Prepare for the Olympics of Talent. That’s how Howie Mandel is describing NBC’s America’s Got Talent: The Champions.
The new series takes contestants—winners, runners-up, finalists, etc.—from around the world and pits them against each other in a global showdown. It’s the likes of Susan Boyle, Darci Lynne Farmer, Prince Poppycock, Light Balance and Jackie Evancho all going head-to-head. Meet all the contestants here.
“It was something we wanted to do for years,” Simon Cowell, judge and executive producer, told E! News and said everything clicked months ago when production in the United States came to him with a plan to bring the best of the best from around the world together for a competition.
“I love the idea that people who won certain seasons are now taking on winners from other seasons and winners from around the world, so yeah, I’m really looking forward to it,” Cowell told us.
Joining Cowell at the judge table is Heidi Klum, Mel B and Mandel. Klum said she was excited to see Boyle.
“I was secretly so excited to meet Susan Boyle…She became so famous from that and rightfully so. Here you have a woman who has never been in the entertainment world at all, steps onto the stage and belts out this amazing song,” Klum told us.
For AGT: The Champions, Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews will serve as host. Cowell said he loved that Crews is as enthusiastic as the one of the contestants.
“It reminds me of when I first did this job. He just loves it,” Cowell said. “He loves the show, loves the contestants. He’s so easy to get along with. I mean, literally within about 30 seconds I felt I’d known him for years, I mean it was that comfortable.”
It’s a job Crews has been preparing for since high school. “I actually hosted my high school talent show,” Crews said. “My mother wouldn’t let me perform. She was like, ‘Uh-uh, you ain’t going to be up there shaking your booty.'”
See what Crews had to say about hosting the big competition in the video above.
America’s Got Talent: The Champions premieres Monday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)