The "correct" pronunciation of New Orleans, along with several colloquial pronunciations, is now and always has been with the accent on the first syllable of the second word: New OR-leans.

I have a big fat issue with the neologism "N'Awlins." NOBODY says it that way, in two flat syllables ~ or at least no one did until folks began reading that particular failed attempt to render a phonetic spelling.

Back in the '70s, I saw a headline in the long-long-defunct Vieux Carre Courier that included the city's name spelled "No Awlins." That was the first time I saw any such rendering, and I felt that it was just about right. Droppng the "o" and substituting an apostrophe erroneously eliminated a syllable, albeit a very sutle and almost-absent syllable.

I would suggest that "Nwa-lins" is a much better way to spell the common abbreviated pronunciation. Same letters as "N'Awlins," but in a different order.

Anyway, there are quite a few different ways to say "New Orleans" in various local accents, but they all emphasize the "OR," not the "leans."

Now ~ here's the tricky part ~ in all cases where the world "Orleans" is used without being preceded by the word "New", the accent is properly placed on the second syllable: Orleans Avenue, Orleans Parish, Orleans Levee Board, etc. ~ all pronounced "Or-LEENZ."

In songs, it's a lot easier to rhyme "or-LEENS" than "OR-lunz" or "OR-lee-uns," so the pronunciation in songs is almost always "New Or-LEENZ." I'm quite sure that local muscians and songwriters were and are as guilty as any "outsiders," if not moreso, in having promulgated this "error."

It should also be noted that the original correct pronunciation is/was French, and differs from both (of all) the modern American-English alternatives. It goes something llike this: "OR-lee-AHN" (with a silent "s").