America's Got Talent

America's Got Talent aired a two-and-a-hour episode last night, though a solid chunk of that was wasted by an extended introduction by Nick Cannon.

To New York. Even though the show was airing from New Jersey. Darn the New York Football Giants for messing everything up!

Now, on to the review...

The Scott Brothers Perform on America's Got Talent

Distinguished Men of Brass - I didn't understand the two sides with "fans" while they performed "Crazy in Love." There were way too many colors, too many swoops, and the fact that they were wearing black, that I couldn't appreciate their performance. I like them, but the producers didn't do them any justice at all cutting away to such far shots.
Grade: B

Edon - There was something nice seeing Edon go from an audition with a keyboard to grand piano with fog all around him. He attempted "Titanium" but he was nervous in the verse where he warbled through the sections. I liked the fact the arrangement went to somewhere intense. Edon generally hit the right notes; I think that he needed to pick a song that had more lyrics so it wouldn't have been as redundant.
Grade: B+

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The judges have chosen from the cream of the crop. Now, with only 20 spots left for the stand-bys to battle for the live shows, it's make or break time on AGT.

While the decisions were generally obvious, a handful of head-turners succeeded.

Without ice blue contact-wearing Andrew, we instead we left to focus on our struggling bone-breaker Turf. At least Turf didn't choke under the pressure.

Who else made it through? Let's find out in THG's America's Got Talent recap!

Magic - Hawley Magic had the dramatic floating act with the twist that the man was also flying, but it was an elevator act. Please set it to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for full cheese factor. Giani with cold sores spelled Milan as "Bilan."

It seemed a bit too instantaneous than predictive. Jarett & Raja used the phrase "diamond in the desert" and I was hoping they'd make one Aladdin reference. Their act was a disappearing act with a small orchestra popping up.

It showed that they had the ability to widen their act for Vegas stage.

Advanced: Jarett & Raja, Hawley Magic

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Night one in Las Vegas was clearly a ball of nerves for several acts. Did the judges' favorites on America's Got Talent overcome their nerves to perform at their best on Tuesday?

Let's find out!

Magic - Mind Reader Eric continued with his successful act by finding Sharon's first crush. While he managed to get "Robin" right, Sharon made up the name. Taylor Reed made a helicopter appear, but it was the same as the motorcycle he auditioned with down to the flashlight. Justin Rivera had a moving box sequence that was so obvious that it wasn't funny.

I think I get turned on by Spencer Horseman, escape artist extraordinaire, except for when his shoulders rise to his ears when he's nervous. The tie around the eyes added to the level of kink. He managed to get out but lost a pick with

Advanced: Spencer and Eric

Vocal Duos - Why did the judges even bother calling this category "groups" when they were all duos? Eric & Olivia continued to be jazzy with a rendition of "What a Wonderful World" and I started getting Regina Spektor vibes. The Father/Daughter street singers had the dad forget a few words and dad was off key. Father/Young Daughter was chipmunky, pitchy, and painful.

Advanced: Older Father/Daughter, the Not-Daters Eric & Olivia.

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America's Got Talent finally touched down in Las Vegas last night, with over 100 acts set to be whittled down to 48, group-by-group:

Judges Favorites, Standbys, Direct-to-NY, and Rejection.

According to editing, we only lost three acts to the instant eliminations: the uncle/son acrobats, one of the Luther Vandross’ and Ivy Rose. Why the latter? Who knows. On the other side William Close, the dog trainers and the human cannonball automatically made it through. Now, on to the recap...

Danger - All Wheel Sports feels like a better overall group for Vegas compared to American BMX. American BMX called it "a lot of filler," and in a wonderful twist of karma the one guy on his motor-scooter (not a BMX) wiped out.

The Drill team seemed too clean; the girl looked bored. The balancing act was cool, but I couldn't watch balancing for that long without falling. Ben Blaque showed a questionable rehearsal where his act missed because of "lighting issues." The act proceeded to do well, though a lot of the same. He ended with a successful backwards blindfolded sequence.

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Last night's America's Got Talent auditions were a hodgepodge of good contestants and epic failures the producers conveniently decided to place near the end so we'd remember them during Vegas week.

We started with a pig and ended with a woman full of Olympic spirit. In between? Which acts have a chance to advance far this summer? Read on. Find out. Chime in.

Lil Starr America's Got Talent Audition

Awesome
Lil Starr - The over-done, one step away from being a pageant girl, wants a million dollars of headbands. Luckily the 40-year annuity will cover her until she's 46. She actually has power in her moves which was something I didn't expect from a six-year-old and she was giving face. She mysteriously had a large fan base in the audience and didn't run out of energy the whole time. I don't she needs all the makeup and glitter to cover up the true potential that she has.

Jacob Williams - The loner that doesn't seem like he ever blinked started off with some nerves but he nervously had this great material that tied in with his awkward personality. I'm not sure how well that would work in a three minute set for the future because his jokes seem to be more story-oriented.

787 Crew - I'm pretty sure that they are exactly the same crew as the Season Six crew from America's Best Dance Crew even though their hair color threw me off, but the Puerto Ricans gave a good show that had solid tricks and strong formations. I see why they lost on ABDC: compared to I aM mE they were very typical. They had some good variation of heights and formation shapes, so I hope they could evolve their crew with some better visuals and costumes.

Mary Joyner - The daughter of Flo-Jo (Florence Griffith-Joyner) and Al Joyner may not have been a runner, but she was a vocal runner. She's perfect for a tie-in with the Olympics. She's obviously not the first child of a star on reality show (see: Jim Carey's Daughter on AI or even Jordin Sparks). She had a few moments of flat notes before the chorus; it may have been trying to give Sara Bareilles more of an R&B undertone. She needs to perform more in the R&B genre. I like her story, I didn't like the rendition, but I wish her the best anyway.

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America's Got Talent visited Tampa, Florida last night for more of the same: an awkward mix of the really talented and really hopeless. While we were treated some surprises - such as two older men with strong pop and lock routines or the guy who reminded me of Luther Vandross - there was a lot of weird and wacky.

Case in point: What person in his right mind says he's amazing at "air sex?"

Let's break down all the acts that aired, shall we?

The Untouchables on America's Got Talent

Five-Hives
The Untouchables - The leader of last year's Miami All-Stars returned with a children's group from 8-13, which included his children. They managed to solve the issue that Miami All-Stars had last year: too much happening at once. I think people will like them, but like Miami All-Stars won't win. I have to hope that these kids know things outside of Latin; they showed some strong Contemporary turns, but they lacked a lot of outside content otherwise.

American BMX Stunt Team - I liked the fact that this team had not only way too many people on a stage, but it also had a scooter and a rollerblader for some extra added effect. The definition of BMX really is specifically for bicycles and motocross so the scooter and rollerblader was a point of difference. It was a little bit of people in circles doing a trick at a time at the beginning (I was reminded of Gymkhana from last season), but the second half with some of the team using half the pipes in an almost synchronized way gave it some theatrics. Let's add fire the next time for real excitement and danger.

Lindsey Norton - The acrobatic dancer had a built in fan base with signs and a cute giggle. The performance mesmerized me and I could see the next stage of this with cool (albeit generic) cloud backgrounds and smoke machines. She's dedicated to her acrobatics and it makes it better to watch. In the big picture Lindsey is part of a Vegas act, but she's really talented. She's also good cross-promotion for people to watch the Olympics.

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Timothy Poe has apologized once again for the mess he created on America's Got Talent last week. And this time he's done so in between sobs.

The singer - who found himself in boiling hot water following a stutter-filled audition last Monday, the result of which, he claimed during the feature, was a brain injury suffering while in Afghanistan in 2009 - told a Dallas news program over the weekend that he never intended to mislead viewers.

"As everything I said, I believe it wholeheartedly myself," he said. "But I feel like I'm going crazy."

In light of numerous facts contradicting his tale - such as a photo Poe purported to be of himself overseas actually proving to be a different soldier, and no record of any Purple Heart given out to the aspiring singer for his alleged injury - Poe came clean in an interview a days ago, and has now done so again.

As best he can, that is.

"I really don't know right now what's reality and what's not reality," Poe says on a camera, his fiancee by his side. "I don't feel like I've lied. That's what's driving me crazy, because I truly thought things have happened to me.... I really am sorry."

Poe did serve his country for nine years, that much is not in dispute. But the details of his account very much are. Watch his tearful interview below.

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Timothy Poe has come clean. Sort of.

The America's Got Talent contestant who claimed during his Monday night audition that he suffered brain damage as the result of an explosion in Afghanistan - and originally stood by the story in the face of mounting criticism - now admits he had his facts wrong.

"It may not have happened exactly like I said it did," Poe told The New York Post. “I really do not remember a lot of things since the accident."

Poe, an engaged father of two, still says a "blast" went off near his head (and provided the newspaper with documents to prove it) during combat, but admits he boasted about medals he never earned and submitted a photo of another soldier that he attempted to pass off as himself.

Another lie? Or misremembering, as Poe would like us to believe? That he never sang until he left the Middle East.

“I was in a band,” Poe now says. “But it was before the accident. And at the time of AGT, when the judges asked, before I could even think about answering, my words had already came out.”

Friends say Poe is suicidal and members of his family have been threatened. America's Got Talent viewers will see him during Las Vegas auditions next week and to them, as well as all citizens, he has the following to say:

“I would like to take the time to tell the the American people how truly sorry I am that they had to endure the incomplete facts. I understand how they feel.”

Timothy Poe, the America's Got Talent contestant making headlines this week for all the wrong reasons, is reportedly "suicidal," an insider tells TMZ.

As we've documented over the last couple days, Poe auditioned for AGT on Tuesday night; told a story about how he suffered brain damage in Afghanistan; and even presented a photo of himself in combat.

HOWEVER, that photo was later proven to be of another solider and Poe is yet to produce any evidence of his injury or his time served.

As the show struggles with how to deal with the fallout of this apparent lie - it will apparently edit down footage of Poe in Las Vegas next week - TMZ reports that he's been crying all week and is yet to leave his house.

A loved one says Poe is suffering from Post Tramautic Stress Syndrome.

Meanwhile, sources also tell the site that family members have been receiving death threats. Poe's sister-in-law, for example, went into a store with her children yesterday and was told by a fellow consumer: "We're going to kill you and the whole family."

Poe's fiancee has also been answering phone calls from haters that got his number off social media.

It's a sad situation overall, but let's hope no one out there reacts in any truly violent fashion when it comes to a man who, it most certainly seems, is dealing with some significant personal demons.

Heading into this season, America's Got Talent assumed the hiring of Howard Stern would be its most controversial move.

Then Timothy Poe happened.

The contestant is under major fire for lying about his experience in Afghanistan, as Poe claimed during his audition that he suffered a brain injury from an explosion in 2009, but he has no evidence of this occurrence and the photo he provided to AGT of himself in combat has been debunked as someone else.

Timothy Poe America's Got Talent Audition

But Poe did move on to the next round and is scheduled to be featured in Las Vegas next week. What's a reality competition to do?

TMZ says producers will "definitely" edit down footage a bit, but it's unclear whether they will axe Poe altogether.

"I was blown away that I was totally taken in," Howie Mandell says of the act. "I'm really angry with the guy."

What do you think America's Got Talent should do? Should Timothy Poe be disqualified?