Showing posts with label America's Got Talent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America's Got Talent. Show all posts

Friday, July 26, 2019

Vietnam veteran "Get It While You Can" attitude scores on AGT

How 'AGT' Contestant Robert Finley Used Music to Overcome His Heartbreaking Past


Good Housekeeping
BY KAYLA KEEGAN
Jul 9, 2019 

The Vietnam War veteran, who is blind, inspired all the AGT judges.


“The bad things sometimes bring out the best in you. I began to play the music again. It made me reach inside to find myself," he said on the show.

America's Got Talent contestant Robert Finley has been through a lot over his lifetime. But through all the challenges, the 65-year-old Vietnam veteran has never stopped pursuing his dream of being a professional singer. His uplifting spirit and love for music clearly left a mark on judge Simon Cowell, who had nothing but wonderful things to say about the blues vocalist on Tuesday night.

"You’ve got this great soul about you," Simon told the Louisiana native after Robert auditioned with his own original bluesy song "Get It While You Can."

"The finest wines are the ones that stay in storage for a few years and then they become beautiful, and that’s how I feel about your voice." Fellow judges Julianne Hough, Howie Mandel, and Gabrielle Union agreed with Simon and tacked on several more compliments.
Despite his talent, fame never came to Robert at a young age. Still, he continued to perform wherever he could — nursing homes, prisons, and more. At 18, he joined the military and served in the Vietnam War. After the war ended, he got married, had kids, and took up carpentry.

Years later though, Robert got divorced and lost his house and trailer to a fire. Then, at 60 years old, he started going blind due to glaucoma, which resulted in him losing his job.
read it here

Sunday, August 26, 2018

AGT Mel B taking her life back from PTSD

Mel B to enter rehab after PTSD diagnosis: ‘I am at a crisis point’
Metro UK
Rebecca Lewis
Sunday 26 Aug 2018

‘I am fully aware I am at a crisis point. No-one knows myself better than I do. But I am dealing with it. I love my three girls more than life itself. I have also made the decision to go into a proper therapy programme in the next few weeks, but it has to be in the UK because I am very, very British and I know that will work best for me.’ ‘I am still struggling,’ she continued, ‘but if I can shine a light on the issue of pain, PTSD and the things men and women do to mask it, I will do. I am speaking about this because this is a huge issue for so many people.
Mel has confirmed she plans to enter rehab (Picture: Rex)


Mel B is preparing to check into rehab after being diagnosed with PTSD and reaching what she calls ‘crisis point’. 

The former Spice Girl and mother of three is planning to enter a British facility in the next few weeks to get help after being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and admitting to drinking heavily following a turbulent period in her life, including the death of her father Martin Brown and her split and subsequent messy divorce battle from Stephen Belafonte, who she accused of being abusive. ‘The past six months have been incredibly difficult for me,’ she said.
read more here

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Soldier back from Afghanistan wows on America's Got Talent

Soldier from Georgia Paul Leti, just back from Afghanistan, wows on America's Got Talent. The crowd and the judges proved yet again, America loves our troops! They were on their feet in the beginning, shocked when he sang and then at the end, hugs took center stage! One word, Fabulous!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Marine wife competes with choir on ‘America’s Got Talent’

Local Marine wife competes with choir on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Sun Journal North Carolina
By Drew C. Wilson
Havelock News
August 26, 2013

HAVELOCK— Jennie Beverly remembers the moment the American Military Spouses Choir stepped onto the stage to audition for the TV show “America’s Got Talent” in Chicago.

“As soon as we announced who we were, the people were chanting ‘USA’ and all of this, and it was just a mind-blowing experience to feel all of the joy, the pride, the happiness that people felt,” Beverly said.

The crowd hadn’t even heard the group sing a note yet.

“It just made us very emotional and we got a standing ovation after the audition and we went straight through,” Beverly said.

Beverly, a 27-year-old mother of two, is married to Staff Sgt. Byron Beverly, an MV-22 Osprey aviation mechanic at Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204 at New River.

Her husband is an 11-year Marine who has spent much of his career at Cherry Point before a recent transfer.

He said he and the couple’s two young children have been sitting around the television to watch each performance.
read more here


Friday, August 9, 2013

American Military Spouses Choir makes the cut on America's Got Talent

American Military Spouses Choir made it into the four acts heading to the semifinals and I am thrilled! They are really good! As they took to the stage waiting to see if they would be going home or moving on, the audience chanted USA USA USA!
American Military Spouses Choir - Group Performs Powerful Hero

America votes military spouses choir to next round of 'America's Got Talent'
Army Times
By Karen Jowers
Staff writer
August 8, 2013

America has voted the American Military Spouses Choir into the semifinals of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”

“You definitely touched the heart of America,” judge Mel B told group members after they learned they would move to the next round.

“We’re so thankful for everyone’s support,” one of the spouses said on the Wednesday show that revealed the results of voting after the Tuesday competition at Radio City Music Hall. Of the 12 acts competing, four made it to the semifinals. The spouses choir group was the first act to find out they’d be moving to the next round.
read more here

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Iraq Veteran Marine goes from Kentucky Coal Mine to America's Got Talent

Last night America's Got Talent once again showed that the heart of this country is with those who serve. The reaction of the judges and the audience was priceless when Jimmy Rose sang a song he wrote with true country heart!

Jul 9, 2013
Jimmy Rose looks at life a lot different after being away at war, so he's chasing his dreams. See him sing an original song about the Kentucky coalmines that has his mom in tears and the Judges sending him to Las Vegas!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Iraq Veterans American Hitmen big hit on America's Got Talent

I was watching the replay of this and was glad to see the reaction of the audience as well as the judges. It is great that they always seem to really appreciate our veterans and these guys sure have talent!
American Hitmen: The Biography
The American Hitmen formed quite literally in the midst of battle in Fallujah, Iraq, during Operation Phantom Fury in 2004.

Brothers Dan and Tim Cord began jamming for their fellow Marines in the smoke pit, after long days of missions, incoming mortars, and firefights, with acoustic guitars in hopes of uplifting everyone's spirits. Upon returning home to Camp Pendleton, CA, the Cord brothers brought bassist and fellow Marine, Dan Jarmon, into the band to play bass guitar. The American Hitmen performed all over Southern California and even opened for the Charlie Daniel's Band while deployed to Iraq for a second time, although with a different drummer, who decided to continue his career in the Marine Corps instead of pursuing music.

In late 2007, each band member was honorably discharged from active duty in the United States Marine Corps, and the band relocated to Salt Lake City, UT. They met drummer, Phil Snyder, and began working their way up from the unknown garage band from Southern California that they were into one of Utah's premiere rock bands. In 2009, the band was flown out to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Saigon) to perform not only at the country's first Hard Rock Café, but also as the first American rock band to perform in Vietnam in 36 years. The American Hitmen were a huge hit, and on the night of Hard Rock's grand opening, they performed Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" with Run DMC founding member, Darryl McDaniels.

In 2011, the American Hitmen were flown out to the island of Macau, just off the coast of Hong Kong, to perform at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. While performing in Macau, the band was flown down to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to perform at the Hard Rock Café's "40 Days of Rock" celebration. This week of performing opened up a lot of doors for the band, expanding their fan base well into Asia, Europe, and Australia. The American Hitmen returned home to Salt Lake City with a massive new fan base and new popularity they had never experienced before.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Military Wives and PTSD take center stage on America's Got Talent

Singing Military Spouses Belt Out a Breathtaking Song to Help Soldiers With PTSD (VIDEO)
The Stir
by Nicole Fabian-Weber
June 21, 2013

Last night on America's Got Talent, the show was blessed with a very special group of women with a very special talent: The American Military Spouse's Choir. The 35-woman group sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" on the show, and although their performance will, without question, send chills throughout your body, it's their stories and their mission that resonates most. The group regularly performs, using their music as a form of therapy for soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury or PTSD. These women are an inspiration like no other, and their heartbreaking stories -- and their amazing sisterhood -- will no doubt stay with you forever.
read more here

Saturday, June 9, 2012

America's Got Talent Tim Poe still thinks he blocked grenade


‘Talent’ singer still thinks he blocked grenade
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jun 9, 2012

NBCUNIVERSAL VIA AP Timothy Michael Poe, shown above performing on a June 4 episode of the NBC show “America’s Got Talent,” said in a June 8 television interview that he believes he was telling the truth about blocking a grenade blast in Afghanistan to save his buddies — but he doesn’t know what’s real.

DALLAS — A soldier-turned-TV contestant whose claims of being injured in battle were dismissed by military officials says he believed he was telling the truth, but he doesn’t know what is real.

Timothy Michael Poe appeared on Monday’s episode of the NBC show “America’s Got Talent,” claiming he was injured by a grenade in Afghanistan in 2009, though Minnesota National Guard records don’t support his claims.

read more here

'AGT' FRAUD Family is Getting Death Threats

When I asked Did Afghanistan Vet Tim Poe "play wounded" on America's Got Talent? the answer turned out to be yes he did. What made all of this worse was that Poe had used pictures taken by Staff Sgt. Norman Bone, passing them off as his own. I thought it was about as bad as it could get. I was wrong.

'AGT' FRAUD Family is Getting Death Threats


The family of the stuttering veteran Timothy Poe who sang on "America's Got Talent" tell TMZ they have been receiving death threats since our stories revealed Poe is a fraud.

As we reported, Poe gave producers of "AGT" a photo which he claimed showed him in Afghanistan, but in reality the pic is of someone else. And Poe could produce no documentation to prove he suffered a debilitating brain injury in the war -- as he claimed on the show.

Poe's family tells us ... several family members have been getting death threats. We're told Poe's sister-in-law went to the store Thursday with her kids and someone came up to them and said, "We're going to kill you and the whole family." read more here


STUTTERING 'AGT' CONTESTANT On the Chopping Block OVER LIES



I went on to read some more stories, but this one stuck in my head. I am very careful about pulling stories from around the country and only use sources I trust, like newspapers covering their local heroes. This time, when I watched America's Got Talent, I didn't even bother to check Poe out. I praised him in Afghanistan wounded veteran Tim Poe on America's Got Talent

"Last night Tim Poe's story made me cry.

He was wounded in Afghanistan and left with traumatic brain injury that causes him to stutter. As I listened to his story, I thought about the great courage he showed knowing that some small minded people would laugh at him. I thought about his attitude and how his smile was so warm no matter what he faced. Then he opened his mouth to sing. I cried harder but this time with joy!"

Aside from feeling like a fool, I had to search my heart to discover why I wanted to believe this story was true. It is because I track these stories, it all seemed so possible.

I read stories like this everyday, usually in small town news sites, reporting on the under-reported men and women coming back from serving this country.

While we think of all of them as heroes, some are called heroes by their own peers because they did something even they didn't expect. Some end up needing help from their communities to have the quality of their lives made better even though their limbs cannot be replaced. Some of them need help recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, wounds no one can see with their own eyes. Some, sadly, discover sometimes the hardest battle to fight is the one going on inside of themselves. For whatever reason, and there are plenty, they thought they had to fight it alone. Some lost hope of finding what they needed to heal and took their own lives.

Those are the stories that break my heart but then I find great joy when I am able to share stories offering hope. Some of them want to tell their own stories of recovering and healing so that others can find hope for themselves. Some families are talking about someone they loved so that other families don't have to feel the way they do.

Poe's story got to me because I read stories just like his all the time and know that while the major newspapers pass by fantastic stories all the time, they live as quiet heroes. The last thing I thought was that some man would go up in front of the world and lie so that he could look cool for his kids.

What was he thinking? Did he think of the men serving in Afghanistan, away from their own families, risking their lives? Did he think of the wounded in military hospitals? Did he think of the hundreds of thousands of TBI or PTSD veterans searching for hope or how they would feel when the truth came out? Obviously with the Internet, the truth would come out sooner or later. When someone left a comment on my blog, I didn't want to believe the comment. I wanted to believe Poe was telling the truth.

For me, it seemed I was always more able to find excuses than courage. The people showing up on America's Got Talent all have the courage to show up. Sometimes they have a huge ego but no talent, other times they have a lot of talent but have had no opportunity to show it. Here comes a man with a humble attitude, a heart tugging story of going through something few others will ever know and rising above it all to go on a national TV show to let the world hear him stuttering to get words out and then singing with a wonderful voice. Who wouldn't love it? There was hope in it enough to think that anyone can rise above what has happened to them in their lives if they only believed in themselves.

When the news came out that this was all a lie, I received this comment on my post.

BNG said... Chaplain Kathie,
You have just identified where I have the issue with him claiming his injuries and duties.
If enough of this goes on, people like you might get ticked off one too many times and stop doing the great works.

I thought that wasn't going to happen but I find myself wondering if the story I'm hearing is real or not now. I wonder when I get emails from veterans needing help if they are telling the truth or not. After all, I have no idea if they are telling me the truth or, most of the time, who they are aside from a email user name. Then I wonder what they have to gain by lying to me, so I move past any suspicion I had. They have nothing to gain by lying to me except my time. When they have the courage to talk to a reporter, they usually have little to gain other than attention for what they are talking about. Most of the time talking about something like PTSD comes with grief from idiots but they are willing to face them so they can help someone else. So I'll worked past my doubts on what I'm reading and remember how many wonderful men and women I read about all the time and admire.

Poe got the attention of the country for a while but I doubt this is the kind of attention he thought about. He wanted to look cool to his kids and now they are being threatened on top of being ashamed.

UPDATE 12:33 est
This story just got worse.

'America's Got Talent' contestant's tales ignite a firestorm
By Amy Forliti and Steve Karnowski
Associated Press
Posted: 06/08/2012

Timothy Michael Poe won over the crowd and the judges of NBC's "America's Got Talent" even before he began to sing with his moving story of blocking a grenade blast in 2009 to save his buddies in Afghanistan -- an act of heroism he said broke his back and left him with a brain injury.

When a judge remarked during the episode broadcast Monday, June 4, on the disappearance of Poe's stutter during his cover of a Garth Brooks song, he spun another tale: He discovered his talent only after his speech therapist suggested he sing in the shower to help with the stutter.

The truth, said an ex-wife, was that Poe not only was never hurt on the battlefield, but that he had been singing "pretty much his whole life" and spent four years fronting an alternative rock and cover band in Rochester, Minn. A MySpace page last updated in February 2009 for the Rochester band Crawl Space lists Poe as vocalist.

click link for the rest of this.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Did Afghanistan Vet Tim Poe "play wounded" on America's Got Talent?

UPDATE June 28, 2012
The web is filled with news that Tim Poe was sent home from America's Got Talent when he didn't make it in the selection round. This happened before news broke that his claims were not true because it was taped. I won't glorify this man further by putting up a new post with his name in the title. His moment of fame is over.

America's Got Talent Tim Poe still thinks he blocked grenade June 9, 2012

'AGT' FRAUD Family is Getting Death Threats

Update 6/8/12
Soldier: 'America's Got Talent' contestant Timothy Poe stole photo of me, passed off as himself
Published June 07, 2012
TMZ

Stuttering "America's Got Talent" contestant Timothy Poe is not the soldier in the photo displayed during his tearjerker audition this week, it's someone else. And the real soldier is angry.

Staff Sgt. Norman Bone tells TMZ he first heard about the photo from his ex-wife who was watching "AGT" -- Bone thought it was part of a tribute to the troops and didn't think twice about it.
read more here

UPDATE
5:49 est
It just got worse. Now he's been wearing medals he admits he did not earn!

'America's Got Talent' singer admits to claiming military medals he didn't earn
Poe told Grisham that he attended a golf tournament put on by the Defenders of Freedom. At the event, a poster, using information provided by Poe himself, claimed that Poe was awarded a Purple Heart, which is given for those wounded while serving, and a Bronze Star, which is awarded for bravery or acts of merit. The blog This Ain't Hell displays a blown-up photograph of that poster, which also shows other medals, including the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.


This part blew me away! The man has no clue how many people were hurt.

When asked by Grisham if he said anything inaccurate on "America's Got Talent," he answered, "Sure," and compared it to exaggerating to one's children to make their dad seem cool. "It was a show," he said. "It wasn't out there to make anyone feel bad."


Then again, I doubt he cares at all.

If he was trying to be famous, looks like he made it but I doubt he thought he'd get caught.

There were several comments on the post I did for Tim Poe the Afghanistan veteran claiming to have TBI on America's Got Talent. At first I didn't believe them considering the people leaving the comments did it anonymously.

Well today there were a couple more that got me thinking I may have been a sucker for a sweet story about one of our combat wounded.

Looks like I was taken in just like most people watching the show. So to the anonymous people leaving comments, looks like you were right and I was wrong.

MN Nat'l Guard: No Record of TV Singer's Claimed Combat Injury
KSTP.com
By: Scott Theisen
Created: 06/05/2012

A singer who appeared on the NBC show "America's Got Talent" and claimed he was injured during a grenade blast in Afghanistan has no military record of his purported combat injuries, the Minnesota National Guard said Tuesday.

Timothy Michael Poe appeared on the nationally televised show Monday. He told the judges 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 come 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."

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. read more here
Here's the clip from the show.



I went from feeling like a fool to getting ticked off about this. I have too many friends with TBI and one of them lost part of his head.

If it turns out that Poe not only lied about having TBI but also "shielding" his men, he needs to make an equal public apology to all of the men and women serving!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Afghanistan wounded veteran Tim Poe on America's Got Talent

Update thanks to some readers.

Did Afghanistan Vet Tim Poe "play wounded" on America's Got Talent?

Last night Tim Poe's story made me cry.

He was wounded in Afghanistan and left with traumatic brain injury that causes him to stutter. As I listened to his story, I thought about the great courage he showed knowing that some small minded people would laugh at him. I thought about his attitude and how his smile was so warm no matter what he faced. Then he opened his mouth to sing. I cried harder but this time with joy!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Orlando's Arcadian Broad, explains what happened

Totally off topic, but one of the luxuries of having your own blog. One of my pleasures is watching America's Got Talent. My husband got me hooked on this show a couple of years ago. I would be working online and hear him laughing his head off in the other room. I'd sit and watch for a few minutes, then get back to work. Soon I found myself watching longer. Then it was watching all of it. I love to see the talent this country has, and yes, even enjoy watching the people with no talent at all, but then feel sorry for them.

Arcadian Broad is one with great talent and he's just a kid. His audition was fantastic. It's easy to notice that when they audition and are on their own, they are amazing, but as the show goes on, they change their style, do things that are not that great and then get nailed by the judges for the changes. It looks like now we know why.

Well since he lives in Orlando, I think Disney should sign him fast and put him to work. He is one amazing kid.

I'll still watch the show because of the talent but now I won't wonder why people change their acts so much and end up off the show.

Is 'America's Got Talent' fixed? Just ask contestant Arcadian Broad.

After his semifinal performance last night, Broad accused the 'Talent' producers of forcing him to do a 'High School Musical'-esque dance routine -- a routine that failed to impress judge Piers Morgan. "Are you good enough to get to the final?" Piers asked. "The answer would be no."

Broad tried to explain himself -- "I didn't have this planned. I didn't want to do 'High School Musical,' and the producers gave me this hand," he said -- but was quickly cut off by both Piers and fellow judge Sharon Osbourne. "It's not about what you did tonight. It's purely about your technical ability as a dancer," Piers said. Even host Nick Cannon jumped in to say each contestant ultimately has a final say in what they perform.
read more here
Is Americas Got Talent fixed

Friday, August 1, 2008

Spc. Daniel Jens shines on America's Got Talent

Three kids and back from Iraq after 15 months, Spc. Daniel Jens sings Edwin McCain's "I'll be" and did a great job. Sharon Osbourne looked like she was going to cry when he was singing and then did cry in the end as he walked off with his wife. You guessed it,,,,,he's going to Vegas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMTu4z-XYFs