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Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam, performs ‘One Moment in Time’ Sunday night on American Idol (ABC Photo)

One of the many feel-good moments from Sunday’s American Idol came when Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam, got to take the Idol stage.

She nabbed the Idol crown in 2020 (Season 18).

But that was the year of the pandemic-related lockdown. Contestants performed from wherever they were staying.

Just Sam never got near Idol’s big stage, not even when she was announced as the winner.

That changed Sunday when Idol invited her back for a guest performance on Top 10 night.

She performed Whitney Houston’s “One Moment in Time,” immediately reminding fans why she’s an Idol champ.

She displayed the richness of her voice. She belted with power, all the while maintaining impeccable vocal control.

And as she sang the song’s final notes, confetti began raining down around her.

It was the confetti shower every Idol champ has enjoyed. Ever Idol champ, that is, except for just Sam.

And Just Sam was smiling as those final notes sounded.

Her reaction once Ryan Seacrest joined her on stage, announcing her as the Idol champ as though the moment had just happened.

“This is way better than an iPhone from home,” Just Sam proclaimed.

Then each judge got to address Just Sam, who’s had trouble gaining a musical footing since Idol.

She hasn’t had a hit single. She hasn’t released an album. What music she has on streaming sites is as Samantha Diaz, not Just Sam.

In a recent social media post, she said she hasn’t performed on nearly as many stages as she envisioned when she was en route to becoming a front-runner on Season 20.

She was busking in the New York subways to pay rent before Idol, and had to return to busking post-Idol.

So Sam turned a bit emotional upon hearing feedback from the judges, appearing to tear up at one point.

Katy Perry summed it up best.

“You 100 percent deserved that confetti,” she said. “It was long overdue, and it looked so great on you.”

Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam, smiles through the final notes of her performance as confetti falls on American Idol. (ABC Photo)

Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam, reacts to Lionel Richie’s comment that ‘God has his hands firmly on you’ on American Idol. (ABC Photo)