Clinton County now has ties to one of the most popular reality shows of the summer. America’s Got Talent recently contacted a group of weight lifters, Omega Force Strength Team, an organization that Albany native Clint Poore is belongs to.

The Omega Force Strength Team has more than 40 active members in 10 different states.

They have performed in Clinton County many times over in past years, as well as surrounding counties. Their slogan is “The world’s strongest team with the world’s greatest message.”

Poore confirmed the team would be featured on America’s Got Talent last Wednesday. This past Tuesday night, June 18, the show aired on NBC, which was too late to make this week’s deadline, however, a rerun of the episode is scheduled to air Sunday night on NBC at 6 p.m.

“Not all of us got to lift something, but everybody on stage had their part,” Poore said. “It was cool.”

The team was contacted two years ago and the show producers wanted the team to drive to Chicago, Ill., to audition.

“They have what they call producer’s auditions and judge’s auditions,” Poore said. “They called us up and wanted us to come up to the producer auditions.”

For that first audition, the team didn’t have to wait in line to get to the stage. The team drove up, did their performance, and that was that, according to Poore.

“We never heard anything back from them and we were okay with that. We drove up and had a good time,” Poore said. “Last December, Randy Richey, received a call from America’s Got Talent and told him they wanted us to re-audition. They told us this time we didn’t have to drive anywhere. They remembered us from two years ago and they knew who we were, so they wanted us to make a video and send it to them.”

Poore said the video they used to send to American’s Got Talent was shot in Byrdstown, Tenn., at an event they had scheduled.

“When we were at the Arnold Schwarzengger Sports Festival, we got the call that said they wanted us to come to Chicago and audition in front of the judges.”

Poore said since they were auditioning for the judges, all their expenses were paid.

“It’s just like you see on TV. It’s cool,” Poore said. “Howard Stern looks like he is 6’10” and about as big as a toothpick. Howie Mandel is a tiny fellow and Heidi Klum is prettier than she looks on TV.”

Poore said when they got on stage there were 3,500 people in the crowd watching and they were the first to go on stage the day they auditioned.

“We didn’t even get a run through,” Poore said. “The producers came to the back and told us out of 75,000 people they have auditioned, we were one of the 400 they called back. That makes you feel pretty good. They won’t show 400 on television. They might show 10 or 12 per episode. We stood there and talked with the judges for about five minutes. Then you do your thing. We did something extra with Nick Cannon on the show. It’s pretty cool. Hopefully they will show it. I can’t promise what is going to be on TV, but it looks like everything is going to be good.”

After Omega Force Strength Team did their routine, Poore said they stood with the judges for almost 15 minutes as they critiqued their performance.

“Sweat was just pouring off our heads. Howard Stern absolutely loved us,” Poore said. “He was pretty cool. He wanted us to have a little more drama and not as much action, but the producers told us to put as much into it as we can and we did. You talk about ‘bringing it,’ … we brought it.”

Poore’s role in the event was to be the announcer and to introduce the group.

“The place was wild. I introduced the show. I hope this makes it on air. My first words were ‘Chicago … Are you ready?’ And I said in a kind of low growl and the place exploded. We were supposed to start as soon as the music kicked on, but it was so loud in there you couldn’t hear the music start,” Poore said. “It was wild. We got a standing ovation. If it translated anything at all like we did it, it will be tremendously fun to watch. It was a lot of fun.”

With the show already being taped, Poore didn’t know for sure until last week that his segment would even air.

“They told us we would be on June 18, but they don’t want anything released beforehand. That stuff can change at a moment’s notice, but they have already advertised us,” Poore said. “We’ve been in two different commercials already. They have it on their website. We are supposed to be kicking off the show, which is a great spot, so don’t miss the first 15 minutes. That’s the spot that gets the most air time.”

America’s Got Talent aired this past Tuesday night, but will re-run the episode Sunday at 6 p.m. on NBC.

This screen shot provided to the Clinton County News by Clinton County Omega Force Strength Force group Clint Poore was made from a NBC promo segment that aired last week giving a “coming up next on” teaser for the America’s Got Talent program.

Poore, who was the emcee for the Omega group segment, is seen in the lower left portion of the image.