After letting a
"raw" and "genuine" former chicken catcher win last season,
America's Got Talent will try to outdo itself again this year with classical singers, ventriloquists and everything in between. Sadly, the Hoff
will not be around to oversee the proceedings.
Piers Morgan promises that this season's crop of talent is the "best yet" -- but they kind of make that promise every season, so we shouldn't really get our hopes up just yet. He also promises variety, which last year meant Junkyard percussionists Recycled Percussion, sister cloggers Fab Five and Grandma Lee.
"I know these things get hyped, but we've already sent home several acts that would have made the finals in past years," he tells
USA Today. "There's more talent and more variety, and the talent is so good."
The final two last year -- Kevin Skinner and Barbara Padilla -- are singers both, and the Brit says this season's singers are particularly promising, buoyed in part by the Susan Boyle phenomenon that has "empowered people who wouldn't have normally auditioned."
For host Nick Cannon, he says the acts have been "more dangerous" this year, with "tons of bleeding" and even more "Oh my Lord moments."
"Someone put a drill down their throat. Someone was chopping wood. People who do things and have the audacity to think this is worth $1 million," he says.
Debuting host Howie Mendel shares, "There was a girl chewing on a light bulb, her smile darkened by blood. It didn't look real at first. I thought this must be an act. But then she was on her way to the hospital."
Another act to
watch out for is a man who lights firecrackers and puts them inside his pants.
America's Got Talent season 5 kicks off tonight on NBC.
(Image courtesy of NBC)