'America's Got Talent': Timothy Michael Poe's military claims called into question

An America’s Got Talent singer whose Afghanistan War injury claims have been called into question wouldn’t face vetting by producers unless he made it into the final rounds, according to a person familiar with the production. Timothy Michael Poe was among about 4,000 people who vied for a spot on the NBC series, which doesn’t scrutinize contestants until they reach the ranks of the top 48, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

NBC relies on the show’s producers, FremantleMedia North America and Syco Television, to conduct background checks on contestants when the field is narrowed, the person said, which is typical among TV reality series. NBC and the show’s producers have declined all comment on the Poe matter.

It’s unknown whether Poe, a guitar-strumming country singer, is among the top 48 picked in a Las Vegas audition round in April or if he’s out of the competition. The person would not reveal Poe’s fate on the show, nor would NBC or the show’s producers.

Poe, who was seen on a pre-taped episode Monday of America’s Got Talent, was among about 100 acts that the show’s judges sent on to the Las Vegas round. The 48 who made that cut will start competing in live telecasts beginning July 2.

GET MORE EW: Subscribe to the magazine for only 33¢ an issue!

Whatever the Las Vegas outcome was for Poe, it wasn’t affected by questions over his war record that arose this week. The refusal by NBC and others to say whether he’s still a contender allows the drama surrounding him to be milked for a while longer — a potential boon for the top-ranked network series that drew 11.5 million viewers last week.

On Monday’s show, Poe told judges Howie Mandel, Howard Stern and Sharon Osbourne that he spent 14 years in the military and suffered a broken back and brain injury when he was hit by a grenade in Afghanistan in 2009. “I had volunteered for a team to go out and clear buildings and help out with the wounded,” Poe said during a taped interview on the show. “There was a guy who comes up with a rocket-propelled grenade. I saw it coming down, and by the time I turned and went to jump on top of my guys, I yelled ‘grenade’ and the blast had hit me.”

Poe told the judges that he was from San Antonio, Texas. The TV show listed his age as 35.

According to military records, Poe served with the Minnesota Army National Guard from December 2002 through May 2011, working as a supply specialist. Records show he was deployed in Kosovo from Oct. 10, 2007 to July 15, 2008, and then served in Afghanistan for about a month in 2009. “Sgt. Poe’s official military records do not indicate that he was injured by a grenade in combat while serving in Afghanistan in 2009, as he reports,” Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, a spokesman for the Minnesota National Guard, said in a statement. “We looked very closely at his record,” Olson said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “We did not find something to substantiate what he said.”

Olson’s statement Wednesday also said the Minnesota National Guard had no record of Poe being shot while in Iraq, as a Dallas TV station reported last month in a story that featured Poe. Efforts to arrange an interview with Poe on Wednesday were not successful.

'America's Got Talent' recap: San Francisco auditions weird and wonderful

One night after Howard Stern made his splashy debut, "America's Got Talent" arrived in San Francisco and you can probably guess what that means: Yes, host Nick Cannon began the show standing high atop one of the towers on the Golden Gate Bridge.

An impressive shot, to be sure, but all I kept thinking was: "Mariah Carey is going to freak when she sees this!"

Of course, whenever a reality show visits our lovely corner of the world, you get the usual sights, sounds and stereotypes: There's a naked man and hippies. Lyrics about wearing "flowers in your hair." Hills and little cable cars climbing halfway to the stars.

And kooks, of course. Lots of 'em: A dude in a bird suit riding a tricycle. People with tin pots on their heads. A guy who made music with a broom and dust pan. An 80-year-old rapper named Granny G who lectures boys about keeping it in their pants. ...

"Only in San Francisco," was a war cry heard throughout the night.

But, hey, we've got talent here, too. And the Bay was ready to represent. Among the acts that stood out:

-- The CMYK performance artists: They dance! They prance! They fling paint around! And they make a portrait (of Beethoven) in the process. (Note: How big is Stern's ego? Early on, he thought they were painting him).

-- The Lisa Clark Dancers: A group of youths, age 14-18, and dressed like mimes, display some precise choreography and bust some funny moves. Stern and Sharon Osbourne send themthrough to Vegas, but Howie Mandel is the lone dissenter.

-- Dave Burleigh: A comedian/impressionist who actually doesn't make me wince. A good sign. He does Nicolas Cage and a pretty good Charlie Sheen. Even Bruce Willis and Vince Vaughn. The judges approve, though Stern advises him to bring a little more edge to the act.

-- Luis Meneghin: A 54-year-old opera singer, who lost his dad last year. Touching story, fine talent. Stern admits that he's usually "bored to tears" by opera, but even he's impressed.

-- Tim Hockenberry: A 49-year-old recovering alcoholic, who sings "You Are So Beautiful" and sounds like Louis Armstrong. He could be a top contender if he can control his nerves. Says Stern, "It was moving. You're different and I love you."

-- Alonzo "Turf" Jones: The last act of the night and possibly the best. He calls himself an "extreme contortionist dancer" -- a human slinky -- and he had been homeless for two years, performing in the streets for money.

He immediately draws gasps from the crowd as he proves to be more flexible than Gumby. Some of the moves are graceful, some are odd and very scary (You think a joint or ligament might go "pop" at any moment).

When it's all over, the crowd is on its feet and he's crying.

"This is magic... This is a moment," Mandel exclaims. "You are a star, and your life is about to change."

Vegas, get ready for a Turf war.

'America's Got Talent' recap: Season 7 premiere

By Olivia Ignacio

6:26 a.m. EDT, May 15, 2012

The seventh season of NBC's proclaimed "biggest talent show on earth" began with some pretty impressive but puzzling shots of Nick Cannon yelling atop a desert mesa, then watching a random man get shot out of a cannon. There's an opportunity for a pun, but we won't go there.

Then cue the news and talk show clips announcing Howard Sternas the new judge, and some comments from fellow judges Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandell (Howard and Howie … this could get confusing) about how Stern is the best person to fill David Hasselhoff's empty judge's chair. It's clear the producers are making this season -- or at least this episode -- all about Stern.

Upon taking his new judge's chair, Howard makes a wisecrack about how the NBC execs that hired must be out of their minds. "They should be fired immediately," he said. Then the auditions begin.

L.A. Auditions

The long line of talents (and schlubs) begins in L.A. with a magician named Jackson. Howard is excited because apparently, he is a "huge fan of magic." Right off the bat, Jackson calls Nick Cannon onstage and asks for his wedding ring. "It doesn't come off," Cannon says. Guess Mariah wouldn't be too pleased if her hubby's ring disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Jackson asks Howie for his ring instead. Howie gives it to him. Jackson does some wacky hand movements and claims he made the ring disappear, but we all know it's just in his other hand. Howard hits his buzzer and even walks over to Howie's buzzer to hit that one too.

Jackson is clearly a total failure -- wait! He just stepped behind a poster with a picture of himself on it. Seconds later, he emerges wearing a stripper-policeman getup. He rips off the uniform save for a tiny pair of gold shorts, and lo and behold, Howie's ring is on Jackson's nipple. Anyone who knows anything about the former"Deal or No Deal" host knows that he does not want that ring back.

The judges and audience are baffled by Jackson's performance in the worst sense. "Are you a stripper or magician?" they ask. "Stripper-magician," says Jackson. The judges give Jackson three no's, of course, and Howard makes his first small penis joke on the show.

Up next is Miss Less, "The Bird Lady," who claims that she feeds her multiple birds by mouth -- you read that right -- and calls them her children and grandchildren. At this point, I'm sure she's going to do some bird-kissing or melodic cooing as her act, but she actually sings a decent song with no help from her children. The judges like her sweet voice, but can't get past all the birds on her shoulders. It's three no's.

Next we're introduced to 42-year-old William Close, who we see setting up a gigantic harp contraption pre-show. The harp's several strings span the entire width of the auditorium, from one balcony to another. Close puts on some gloves, sets his hands on the strings and wow. Something strange and beautiful is happening and all I know is that I don't want it to stop. This guy is freaking amazing. He gets the first standing ovation this season and is the first to move on to the next round in Las Vegas.

Up next is Elements Dance Crew, a group of girls who modernize clog dances. Sound silly? Think again. The crowd goes wild for them; by the end of Elements' ridiculously cool and entertaining dance, the audience is chanting the group's name. Three yeses, all the way.

More L.A. performers moving on to Las Vegas: An adorable father-daughter duo, some BMX stunts people, a young aerial silk gymnast, a freestyle rapper who looks more like an IT Consultant, a group of gymnasts and a hip hop dance crew.

St. Louis auditions

Ben Black, a crossbowman who looks like he's wearing some of Katniss Everdeen's training clothes from "The Hunger Games," kicks off the St. Louis auditions with some sharp shooting. He even manages to shoot a single sheet of newspaper -- the thin way. That's right. Imagine a sheet of newspaper turned 90 degrees away from you so that you only have about one millimeter's worth of surface area to shoot. Howard can't say enough nice things about Black and his sexy assistant. Three yeses for Mr. Katniss.

Next, Nick Cannon tells the audience not to be alarmed because they're going to kill off all the lights in auditorium. The next thing I know, neon-outlined dinosaurs are roaming and flying around the stage and it's all kinds of awesome. The performance prompts Howard to call America the greatest country on earth. The light performance group moves on, of course.

In a truly horrific display, a stay-at-home dad dressed as a pirate sticks some needles in his face. I don't know what else happened because I just had to look away. "I actually want to thank you because you remind about why I don't like people," Howard says to the pirate dad.

Next on the line-up, a mediocre dancer named Reggie gets three no's for dancing to one of Nick Cannon's songs. Nick is appalled, so he joins Reggie onstage and the audience gets a free little Nick Cannon concert, complete with singing and dancing. Lucky crowd.

More St. Louis performers going to Vegas: A man who puts a venomous scorpion into his mouth, a ventriloquist who uses his actual dog instead of a puppet, and two more dance crews.

Biggest tearjerker moments of the show: After their performance, several members of Loyalty Dance Crew, which was formed from a band of misfits, broke down when the judges put them through. Also, father-daughter street musicians Maurice and Shanice Hayes made Nick, Sharon and several audience members tear up with their rendition of "You've Got a Friend."

Most shocking moment: A man named Simply Sergio sang a creepy, hip-gyrating version of "The Girl from Ipanema." He got rejected by Howard and Sharon immediately ("That was dreadful, of course," said Howard), but Howie wanted to see more. So Sergio got to sing "God Bless America" and … wow. What a transformation. Simply Sergio simply has pipes. After crying and saying how much he loves America, the judges put him through.

'America's Got Talent': Fans embrace Howard Stern debut

Howard Stern was tough on some of the contestants on Monday's season premiere of "America's Got Talent." And the viewers seemed to crave it.

"I forgot how much I love Howard Stern," tweeted @OptiMISS_Prime.

"Never was a fan of Howard Stern but gotta say I'm loving him on the show," added @ShammyCW, expressing a point of view widely shared on Twitter.

Stern, the Sirius XM shock jock famed for his naughty ways, replaced Piers Morgan as the third judge on the show, which has for years been among summer's top-rated. The other judges are Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel.

Before the premiere, speculation had centered on whether Stern's R-rated sensibility - porn stars and flatulence are among his favorite obsessions - would fit with a prime time broadcast talent show. Based on the initial reaction, viewers seem to think so.

On Monday's show, Stern was sometimes surprisingly warm, at one point climbing onstage to dance with Simply Sergio, a singer whose wobbly audition was redeemed by an impromptu version of "God Bless America." But he was also at times brutal. When one unfortunate contestant reported this his parents had passed away, Stern cracked: "Did they die of embarrassment?"

Not everyone is offering the thumbs-up, of course.

"Reading a pile of positive laudatory reviews of Howard Stern on America's Got Talent tonight," tweeted @mediageek. "Did we see the same show?"

But that was a minority opinion. Many viewers seemed to believe that NBC had succeeded in reinvigorating the show.

"Adding Howard Stern to #AGT seems to have been the best thing @NBC has done this year," tweeted @TheJustinColman.

What did you think of Stern on "AGT"?