Sharon Osbourne: ‘America’s Got Talent’ Goes ‘Deeper’ Than ‘X Factor’

Howie Mandel, Piers Morgan and the gang tout the diversity of acts coming to their shows next season

Sharon Osbourne isn’t worried about Simon Cowell’s impending American version of “The X Factor” stealing thunder from her current gig, “America’s Got Talent.”

Osbourne and her “Talent” cohorts — co-judges Piers Morgan, Howie Mandel and host Nick Cannon — assembled at NBC Universal’s Summer Press Day 2011 in Pasadena on Friday to promote the upcoming season of the series, which is currently filming auditions. And as far as Osbourne sees it, “Talent” has “X Factor” — which Osbourne judged for in its British incarnation — beat for the simple fact that “Talent” offers more.

Also read: "'America's Got Talent' Gets it Right, Crowns Jackie Evancho Runner-Up"

“[X-Factor is] just singing, whereas we do everything," Osbourne said. "Other shows are just singing, or just dancing. We go deeper.”

Diversity of talent was the prevailing theme of the "AGT" panel, with Mandel noting that, of the auditions that have impressed him most so far in this round, “It wasn’t singing and dancing; it was stuff that I’ve never seen before. I don’t even have a name for it. One guy thought his talent was giving haircuts. It was entertaining for a couple of minutes — he got X’ed, he’s not going to Vegas, but still…”

According to Morgan, this season promises to yield a bumper crop of talent. Having just returned from auditions in Atlanta the previous evening, Morgan marveled, “We had better talent in Atlanta in three days than we’ve had in some entire seasons. The talent level has been incredible. People won’t believe what they’re seeing.”

Occasionally, Mandel noted, the talent may have been too diverse. Without offering specifics – and noting that he doesn’t know if the particular moments will make it onto the broadcast – Mandel noted, ““It’s been the most dangerous season; we’ve had some thrills, we’ve had some spills…I almost saw someone get killed on stage.”

Speaking of hazardous endeavors, Osbourne noted that, despite the profusion of talent that she and her colleagues have seen so far this audition round, she’s not even remotely tempted to get back into the talent-management game to represent any of the budding stars she’s encountered.

“If Jesus Christ came back and wanted to sing, I wouldn’t manage him," Osbourne said. "Management is the worst part of this industry, because if they make it it’s because of the artist, and if they don’t, it’s the manager’s fault.”
 

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