The former Spice Girl Mel B and the supermodel Heidi Klum will join Howie Mandel and Howard Stern when the eighth season of <em>America's Got Talent</em> begins tonight. <span class="s4">The roots of this NBC variety competition, which has been emulated all over the world including a popular Arab version, reach back to the medium’s infancy. It was on June 20, 1948 when <em>The Ed Sullivan Show</em> began its 24 seasons of jugglers, opera singers, comedians, animal acts, Elvis Presley and The Beatles. But after <em>The Gong Show</em> in the 1970s and 1980s, and <em>Star Search</em>, which folded in 1995, talent competitions also seemed kaput.</span> Simon Cowell has played a big part in resurrecting both genres. He was, of course, the tart-tongued judge when <em>American Idol</em> began its epoch-changing run on Fox in 2002. With his Syco Entertainment, he now serves as a creator, producer and judge on Fox'<em>s The X Factor</em> which, come autumn, starts its third season. Off-camera, Cowell is the driving force of <em>America's Got Talent</em>. The 58-year-old is expectedly bullish about the season ahead. “The new panel has jelled very well. There’s really good chemistry with the judges and the host [Nick Cannon],” he said. Of course, <em>AGT</em> is hardly Cowell's only project, even in the US. This autumn <em>The X Factor</em> returns on Fox after two seasons of conspicuously falling short of what the audience was led to expect. <span class="s3">The talent-show derby has been dominated in recent months by the hearty performance of NBC’s<em> The Voice</em> and the ratings erosion of <em>American Idol</em>, whose judging panel Cowell exited three years ago.</span> "Not my problem anymore," he chuckled when asked to diagnose what is plaguing <em>Idol</em>. “It’s so much in my past now,” he said. “I deliberately this year didn’t watch a single second of the show.” Instead, Cowell focuses on “relevancy”, something he achieves by listening more than talking. “I listen to people who’ve had more experience than me. And I listen to 16- and 17-year-olds. I’m not threatened by someone who knows more than me. I just want them to tell me.” <span class="s5"><strong>• <em>America’s Got Talent</em> starts tonight at MBC 4 at 9pm</strong></span> <span class="s5"><strong><a href="mailto:artlisfe@thenational.ae">artlisfe@thenational.ae</a></strong></span> Follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thenationalArtsandLife">Facebook</a> for discussions, entertainment, reviews, wellness and news. Follow us