Successful ‘Idol' auditioner to perform at BLAC Inc. event

Successful ‘Idol' auditioner to perform at BLAC Inc. event

By Natasha Washington
Staff Writer

It's a big week for University of Oklahoma student Anthony Foster Jr.

Tuesday night, a clip of Foster was shown after he received a "golden ticket” to Hollywood on Fox's "American Idol” program. And Saturday, he's scheduled to perform at the Civic Center Music Hall.

Foster, who will perform Saturday as part of the Black Liberated Art Center Inc.'s Carol Brice series, said he is excited about the performance and the possibilities "American Idol” could hold for him.

"Anita Arnold (BLAC Inc. director) brought up the idea with me last summer and asked me whether I was interested,” he said. "I threw it in the back of my mind for quite a while, not knowing that I would actually be participating in ‘American Idol' and actually doing everything as far as that is concerned. So, it kind of crept up on me. She called me a month ago, letting me know it was getting close. So, I started planning for it. And it is total coincidence that the performance and the ‘American Idol' episode would fall on the same week. It has been truly hectic. I've had to schedule rehearsals in between interviews. It has been pretty interesting.”

Foster, a sophomore music arts major at OU, credits his parents, former KFOR-4 anchor Anthony Foster Sr. and Michelle Foster, for his singing gift.

"My parents were both singers, and I don't think either of them was classically trained or anything like that,” he said, "... but I grew up in church and always sang in church, in different leadership roles. And when I got to the sixth grade, I kind of stuck to being a vocal major. And from that, everything just kind of flourished and developed from that. I had different experiences with many types of musicians and getting opportunities to go to a lot of different things. So, I guess I auditioned for a scholarship at OU. I got a scholarship, and that is how I am in the voice program here.”

While attending Classen School of Advanced Studies, Foster was selected to perform in the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association's all-state jazz chorus, and he received the Superintendent's Award for Arts Excellence in 2005.

Foster was part of the "Oklahoma Five,” a group that went to San Antonio to audition for "American Idol.” The episode was shown at 7 p.m. Tuesday on KOKH-25. Foster, Heather Appel, Grant Fisher, Laura Gossett and Michael Preston all sing in OU's University Choir. Foster said the judges did not know they traveled together to the audition until later in the process.

"They had it set up at the very first audition where you couldn't pick who you're going to audition next to, so they had no way of knowing we all came together,” Foster said. "We went through each of those rounds individually, and then they kind of noticed because we spent a lot of our time together while we were there. We were at the doors when each one of us came out, and they found out. They actually interviewed us all individually and asked us questions. And we all made it to the second round, and at that point, they kind of put the focus more on our story than anything else.”

Foster joins 173 people for the next "American Idol” round in Hollywood, from which only 20 female and 20 male contestants are chosen. The Hollywood round of "American Idol” will begin Tuesday.