Nick Cannon shoots America's Got Talent promo at the White House (video)

 NBC: Nick Cannon

Nick Cannon, also known as Mr. Mariah Carey, was in Washington last week filming a promo spot for NBC's "America's Got Talent," which begins its fourth season on Tuesday (June 23) with the entertainer as its new host.

The 28-year-old actor/rapper/producer/DJ said he didn't get a chance to see the president during the June 16 shoot – his first ever visit to the White House – but he's met Barack Obama several times during the campaign and served as a DJ for one of his official inauguration balls.

When asked if Obama's got talent, he told Politico.com, "Definitely. We know he's a wonderful leader, and we know he's nice in basketball. I've seen him dance on inauguration night, so he's got quite a few talents."

But would those talents impress judges David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan? “Compared to some of the people we have on there, he’d probably win,” Cannon said.

During downtime at the 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. set, Cannon was treated to a tour of the White House, including FDR's old pool and the press corps break room. "I thought it would be bigger," he said.

Ironically, he ended up interfering with official press corps business. While in the midst of shooting the "Talent" promo on Pebble Beach (the nickname for the North Lawn area that is covered with gravel, where TV correspondents do their stand-up shots with the White House in the background), a motorcade carrying President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea moved up the North driveway behind him as it headed toward the front door of the West Wing.

“Talent is taking over the world,” Cannon said into the camera, unaware that Myung-bak was taking over his shot. “

According to Politico, the entertainer "found himself in one of the few places where photographers and TV cameras wanted him to get out of the way."
 

Cannon Shooting "America's Got Talent" Promos

White House Correspondent April D. Ryan Interviews Cannon

Politico.com Interviews Cannon