Auditions took place during Spring 2007, with the producer auditions conducted within the cities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas. Following the previous season, prior to filming taking place, production staff had to locate replacements amongst the stars that fronted the program - Regis Philbin decided not to return for undisclosed reasons, leading to Jerry Springer taking over as host of "America's Got Talent"; while Sharon Osbourne was brought in to replace Brandy Norwood, after she was forced to drop out due to a difficult legal matter she was dealing with.