Heidi Klum and Mel B on America's Got Talent Season 8: "You Have to Be in It to Win It"

Heidi Klum and Mel B said it plainly: "There are so many talented people out there that we never see. It's a platform for them to show how good they are — and …" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

On July 30, 2013, NBC hosted a press conference call with new America's Got Talent judges Heidi Klum and Mel B. ahead of the Season 8 live shows, airing Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9pm Eastern on NBC. Premier Guide Miami's Daedrian McNaughton was the first journalist on the call and asked Heidi two questions. Below are the highlights from the full conversation.

Premier Guide Miami Opens the Call — Heidi's Style Secrets:

Every week you look fabulous on the show. Can you share a little bit about how you manage to pull off looking so good so effortlessly?

Thank you very much for the compliment. I always try to change up my look. I have a fantastic stylist — her name is Miriam Malekfour — and I am definitely someone who plans ahead. I plan my outfits and I do long days of fittings where she comes to my house and brings various different outfits and we try them on. She makes them fit perfectly, and once I have the outfit, I work with my hair and makeup team and we decide if the hair is up or down. It's really about having a great team. They hook me up. They make it all work for me, because I surely do not walk in the door looking like this when I come in the morning.

As a newbie to the group, what did you expect, and can you describe how you felt the first time you came into the group?

It was better than expected. Last year I only watched and judged from my couch at home, but this year being there for the first time — you really see how grueling it is for the talent. There are thousands of people that line up outside and wait all day. Sometimes at the end of the day we have to tell them, sorry, we can see you tomorrow, and then they have to come again the next day and wait in line. And at the end, there's only a certain amount of talent that actually gets viewed by the audience at home. We saw sometimes up to 40 or 45 acts in one day, and most of them will get cut. In the beginning, I loved everybody. I'm like, that's kind of great, and that was great too. Then later, the more you see, you realize who is actually really, really good. I kind of got harder as the weeks went on.

On the Anna Christine vs. American Hit Men dilemma:

That was a tough one. When we go into commercial break, we do talk about it, of course. I would have changed the rules in that very moment — instead of moving four forward, I would have moved five forward, because I actually did love American Hit Men also. They deserved to be on America's Got Talent. But when they say you can only choose one, I just fell more in love with Anna Christine. She is such a soulful singer for 11 years old. In the end, America got to vote, and they also chose Anna Christine.

Mel B. on Howard Stern's digs at the Spice Girls:

It's not a case of getting anyone back. I'm just going to make sure that my judging is on point and I'm sitting pretty. That's my revenge tactic.

On Jonathan Ellens and supporting the gay community:

There's another contestant I fell in love with — his name is Jonathan Ellens. He has a very sad story. He was telling us about not being welcome at his parents' home anymore because he is gay, and they couldn't deal with it. They basically kicked him out. And I remember when I met him for the first time and he opened his mouth and sang, I was so happy for him that he has this talent, and hopefully a new career might start for him here on America's Got Talent.

On whether comedy acts can win the whole thing:

They just have to make us laugh. They stand out if they make us laugh. Sometimes you sit there at Radio City Music Hall and the people are laughing and think it's hysterical, and I try, and I just can't laugh. What is funny to you is not necessarily funny to me. You just have to be true to what you think is funny and then you judge.

Entertainment is entertainment, no matter what it is. It doesn't matter what the act is, as long as it keeps my attention. It can be as diverse as watching a ballet dancer or watching somebody with a bunch of TVs on stage making mad, crazy patterns. Is it entertaining? That is my number one thing. — Mel B.

On the act that has shown the most growth — Collins Key:

Collins Key, who made it into the next round. He started with smaller magic tricks — he made a dollar disappear and then all of a sudden it was in a closed chips bag that I had in my hand, and clearly he did not open it while I was holding onto it. The dollar bill we had checked the number on was then in my bag. Then he did this crazy trick on Tuesday where we each gave a word — I had a celebrity name, Mel had a city, Howard had a body part — and he had it all on a piece of paper. It was beyond crazy. He just grew from act to act.

On what the show gives contestants that they couldn't get anywhere else:

They get exposure to 15 million people each week, and they get to experience performing in front of 6,000 people live. They get complete exposure and an experience of what it actually takes to perform live and deliver. — Mel B.

There are so many talented people out there in the world that we never see and know about. Someone in your office that all of a sudden has these hidden talents and is standing in line for America's Got Talent. It's a platform for them to show how good they are. You just never know. Maybe one of them will win that million dollars and go to Vegas. You just have to be in it to win it.

On what it takes to sustain a career after the show:

At the end of the day it's always up to you to continue or not. When I do Top Model, I tell the girls all the time — pack your bags and go to Paris, go to New York, and really be in a place where you have to be in order to be a model. You can't win Germany's Next Top Model and go back to your small town, sit by the phone, and think something's going to happen. Once you win, you have to keep working. The people who work and put their face out there and attend events and hustle — someone like Christian Siriano, who sends me clothes so I wear them — they get seen. It's up to you at the end of the day. We can only push someone forward, but ultimately it's up to them to keep it going.

For more upcoming events across South Florida, visit the Premier Guide Miami Events Calendar .