 75-year-old a.m. talk show veteran, who underwent triple bypass surgery last month, decided the rigorous weekly commute from New York to Los Angeles would be a bit much for him.
"We're very excited about our new ensemble of judges and host this season," FremantleMedia North America CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz said. "I'm certain this extraordinary and dynamic group will prove most entertaining to our growing audience."
And with the addition of Osbourne, Talent might have to start observing teatime. Even if the MTV reality show matriarch doesn't put an entirely different spin on the show, she'll at least provide for even more British-accented constructive criticism. Which for some reason always sounds groovier than the American kind.
The new season of America's Got Talent premieres May 29 at 9 p.m. on NBC.
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