When Crawfish Makes An American Idol Appearance...

Source: Houma Today

When Westlake native and “American Idol” finalist Joshua Ledet said on national television that he was homesick for Louisiana cooking, local seafood-industry representatives sprang into action.

Mike Voisin, CEO of Motivatit Seafood processors in Houma, called Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, and said, “You’re not going to believe what I’m watching.”

The seafood board teamed up with the Lieutenant Governor’s Office and sent 60 pounds of boiled Louisiana crawfish from Randol’s Restaurant in Lafayette to the Lake Charles-area resident who is among those participating in the popular televised singing competition.

The crawfish was brought on stage during the show, and Ledet taught host Ryan Seacrest how to peel it.

“When the window of opportunity opens like that, you’ve got to jump through it. And the timing couldn’t have been better: right in the middle of crawfish season,” Smith said. He estimates the shellfish’s cameo appearance had a public-relations value of $3.5 million.

“ ‘American Idol’ is as good as it gets, aside from the Super Bowl,” Smith said.

After Ledet earned a standing ovation for his rendition of “When a Man Loves a Woman” that night, “Idol” judge Randy Jackson, a Baton Rouge native, said, “You know what makes this vocal special? It’s that crawfish he was singing for.”