Louisiana
From John Foster’s audition to ‘American Idol’ top 5, see 11 of his performances
Louisiana teen John Foster stole the hearts (and stomachs) of the “American Idol” judges when he showed up to his audition in Nashville, Tennessee, with Cajun food from his family’s business in Addis, Benoit’s Country Meat Block.
He walked in with three small plastic coolers filled with boudin, Benoit’s seasoning and beef jerky and proceeded to tell the judges about his hopes to go to medical school. He’s currently enrolled at LSU, studying biology.
“I have a passion for cancer treatment, so the dream is to be a singing oncologist,” he said.
Since his audition, Foster has climbed his way to the top five in the show, performing songs like “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” “Jailhouse Rock” and Disney’s “Almost There.” On Monday night, he’ll perform at 7 p.m. on ABC for a chance in the show’s top 3. Those in the top 3 will head into the Sunday finale.
Take a look at Foster’s performances on “American Idol” thus far.
Cajun charm and Conway Twitty
Foster, 18, first performed “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” by Alan Jackson for his Nashville audition. Then, “Idol” judge Carrie Underwood asked him for another song that would showcase his vocals a bit more.
“Goodbye Time” by Conway Twitty proved to be the perfect choice for Foster to receive his golden ticket to Hollywood.
“You’ve got a lot of great tools. That last song really showed us that,” judge Luke Bryan said.
Hollywood week
The show’s “Hollywood Week” is historically stressful for the participants, with the judges making big cuts to the number of contestants. Foster performed “In Color” by Jamey Johnson.
Johnson is a Grammy-nominated country music singer and songwriter who is a Grand Ole Opry member.
Top 24
After pulling an all-nighter in preparation for the show’s duets round, Foster makes the top 24. The contestants headed to Aulani, a Disney resort in Ko Olina, Hawaii, where Foster took it up a notch in his energy levels with “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” by Garth Brooks.
“I haven’t really shown America or the judges what I can do with a really energetic song. I’m usually a slow, sad ballad guy,” Foster told guest mentor Josh Groban prior to taking the stage.
While performing, Foster was lively, and the crowd and judge Underwood sang along.
Top 20
Foster sang an original song to gain a spot in the top 20. He performed “Tell That Angel I Love Her,” in honor of his friend Maggie Dunn, who was killed on New Year’s Eve in 2022 when an Addis police officer ran a red light during a high-speed pursuit.
Foster’s family, along with Dunn’s mother, Erin Martin, and friend Leslie Kleinpeter were in the studio audience for the show.
“When you open your mouth on this song, you’re country, but you’re also storytelling country, judge Lionel Richie told Foster. “Now, whether that’s old, new, happening now, later, whatever the case may be, it was so believable and I heard every word of every part of your story and that’s what great music is about.”
Top 14
For a spot in “Idol’s” top 14, Foster covered Brooks and Dunn’s 1991 “Neon Moon.” During this episode, LSU student Baylee Littrell was one of six contestants sent home.
After Foster performed, all three judges were on their feet with applause.
Top 12
Music icon James Taylor mentored Foster before his tribute to Elvis’ 1957 hit “Jailhouse Rock,” which earned him a spot in the top 12. Foster steered clear of the Elvis impersonator route, which proved to be useful.
“John, I’m very proud of you on that one. It was exactly what you wanted — it wasn’t like an Elvis imper(sonator), it was just John Foster doing Elvis. It was very comfortable just watching you,” judge Luke Bryan said.
Underwood wrapped up the critiques with, “That was such a great song choice, you were having fun with it, you made it your own and I feel like I was watching like a young Dwight Yoakam up there.”
Top 10
Despite ditching his guitar, Foster was pure country when he covered “I Told You So,” which Underwood and Randy Travis performed on “Idol” in 2009.
“Idol” winner Fantasia mentored Foster, who she said looks like “a little Ken doll.”
“I’ve never been called a Ken doll before, but to be called a Ken doll by Fantasia was quite the compliment,” Foster said.
When Foster told her that he planned to sit during his performance, a first for him, she urged Foster to do a modulation on the song.
“He has a beautiful voice,” she said. “It’s like water, and I didn’t want it to get lost.”
Top 8
For the show’s “Iconic Women in Music” night, Foster covered Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” to make it into the top 8. Miranda Lambert served as a guest mentor.
During his session with Lambert, Foster admitted that she was his first crush.
“I had a really hard time making eye contact with her because, you know, she was my first childhood crush. I was too nervous,” Foster said on the show.
Lambert encouraged him to interact with the crowd during his performance, which he did while sporting a cowboy hat and his guitar.
Top 7
Judge and former “Idol” winner Underwood offered George Strait’s “I Cross My Heart” for Foster to sing during the show’s “Judges’ Choice” night. Foster went with Underwood’s pick, one of three songs the judges chose for the finalist to perform.
While Foster honored Straight, he also dedicated the song to his girlfriend, Brooklyn Bourque, who got time in the spotlight during the episode.
“I’ve never been able to perform a love song that I’ve actually meant. I’m now dating someone, we’ve almost been dating for a year now,” Foster said. “I’m really excited to take the stage again. Brooklyn, this one’s for you.”
Top 5
Foster moved his way up in the competition to “Idol’s” top 5. On Sunday night’s show, the remaining seven contestants were trimmed to five, Foster included.
He performed “Almost There,” from the film “The Princess and the Frog,” for the show’s “Disney nights,” a tribute to his Louisiana roots.
Later in the Mother’s Day episode, Foster sang Brooks and Dunn’s “Believe” to his mother, Amanda Benoit.
Lin-Manuel Miranda was the mentor for contestants Sunday night and is expected to return for Monday night’s show.
Foster and the other four contestants will perform again at 7 p.m. Monday on ABC for part two of the show’s Disney nights. After voting, the top 3 will be announced and will head into the Sunday finale.
The show streams the next day on Hulu. Voting is only allowed while the show airs.
To help put Louisiana teen in the top 3, here’s how to vote (up to 30 times):
“All of the communities that surround it are going to need to be built up,” Romero said. “They’re going to need, you know, extra hospital space and rural clinics and restaurants.”
USDA’s rural development section supports economic development, job creation and services like housing, health care, first-responder services and utility infrastructure, according to its website.
Romero resigned from his seat in the Louisiana Legislature on Dec. 14 and began his new job with the federal government the next day, he said.
He’s replacing acting Director MaryAnn Pistilli and will be based in Alexandria, though he’ll regularly travel the state and meet with local leaders and officials, he said.
The former state lawmaker said Gov. Jeff Landry helped put his name forward for the appointment.
Louisiana
As New Orleans cuts costs, Louisiana auditor reviews take-home vehicles: ‘Is it necessary?’
As New Orleans looks to shave costs, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor is probing whether to curb the city’s roughly 2,800-vehicle fleet, including take-home vehicles.
Auditor Mike Waguespack – who is already monitoring the city’s finances, including overtime costs – said Tuesday that he’ll examine whether employees who have take-home cars actually need them and whether the city is selling vehicles it no longer uses.
The city’s fleet was 40% larger at the end of July than it was in 2023, according to data provided to the Times-Picayune last month. At least 935 municipal employees, or roughly 20% of the city’s workforce, drove cars home as of December, costing the city at least $41 million. Most are police officers.
“Is it necessary? Is it a fringe benefit or is it really justified?” Waguespack said on Tuesday.
Waguespack’s moves come after Mayor-elect Helena Moreno in December questioned Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s use of take-home cars and the size of the city’s overall fleet, and as Moreno’s administration is implementing a host of furloughs and layoffs to avoid a $222 million deficit that would have otherwise plagued the new year.
A spokesperson for Moreno said Monday that “it is clear there are efficiencies to be gained and some unnecessary allocation of resources” in the city’s vehicle fleet.
“Reducing unnecessary expenditures is at the top of the Moreno administration’s priorities,” Todd Ragusa said.
A Cantrell spokesperson did not return a request for an interview.
The auditor’s report will be released as one part of a comprehensive review of the city’s fiscal practices requested by State Bond Commission after it agreed to allow the city to sell $125 million in short-term revenue bonds in November. Waguespack will review New Orleans’ finances for fiscal years 2022 through 2025 and make recommendations.
His office will begin issuing reports on various budgetary issues in the next few months, and will issue the full slew of reports by mid-year, he said.
A deep review
New Orleans has had to contend with state intervention ever since the city discovered a $160 million deficit last year, caused by a failure to account for police overtime, ignored warnings about overspending, and too-rosy revenue projections.
Waguespack weekly approves the city’s drawdowns from the $125 million pool the State Bond Commission authorized last year, so that the city could make payroll for 5,000 employees.
He is also looking into the city’s policies and practices governing overtime spending, another area Moreno has said her administration will take measures to control after she takes office on Jan. 12.
Now, his audit of city vehicles — his first deep-dive into that issue — will examine the condition of municipal vehicles, their maintenance and insurance records. It will also examine the city’s vehicle policies, including who gets to take home a car, Waguespack said.
Waguespack on Tuesday questioned the size of the city’s overall fleet, which includes “pool” vehicles that are not assigned to a particular driver. The city’s total fleet consisted of 2,800 vehicles as of July 30, according to city records provided to the Times-Picayune.
“At first glance it appears that there is an excessive amount of pool cars— some of which are dated in age,” said Waguespack. “It could be an issue of not selling the surplus property.”
Of the fleet, 350 vehicles are pre-2010 models, according to the records. Waguespack said he worries that unnecessary vehicle expenditures — including costs to maintain and insure vehicles past their prime — could be straining the city’s finances.
Increase in fleet
The city did not provide take-home vehicle data for 2020-2024 or total fleet data for 2020-2022 in response to a public records request.
But data it did provide show the overall fleet has increased dramatically in recent years. By the end of 2023, there were 1,970 overall cars, compared to roughly 2,800 in July.
Also in 2023, the New Orleans Police Department rolled out more than 700 new police vehicles as part of a push by then-Interim New Orleans Police Superintendent Michelle Woodfork to give every officer a take-home car to boost recruitment numbers. Of the 935 employees who had take-home cars in December, 832 were NOPD employees.
The city dedicated $26 million of its $388 million in federal pandemic aid to public safety vehicles, according to the city’s American Rescue Plan spending dashboard.
The $41 million the city paid for the take home vehicles in use as of December, per the records, includes only the purchase price of the cars, and not the insurance, maintenance or gas it must also pay.
The size and oversight of the city’s fleet has long been a point of contention.
In 2008, then- Inspector General Robert Cerasoli found that the city was paying $1 million a year for 273 vehicles for public workers, not including purchase costs, and that there had been frequent abuse.
In response, Mayor Mitch Landrieu slashed the number of administrative take-home vehicles to 59, and separately cut the number of cars assigned to public safety employees from 758 in June 2010 to 414.
In 2016, a report by then-Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux found that between 2009 and 2024, the city had no formal fleet management system in place to track how many vehicles the city owned, or how often they were used or repaired.
Mayor’s personal fleet
Moreno highlighted concerns about the city’s take-home car policies in an interview with the Times-Picayune last year.
“We have way too many people with take-home cars that are non-public safety employees,” Moreno said.
Of the 935 employees who have take-home cars in December, 95% had public safety responsibilities.
She also took shots at the mayor’s personal fleet of take-home cars, and said she’d get rid of them. “I don’t know why she needs four.”
Cantrell confirmed at the time that she has three city vehicles – “two large vehicles and one sedan” — which she said were necessary for “safety and protection.” She also fired back that Moreno “doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.”
A list of take-home vehicles provided to the Times-Picayune only lists one vehicle assigned to Cantrell, a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban. It’s unclear why the other two vehicles are not listed.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been reported in a hunter-harvested white-tailed buck in Concordia Parish, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) said. The buck was harvested on Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and is the first CWD detection in a wild deer in Concordia Parish.
CWD was first detected in Louisiana in 2022. The latest positive brings the total number of CWD detections for Louisiana to 44.
Initial diagnostics by the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL) detected CWD prion in tissue samples submitted by LDWF. Per required protocol, LADDL has forwarded the sample to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa for confirmatory testing. Final confirmation is anticipated in the coming weeks.
Due to this preliminary detection during the ongoing deer season, hunters are encouraged to submit additional hunter-harvest samples for testing. A CWD sample drop-off site is located along Highway 15 near the northern boundary of Richard K. Yancey WMA.
To obtain viable samples for testing, a fresh head including a few inches of neck is required. Data submission cards and bags are available on site. Once completed, the bagged deer head and data card should be placed in the available cooler at the CWD drop-off site.
LDWF is currently in the process of implementing the LDWF CWD response plan. More information regarding the response plan and intended mitigation efforts for this area will be forthcoming.
“We continue to count on our hunters, property owners, deer processors and taxidermists for their assistance in monitoring CWD as their continued partnership with our department will help manage the expanse of CWD in the state keeping our deer population healthy,’’ LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth said.
CWD is a neurodegenerative disease of white-tailed deer and other members of the Cervidae family. The disease is caused by a prion, an infectious, misfolded protein particle, and is 100-percent fatal in affected deer after an indeterminate incubation period. There is no treatment or preventative vaccine for CWD. CWD-infected deer may exhibit symptoms of weight loss and emaciation, salivation, frequent drinking and urination, incoordination, circling, lack of human fear, and subsequent death of the animal.
Although CWD has not been shown to be contagious to humans, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend against the human consumption of deer known to be infected with CWD. Also, it is recommended that people hunting in areas known to harbor CWD-infected deer have their deer tested for the disease prior to consumption. LDWF provides CWD testing for hunter-harvested deer free of charge.
For more information on CWD, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/cwd.
Questions can be addressed to Dr. Jonathan Roberts at jroberts@wlf.la.gov or Johnathan Bordelon at jbordelon@wlf.la.gov.
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