# America's Got Talent season 7

The seventh season of American talent show competition series America's Got Talent was broadcast on NBC from May 14 to September 13, 2012. After the previous season, Piers Morgan left the program due to other commitments; he was replaced by the producers with Howard Stern. However, this change involved moving the venue for the live rounds of the competition from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, which increased the size of the audience that attended each live episode. Along with a visual makeover of the program to improve its presentation on television, a planned break was included with the broadcast schedule between July 24 and August 14, to avoid clashing with the network's live coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
The seventh season was won by dog tricks act Olate Dogs, with stand-up comedian Tom Cotter finishing in second, and earth harpist William Close placing third. During its broadcast, the season averaged around over 10.05 million viewers, but drew controversy for a participant who made claims that were later refuted after the broadcast of their audition.

## Season overview

Auditions for the seventh season's competition took place during Winter until mid-Spring 2012, with the main auditions being filmed in New York, Los Angeles, Tampa Bay, Austin, St. Louis and San Francisco. Additional auditions were held in Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, but were not filmed.
After the conclusion of the sixth season's broadcast, Piers Morgan began contemplating his involvement with America's Got Talent, due to his increasing work schedule on other projects by that time. In November 2011, despite having signed a three-year contract the previous year, Morgan quit the show in order to focus on his commitment to producing Piers Morgan Tonight for CNN. Due to Morgan's departure, radio personality Howard Stern was chosen to replace him in December. Since Stern had commitments to his SiriusXM radio show in New York that he could not abandon, filming of the live rounds moved from Los Angeles, opting for using the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey. However, Stern was able to handle the involvement of the "Vegas Verdicts" segment without any issue.
While the use of the Performing Arts Center meant that audiences attending live rounds could be much larger than in previous years, the change in venue also allowed executive producer Simon Cowell to have the program undergo a significant "top-to-bottom makeover" of its presentation. Among these included new graphics, a new intro and a new theme song for America's Got Talent, along with an update to set pieces. A significant change was the appearance of the judges' desk, which was re-modeled to appear similar in design to that used on Britain's Got Talent. In addition to these changes, the 2012 Summer Olympics was taken into consideration, since the sporting event would receive live coverage from the network. Episode scheduling had to include a two-week hiatus between July 27 until August 12, as to avoid America's Got Talent clashing with its live broadcast.
Of the participants who auditioned for this season, sixty-two secured a place in the six live quarter-finals, with twelve in each round. The sixth quarter-final consisted of two participants selected from those that failed to reach the live rounds, along with ten quarter-finalists that had been eliminated in their respective rounds. About twenty-three quarter-finalists advanced and were split between the two semi-finals, with an additional semi-finalist being added in at the last minute. Six semi-finalists secured a place in the finals, which consisted of a single stage and not multiple rounds as in previous seasons. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this season:
    Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Finalist | Semi-finalist
    Quarter-finalist | Wildcard Quarter-finalist
| Participant | Age(s) | Genre | Act | From | Quarter-Final | Result |
| 7 in Unison | 14-15 | Dance | Dance Group | Yorba Linda, California | 5 | Eliminated |
| 787 Crew | 19-31 | Dance | Dance Group | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 1 | Eliminated |
| Academy of Villains | — | Dance | Dance Group | San Francisco | 5 | Semi-finalist |
| All Beef Patty | 38 | Singing | Drag Singer | Brooklyn, New York | 3 | Eliminated |
| All That! | 23-36 | Dance | Clogging Group | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina | 4 | Semi-finalist |
| All Wheel Sports | 18-35 | Acrobatics / Danger | BMX Stunt Team | Los Angeles | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| American BMX Stunt Team | 20-44 | Acrobatics / Danger | BMX Stunt Team | Durham, North Carolina | 1 | Eliminated |
| Andrew De Leon | 19 | Singing | Opera Singer | Kyle, Texas | 6 | Semi-finalist |
| Aurora Light Painters | 38-46 | Variety | Light Painting Group | San Francisco | 2 | Eliminated |
| Bandbaz Brothers | 34 & 59 | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Duo | Las Vegas | 6 | Eliminated |
| Ben Blaque | 33 | Danger | Crossbow Shooter | Branson, Missouri | 2 | Eliminated |
| Big Barry | 70 | Singing | Singer | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | 2 | Eliminated |
| Bria Kelly | 16 | Singing | Singer | Virginia Beach, Virginia | 5 | Semi-finalist |
| Cast in Bronze | 61 | Music | Carillon Musician | St. Peters, Pennsylvania | 5 | Eliminated |
| Clint Carvalho & His Extreme Parrots | 52 | Animal | Parrot Trainer | Las Vegas | 5 | Semi-finalist |
| Cristin Sandu | 18 | Danger | Balancing Acrobat | Las Vegas | 3 | Eliminated |
| Danielle Stallings | 14 | Singing | Singer | Richmond, Virginia | 2 | Eliminated |
| David "The Bullet" Smith | 34 | Danger | Human Cannonball | Englewood, Florida | 4 | Eliminated |
| David Garibaldi and His CMYK's | 26-30 | Variety | Painting Group | Sacramento, California | 1 | Finalist |
| Distinguished Men of Brass | 24-60 | Music | Brass Band | Tampa, Florida | 1 | Eliminated |
| Donovan & Rebecca | 44 & 36 | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Duo | Stony Brook, New York | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Drew Erwin | 16 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | Arlington, Tennessee | 5 | Eliminated |
| Edon | 14 | Singing / Music | Singer & Pianist | Chicago | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Elusive | 21 | Dance | Dancer | Austin, Texas | 3 | Eliminated |
| Eric & Olivia | 20 | Singing / Music | Band | Austin, Texas | 4 | Eliminated |
| Eric Buss | 37 | Variety | Novelty Act | Tucson, Arizona | 5 | Eliminated |
| Eric Dittelman | 26 | Magic | Mentalist | Boston | 4 | Semi-finalist |
| Hawley Magic | 30 | Magic | Magic Duo | Shelby, North Carolina | 2 | Eliminated |
| Horse | 25 | Variety | Nutshot Taker | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | 4 | Eliminated |
| Inspire the Fire | 13–29 | Singing / Dance | Choir & Dance Group | Charlotte, North Carolina | 3 | Eliminated |
| Jacob Williams | 23 | Comedy | Comedian | Chicago | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Jake Wesley Rogers | 15 | Singing / Music | Singer & Pianist | Ozark, Missouri | 3 | Eliminated |
| Jarrett & Raja | 39 & 32 | Comedy / Magic | Magic Duo | Las Vegas | 1 | Eliminated |
| Joe Castillo | 64 | Variety | Sand Artist | Lexington, Kentucky | 4 | Finalist |
| Lightwire Theater | 25-43 | Dance | Light-Up Dance Group | New Orleans | 3 | Semi-finalist |
| Lil' Starr | 6 | Dance | Tap Dancer | Chino, California | 1 | Eliminated |
| Lindsey Norton | 17 | Dance | Dancer | Tampa | 4 | Eliminated |
| LionDanceMe | 14-35 | Dance | Lion Dance Group | San Francisco | 2 | Eliminated |
| Lisa Clark Dancers | 14-18 | Dance | Dance Group | Suisun City, California | 2 | Eliminated |
| Melinda Hill | 39 | Comedy | Comedian | Los Angeles | 5 | Eliminated |
| Michael Nejad | 55 | Music | Household Musician | San Jose, California | 1 | Eliminated |
| Nikki Jensen | 25 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | Austin, Texas | 1 | Eliminated |
| Olate Dogs | 19 & 55 | Animal | Dog Act | New York City | 4 | Winner |
| Reverse Order | — | Singing / Music | Band | Hackettstown, New Jersey | 5 | Eliminated |
| Rock Star Juggler Mike Price | 33 | Variety | Juggler | Las Vegas | 3 | Eliminated |
| Romeo Dance Cheetah | 30 | Music | Air Guitarist | Chicago | 5 | Eliminated |
| Rudy Coby | 48 | Magic | Magician | Los Angeles | 5 | Eliminated |
| Sebastien "El Charro de Oro" | 10 | Singing | Mariachi Singer | San Antonio, Texas | 4 | Semi-finalist |
| Shanice & Maurice Hayes | 18 & 62 | Singing | Singing Duo | Kansas City, Missouri | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Spencer Horsman | 26 | Danger | Escape Artist | Baltimore, Maryland | 3 | Eliminated |
| The All Ways | 19-22 | Singing / Music | Band | New York City | 2 | Eliminated |
| The Magic of Puck | 46 | Magic | Magician | Roosevelt, New York | 5 | Semi-finalist |
| The Scott Brothers | 47 & 48 | Dance | Dance Duo | Las Vegas | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| The Untouchables | 8-13 | Dance | Dance Group | Miami | 3 | Finalist |
| Tim Hockenberry | 50 | Singing / Music | Singer & Pianist | San Francisco | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Todd Oliver | 53 | Comedy / Animals | Ventriloquist | Branson, Missouri | 1 | Semi-finalist |
| Tom Cotter | 48 | Comedy | Comedian | Stony Point, New York | 2 | Runner-up |
| Turf | 21 | Acrobatics / Dance | Contortionist Dancer | San Francisco | 2 | Semi-finalist |
| Ulysses | 49 | Singing | Singer | Statesville, North Carolina | 4 | Eliminated |
| Unity in Motion | 11-16 | Dance | Dance Group | Cape May, New Jersey | 4 | Eliminated |
| William Close | 42 | Music | Earth Harpist | Los Angeles | 4 | Third place |
| Wordspit and the Illest! | 20-27 | Singing / Music | Band | New York City | 3 | Eliminated |
* ^1 Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this season.
* ^2 These participants were entered into the Wildcard quarter-final after losing their initial quarter-final.

### Quarter-finals summary

    Buzzed Out | Judges' choice | Advanced to Semi-finals
    Won Judges' Vote | Lost Judges' Vote

#### Quarter-final 1 (July 2)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cast of Cirque du Soleil: Zarkana, and will.i.am
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (July 3) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (July 3) |
| Distinguished Men of Brass | 1 | | | | Eliminated |
| Edon | 2 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
| Jarrett and Raja | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Lil' Starr | 4 | | | | Eliminated |
| Todd Oliver | 5 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| American BMX Stunt Team | 6 | | | | Eliminated |
| Nikki Jensen | 7 | | | | Eliminated |
| The Scott Brothers | 8 | | | | Advanced |
| Michael Nejad | 9 | | | | Eliminated |
| 787 Crew | 10 | | | | Eliminated |
| Shanice & Maurice Hayes | 11 | | | | Advanced |
| David Garibaldi and His CMYK's | 12 | | | | Advanced |

#### Quarter-final 2 (July 10)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Gavin DeGraw, and TRACES
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (July 11) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (July 11) |
| LionDanceMe | 1 | | | | Eliminated |
| Turf | 2 | | | | Advanced |
| The All Ways | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Hawley Magic | 4 | | | | Eliminated |
| Lisa Clark Dancers | 5 | | | | Eliminated |
| Aurora Light Painters | 6 | | | | Eliminated |
| Danielle Stallings | 7 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| Donovan & Rebecca | 8 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
| Big Barry | 9 | | | | Eliminated |
| Tom Cotter | 10 | | | | Advanced |
| Ben Blaque | 11 | | | | Eliminated |
| Tim Hockenberry | 12 | | | | Advanced |

#### Quarter-final 3 (July 17)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Ashleigh and Pudsey, and Havana Brown
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (July 18) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (July 18) |
| The Untouchables | 1 | | | | Advanced |
| Rock Star Juggler Mike Price | 2 | | | | Eliminated |
| Inspire the Fire | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Cristin Sandu | 4 | | | | Eliminated |
| Elusive | 5 | | | | Eliminated |
| Jake Wesley Rogers | 6 | | | | Eliminated |
| All Wheel Sports | 7 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
| WordSpit and the Illest! | 8 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| Jacob Williams | 9 | | | | Advanced |
| All Beef Patty | 10 | | | | Eliminated |
| Spencer Horsman | 11 | | | | Eliminated |
| Lightwire Theater | 12 | | | | Advanced |

#### Quarter-final 4 (July 24)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Cher Lloyd, and the cast of Once
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (July 25) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (July 25) |
| David "The Bullet" Smith | 1 | | | | Eliminated |
| All That! | 2 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| Ulysses | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Joe Castillo | 4 | | | | Advanced |
| Sebastien "El Charro de Oro" | 5 | | | | Eliminated |
| Eric Dittelman | 6 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
| William Close | 7 | | | | Advanced |
| Unity in Motion | 8 | | | | Eliminated |
| Eric & Olivia | 9 | | | | Eliminated |
| Lindsey Norton | 10 | | | | Eliminated |
| Horse | 11 | | | | Eliminated |
| Olate Dogs | 12 | | | | Advanced |
* ^3 For health & safety reasons, David Smith had to perform outside the studio; the judges were required to view the performance in person, and used hand-carried signs in place of their buzzers.

#### Quarter-final 5 – YouTube Round (August 14)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Gabby Douglas, Karmin, The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 15) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (August 15) |
| Clint Carvalho and His Extreme Parrots | 1 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
| Reverse Order | 2 | | | | Eliminated |
| Rudy Coby | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| 7 in Unison | 4 | | | | Eliminated |
| Drew Erwin | 5 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| Melinda Hill | 6 | | | | Eliminated |
| Eric Buss | 7 | | | | Eliminated |
| Romeo Dance Cheetah | 8 | | | | Eliminated |
| The Magic of Puck | 9 | | | | Advanced |
| Bria Kelly | 10 | | | | Advanced |
| Cast in Bronze | 11 | | | | Eliminated |
| Academy of Villains | 12 | | | | Advanced |
* ^4 Due to complications, Cast In Bronze had to perform outside the studio; the judges were required to be in person to view the performance, and used hand-carried signs in place of their buzzers.

#### Quarter-final 6 Wild Card Round (August 21)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen, and cast of Bring It On
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 22) |
| Quarter-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (August 22) |
| Spencer Horsman | 1 | | | | Eliminated |
| All That! | 2 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
| Jarrett & Raja | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Jake Wesley Rogers | 4 | | | | Eliminated |
| Cristin Sandu | 5 | | | | Eliminated |
| Todd Oliver | 6 | | | | Advanced |
| Bandbaz Brothers | 7 | | | | Eliminated |
| Sebastien "El Charro de Oro" | 8 | | | | Advanced |
| Horse | 9 | | | | Eliminated |
| Lindsey Norton | 10 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| Andrew De Leon | 11 | | | | Advanced |
| Ben Blaque | 12 | | | | Eliminated |

### Semi-finals summary

    Buzzed Out | Judges' choice | Advanced to Finals
    Won Judges' Vote | Lost Judges' Vote

#### Semi-final 1 (August 28)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Neon Trees, and Steve Harvey
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (August 29) |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (August 29) |
| Andrew De Leon | 1 | | | | Eliminated |
| Todd Oliver | 2 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| Donovan & Rebecca | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Edon | 4 | | | | Eliminated |
| The Scott Brothers | 5 | | | | Eliminated |
| Eric Dittelman | 6 | | | | Eliminated |
| Turf | 7 | | | | Eliminated |
| Bria Kelly | 8 | | | | Eliminated |
| Joe Castillo | 9 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
| William Close | 10 | | | | Advanced |
| Tom Cotter | 11 | | | | Advanced |
| Academy of Villains | 12 | | | | Eliminated |

#### Semi-final 2 (September 4)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Train, Nathan Burton, and Haunted by Heroes with Dee Snider
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Buzzes and Judges' votes | Result (September 6) |
| Semi-Finalist | Order | Mandel | Osbourne | Stern | Result (September 6) |
| All That! | 1 | | | | Eliminated |
| Sebastien "El Charro de Oro" | 2 | | | | Eliminated |
| The Magic of Puck | 3 | | | | Eliminated |
| Clint Carvalho and His Extreme Parrots | 4 | | | | Eliminated |
| Jacob Williams | 5 | | | | Eliminated |
| Shanice and Maurice Hayes | 6 | | | | Eliminated |
| All Wheel Sports | 7 | | | | Eliminated |
| Tim Hockenberry | 8 | | | | Eliminated |
| The Untouchables | 9 | | | | Advanced |
| Olate Dogs | 10 | | | | Advanced |
| Lightwire Theater | 11 | | | | Lost Judges' Vote |
| David Garibaldi and His CMYK's | 12 | | | | Won Judges' Vote |
* ^5 Due to live coverage of the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, the results episode was aired the day after to avoid conflicting with it.

### Finals (September 12)

Guest Performers, Results Show: Justin Bieber, Big Sean, Green Day, Joan Rivers, OneRepublic, Ne-Yo, Flo Rida, Frankie J, Blue Man Group, and Burton Crane
    Winner | Runner-up | 3rd place
| Finalist | Order | Result (September 13) |
| David Garibaldi and His CMYK's | 1 | 4th |
| Tom Cotter | 2 | 2nd |
| The Untouchables | 3 | 6th |
| Joe Castillo | 4 | 5th |
| William Close | 5 | 3rd |
| Olate Dogs | 6 | 1st |

## Ratings

The following ratings are based upon those published by Nielsen Media Research after this season's broadcast:
| Show | Episode | First air date | Rating (18–49) | Share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | Timeslot rank | Nightly rank | Weekly rank |
| 1 | Los Angeles and St. Louis Auditions | May 14, 2012 | 3.7 | 10 | 10.48 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| 2 | San Francisco Auditions | May 15, 2012 | 3.4 | 10 | 10.58 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
| 3 | New York Auditions (Part 1) | May 21, 2012 | 3.2 | 9 | 9.66 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | New York Auditions (Part 2) | May 22, 2012 | 3.3 | 9 | 9.44 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Tampa Bay Auditions (Part 1) | May 28, 2012 | 2.8 | 8 | 9.96 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | St. Louis Auditions (Part 2) | May 29, 2012 | 3.7 | 10 | 11.51 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Austin Auditions (Part 1) | June 4, 2012 | 3.3 | 10 | 12.22 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Austin Auditions (Part 2) | June 5, 2012 | 3.5 | 11 | 12.55 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Tampa Bay Auditions (Part 2) | June 12, 2012 | 3.0 | 8 | 11.18 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | Final Auditions | June 18, 2012 | 2.9 | 9 | 11.43 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | Las Vegas Week (Part 1) | June 25, 2012 | 3.0 | 8 | 10.45 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | Las Vegas Week (Part 2) | June 26, 2012 | 3.2 | 9 | 11.67 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Las Vegas Week (Part 3) | June 27, 2012 | 2.8 | 9 | 10.66 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | Top 48, Week 1 (performances) | July 2, 2012 | 2.9 | 8 | 10.19 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Top 48, Week 1 (results) | July 3, 2012 | 2.3 | 8 | 9.32 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Top 48, Week 2 (performances) | July 10, 2012 | 2.8 | 9 | 10.69 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 17 | Top 48, Week 2 (results) | July 11, 2012 | 2.0 | 6 | 8.08 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 18 | Top 48, Week 3 (performances) | July 17, 2012 | 2.6 | 8 | 10.17 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Top 48, Week 3 (results) | July 18, 2012 | 2.0 | 6 | 7.61 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 20 | Top 48, Week 4 (performances) | July 24, 2012 | 2.7 | 8 | 10.43 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 21 | Top 48, Week 4 (results) | July 25, 2012 | 2.2 | 6 | 8.76 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 22 | YouTube Snapple Special | August 14, 2012 | 2.8 | 8 | 9.97 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 23 | YouTube Snapple Special (results) | August 15, 2012 | 2.3 | 6 | 8.48 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 24 | Wild Card | August 21, 2012 | 2.5 | 8 | 9.90 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 | Wild Card (results) | August 22, 2012 | 2.3 | 7 | 8.60 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 26 | Semifinals, Round 1 (performances) | August 28, 2012 | 2.5 | 7 | 9.89 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 27 | Semifinals, Round 1 (results) | August 29, 2012 | 2.2 | 6 | 8.34 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 28 | Semifinals, Round 2 (performances) | September 4, 2012 | 2.4 | 7 | 8.93 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 29 | Semifinals, Round 2 (results) | September 6, 2012 | 1.9 | 6 | 7.87 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 30 | Finals (performances) | September 12, 2012 | 2.9 | 8 | 11.05 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 31 | Finale | September 13, 2012 | 2.4 | 7 | 10.59 | 1 | 1 | 19 |

## Controversy

America's Got Talent faced controversy during its seventh season when it emerged that one of its participants had made a false claim that hadn't been properly checked. Minnesota National Guard sergeant Tim Poe, who made an audition for the season, claimed that an audible stutter he had was the result of an injury he sustained while operating with a military unit serving the War in Afghanistan. Although he provided evidence to back his claim, both the Associated Press and Minnesota National Guard refuted the documentation he provided, making clear that his condition could not be verified as occurring during his service in Afghanistan. Although Poe advanced no further, production staff would have had to face the question of disqualifying him from advancing into later stages for submitting a lie that had been broadcast on national television.