He made his first national appearance on America’s Got Talent on June 19, 2007. Terry stated that he never thought in his wildest dreams he would win that show. His reason to audition on AGT was that the guy that was the ventriloquist in the first season got on Late Show with David Letterman. Hence, Terry figured he would do three episodes as he did and end up on David Letterman. He actually had to turn the Letterman gig down fourteen times after winning the show before his schedule was clear so he could appear.
Terry’s schedule got so packed, and it broke his heart every time he had to turn him down. Judge David Hasselhoff said, “Oh, no, a ventriloquist.” when he first came onstage. However, the judges, Sharon Osbourne, Piers Morgan, and David loved him and he eventually won the competition. Piers told Terry that he is a great impersonator, a great singer, and a great comedian. Simon Cowell even approved of this.
