18-Year-old John Foster Auditioned For American Idol During The March 23rd Episode

18-year-old John Foster walked into the American Idol audition room wearing a cowboy hat and a guitar strapped to his shoulder. Immediately, judges Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan knew what type of music they were in for. In addition to his traditional country look, he had host Ryan Seacrest help him bring in three red coolers with each of the judges’ names on them.

Ryan Seacrest help contestant John Foster bring cajun goodies to the “American Idol” judges (Photo Credit: American Idol / YouTube)

Some Cajun food was in the coolers, as he is from Addis, Louisiana, and wanted to show some “Cajun hospitality.” After Luke Bryan complimented the jerky, Foster revealed that he is studying biology and hopes to become an oncologist, specifically, a “singing oncologist.”

“Oh, you one of them smart people?” Bryan asked.

“I don’t know about that, but I try my best!” Foster replied.

John Auditioned With A Classic Alan Jackson Cover

After the judges thanks him for bringing them Cajun snacks, Foster revealed he would be performing Alan Jackson’s “Don’t Rock The Jukebox.”

UNSPECIFIED – JANUARY 01: Photo of Alan JACKSON; Alan Jackson performing at Farm Aid in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 7, 1990 (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

Underwood and Bryan enjoyed dancing along to the beat and singing the lyrics to one another. Even though it was an enjoyable audition and had the judges’ table dancing, it was clear they weren’t wowed.

They were clearly having a great time with Foster’s performance, but Underwood explained that she wanted to hear another song that “showcases [his] vocals a little more.”

Luckily, he had another song up his sleeve, Conway Twitty’s “Goodbye Time.”

“Aww, hell!” Bryan said, admiring the song choice. The country singer admitted he’d also been singing the song all day and even sang along at some parts!

1974: Country singer Conway Twitty poses for a 1974 portrait. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

The judges gave him a round of applause before giving him their feedback. See what they had to say below.

Carrie Underwood

“Thank you! I got the information that I wanted out of that. That sweet spot in your voice that that song really brought out. If you end going through to Hollywood, when we ask you to sing different genres, be yourself, but definitely think about how you’re going to navigate different situations.”

Lionel Richie

“Carrie’s right. I want to hear more of who you are, I mean I love the timber, but you gotta carve out and start making your sound. “

Luke Bryan

“Lionel said what my heart was thinking. I don’t know. I don’t know if vocally it’s there to make it through many rounds of American Idol, but I think you’ve got a nice voice.  You’ve got a lot of great tools. That last song certainly showed us that. I’m a yes. I went from no to yes.” 

Underwood clarified that Bryan’s change in vote was because she asked for another song, and Bryan confirmed that was correct. Richie agreed.