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Spice Girl Melanie Brown to replace Sharon Osbourne on NBC's 'America's Got Talent'

By April MacIntyre Feb 21, 2013, 20:57 GMT

Stephen Belafonte and Melanie Brown - 14th Annual DesignCare benefiting The HollyRod Foundation - Arrivals - Private Estate - Malibu, CA, USA © Koi Sojer / PR Photos

"Spice Girl" Melanie Brown is the new blood on NBC's "America's Got Talent."

Mel B, also known as "Scary Spice" during her run with the 1990s all-girl supergroup  will occupy the chair vacated by Sharon Osbourne who had an alleged contentious split with NBC over her son Jack Osbourne's mysterious cut from a reality series, "Stars Earn Stripes."

Brown will join returning judges Howie Mandel and Howard Stern for the eighth season of the talent show that is scheduled to return to screens this summer.

“To know her is to know a very frank, strong, enduring entertainer. Someone who has a very strong point of view,” Paul Telegdy, NBC president of alternative programming, told EW.

“We needed somebody who was qualified for the job. She’s an amazing singer, dancer and a huge personality. The contestants will get a lot of constructive feedback from her and I can’t wait to see her chemistry with Howard and Howie.”

Brown, 37, appeared as a contestant on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" in 2007, partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The pair took second place.

The Spice Girls reunited briefly in 2012 to perform during the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games.