Ben Boone of Lafayette Punches Golden Ticket on ‘American Idol’ Last Night

As we told you yesterday, UL student Ben Boone was on the Season XIII premiere of American Idol. We were pretty sure he got his golden ticket to Hollywood but weren't 100% sure.

Well, he blew it out of the water and is "going to Hollywood, dawg!"

The 23-year-old chemical engineering major and Pineville, Louisiana native belted out a cover of Alex Clare's "Too Close" and The Beatles' "Come Together" during the audition process. His version of the former got a pretty cool response from judge Jennifer Lopez. She said his audition gave her "the first goosies of the season."

We'll keep tabs on Ben for you and follow up when the show moves from the audition rounds to the Hollywood cuts.

On tonight's auditions, another Louisiana native gets her shot to move on from the Austin, Texas auditions. Megan Miller of Ethel (north of Baton Rouge) will get her second crack at making it on American Idol.

You may recall her from last season's Idol as the girl on crutches. She postponed surgery to audition, with moderate success. She made it to Hollywood before getting cut shortly after.

Good luck to both Louisiana natives in the competition!