Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Just Sam gets the news that she won Season 18 of American Idol. (ABC Photo)

Just Sam was named winner of American Idol Season 18 Sunday night.

A show favorite since she showed up at the auditions from Harlem, Just Sam beat out runner-up Arthur Gunn.

She prevailed in spite of uneven performances during the four at-home episodes that closed the season.

And she prevailed even though YouTube viewers clearly preferred Arthur.

An hour after the final competition performances from the Top 5 aired, Arthur had the top two performances in terms of video views on YouTube.

At that time, Arthur had racked up 37,000 views of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and 70,000 for his cover of “I Don’t Want To Be.”

Just Sam had 21,000 combined views on her performances of “Rise Up” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger.”

“Rise Up” will now become her official Idol single and be available for streaming soon.

Just Sam will also be featured in a new version of Lionel Richie’s “We Are the World.”

In fact, moments after Idol host Ryan Seacrest announces the winner, Sam was front and center in a video performance of the song aired on the show.

Just Sam is the stage name for Samantha Diaz. She was 20 when she auditioned with performances of Lauren Daigle “You Say” and Audra Day’s “Rise Up.”

In a full-circle moment, she performed “You Say” with Lauren Daigle remotely on Sunday’s finale.

A subway singer prior to the show, she settled in California for the at-home shows rather than return to New York int he middle of the pandemic.

See also …
Meet Just Sam
Just Sam talks about the Idol experience

Disclaimer:
Producers, coaches, judges and hosts on American Idol and The Voice will pretend they are hosting a legitimate singing competition when their seasons come to a close this week. Having blogged about singing shows for more than a decade, I can assure you they are not.

You cannot go from a Top 20 to a winner in four weeks (American Idol) or a Top 17 to a winner in three weeks (The Voice) and call it a fair and legitimate singing competition.

So have fun watching. Vote if you want. Put very little stock in the results because they will mean virtually nothing.

Most of all, support the singers when their time on the show ends. They deserved a better showcase for their talent.