Agree. Way back in season 1 I warmed to Piers, he was tough but gave genuine critiques. He was brutally honest about what he thought was nonsense, but otherwise treated all acts with the same respect as any professional judging auditions. He gave critical commentary when he could.

AGT needs that balance. For all the news recently about Howard Stern being in negotiations to replace Piers, I read somewhere that Simon Cowell would never have considered Stern. NBC does take it seriously, though, so it could happen. Some other background stuff, though, says Stern considers AGT a "karaoke show" and is using this to renegotiate his satellite radio contract.

We'll see.

Nothing against Stern, really, but I don't think he would bring any balance to the show, he would tip it to the sideshow acts that America really doesn't want to see on TV. The combination of Howie and Howard would just be stupid.