Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam (right), participating in the BuildOn.org Gala in New York in November.

Season 18 American Idol champ Samantha Diaz, aka Just Sam, will make her first appearance on Idol’s big stage Sunday night as a guest performer.

Her first appearance?

That’s right. Because, remember, Sam won Idol in the year of the pandemic.

With everything on lockdown, contestants performed from remote locations for the four voting shows that made up Season 18.

And while Idol has produced plenty of music success stories over the years, Samantha Diaz isn’t one of them.

Auditioning for Idol at age 20, she grew up in poverty, lived in the projects in Harlem and was busking in the New York subway to pay her rent.

Post-Idol, she had to return to busking to pay her rent.

She said she spent much of her Idol winnings retaining rights to her music after she and her record company parted ways.

Four years after her victory she has five original songs on streaming sites under the name Samantha Diaz.

“Africando,” her first post-Idol single, released independently, has the most streams on Spotify with just over 27,000.

A cover of Andra Day’s “Rise Up” — Just Sam’s signature song on Idol — has also reappeared under the name Samantha Diaz.

Samantha, now 25, addressed her post-Idol journey in a long Instagram post earlier this week.

“I was so sure that I knew what was in store for me after my journey with idol … I was wrong about it all. I never expected to be faced with the same struggles that I had before the show, after.”

Beside a video of her making the Top 24, she writes: “It’s been 4 years since this moment and I have not done as much as I wanted in my career.

“I haven’t been on as many stages as I expected to be and still I know that there’s so much more to come.”

She’s ends the lengthy post on a hopeful note.

“I don’t know what I’m trying to say or the point of this post but .. I guess this just isn’t the end of me.

“There are people in this world who NEED TO HEAR ME … my voice, my story, my testimony … they need to because it will encourage them. In so many ways … It will inspire them. People are waiting to hear me and my story . I have so much to share with y’all.”

Follow the link to read her complete message.