Why the 82nd Airborne Chorus Will Not Accept the 'AGT' $1 Million Prize

It was a happy surprise when the 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus marched on to the America’s Got Talent stage with its tough military façade and then did a 180-degree turn and displayed its softer side, performing The Temptations’ “My Girl.”

Needless to say, the chorus and everything it stands for received four yeses from judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara, which brought the group to the qualifying rounds tonight.

But Staff Sgt. Marcus Gilbert, who is a spokesperson for the group, told Parade in this exclusive interview that they aren’t done surprising us yet.

“We are doing so many things that the chorus has never done before,” he says of their qualifying rounds performance. “We're going to do a lot more choreography. We're not going to be just standing still the whole time as we usually do. Our music is very dynamic, so that you're going to see a lot more music ability. ‘My Girl’ was a very safe choice for us because it’s something that we always do, something that the chorus is known by. But this song, we’re stepping out of our bubble and we’re hoping that we can bring an inspirational mood to the music.”

Even more inspirational than the music is the fact that the chorus has already signed paperwork that states if they win the $ 1 million, they won’t be accepting it. They are donating it to charity, which is extraordinary when you consider what our armed forces get paid.

“That million-dollar prize will go straight to a charity of whatever choice Americas Got Talent wants to send it to,” Gilbert says. “We are simply here to represent our country, our division and that is it.”

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The 82^nd Airborne All-American Chorus dedicated its audition performance to a fallen comrade—Specialist Elijah Crawford—and the 19,000 men and women who support the Airborne Division. Tonight’s performance will be dedicated to the entire division.

“We’re really trying to reach every person who has ever been in a military uniform at all,” Gilbert said. “We want to make sure that all of our supporters are known, the U.S. Army for allowing us to even be on the show, and mostly our division because we have so much 82nd pride. We just want to make sure that everybody who has allowed us to be here knows that we're not here just messing around. We're here, we're serious and we're going to compete.”

During our conversation, Gilbert explained that in addition to being in the chorus, the members have to fulfill their other military duties; how he came to audition for the chorus and how the chorus came to audition for AGT, and who he sees as their biggest competition for the two spots in the finale.

Once you join the chorus, does that then become your sole job in the Army?

You still have your requirement that you have to complete as far as your individual job. For example, I’m in 74 Delta, which is a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Specialist, and so I'm in charge of handling all of the chemical items that the commander needs to be done for the company. So, I'll be in charge of taking care of masks or any equipment that pertains to my job. So, you still have your individual job that you have to take care of, but on top of that your main mission is singing.

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So, they make time for that.

Oh, yeah. We make plenty of time for that.

How did you decide to audition for the All-American Chorus in the first place?

I was actually waiting to jump out of an airplane, and someone heard me singing in the corner with a couple of my buddies. He told me, “Hey, you should try out for the chorus. Honestly, I had been on Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) for two years at the time and I didn't even know that there was a chorus, but once he told me to go try out, I got in contact with one of the ambassadors from the chorus and he brought me in for an audition. In less than a week, I was in their formation for morning PT.

How did the group decide to audition for America's Got Talent?

Last year, we really picked up steam on social media when someone captured a video of us singing “My Girl” on a drop zone before we were going to board a plane to jump. Once that started rolling, we got a lot of requests. Last year, we were able to perform at a gala that was hosted by Tom Hanks and the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. After that, we were able to do a Christmas show on Today in New York City. Less than a month later, we received an e-mail saying, “Hey, we think it would be awesome if you guys auditioned for America Got Talent. Do you think this is possible?” We were all in agreement. We were like, “Yes. We are not going to turn this opportunity down.”

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But it’s really hard because of the logistics. You do have a day job.

There were a lot of moving pieces that went into us being allowed to audition. How does it look with the army being on a talent show? There were a lot of higher ups that were talking back and forth, e-mailing back and forth for weeks on end. I would say our biggest contributor was Major General Christopher LaNeve because he loves the chorus. He was our biggest supporter heading into this. I know that he was fighting for us to get on the show as soon as he got the e-mail about it.

One of the things that the winner is supposed to do is perform in the Las Vegas show. Would the army give the chorus enough time off to be able to do that?

That is a conversation that my rank cannot handle. I would have to leave that to the higher ups.

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You've seen some of the other acts. Who do you think is your strongest competition?

There’s a man named Gabriel Henrique [Sofia's Golden Buzzer] and he can sing his butt off. We have been able to hang backstage and listen to him sing. His vocal dynamics are out of this world. He has very good control. There’s another singer Lachuné, her stage presence is next level. We're hoping that we can compete with them. That’s just my opinion. I would say those are our two biggest competitors right now.

Also joining Gilbert on the stage will be Staff Sgt. Mark Bendel, Staff Sgt. Tyler Christman, Sgt. Matthew Smith, Sgt. Dejon Strayhorn, Sgt. Damarielis Vargas, Cpl. Sean Lee, Spc. Alijah Gonzalez, Spc. Mone’t Bentley, Spc. Trinity Williams, Spc. Kevin Ortiz, Spc. Tyrek Lowery, Spc. Oscar Roldan, Spc. Ryan Bueche, and Spc. Corey Smith.

America’s Got Talent airs Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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