American Idol winner Just Sam details experience returning to subway busking

Winning a television singing competition is not what it used to be. Sure, not every winner could be a Kelly Clarkson or a Carrie Underwood, but a certain segment of the population still knows the names of Reuben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino even if they didn’t achieve the same levels of superstardom as their peers. Nowadays, even if these competition series are garnering enough viewership to justify continued existence, the music and television landscapes have changed so much that winning doesn’t make as much an impact as it once did. The novelty has long since worn off, and hundreds and hundreds of competition hopefuls later, it could be argued that a certain fatigue has set in with the audience.

This is the landscape that American Idol 18th season contestant Just Sam (otherwise known as Samantha Diaz, who reportedly uses they/them pronouns) entered into following their win. Three years later, the artist posted an emotional (since-deleted) caption on Instagram about busking in the New York City subway. “Back in 2021, I was super embarrassed to be going back to the trains. I didn’t want people to know that I legit needed the money & I didn’t want people to know that it wasn’t optional,” wrote Diaz, as captured by Reddit. “I was disappointed in myself for allowing myself to fall so low after winning Idol, but then I had to take it easy on me and remember that I started my journey with Idol at 20 years old. Not even knowing anything about Hollywood or the music industry.”

Diaz went on to say they were uncertain of what would happen after they won while the world was still heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic. They also expressed that they didn’t know how to move forward or have a support system to build a career following the achievement. “Everyone wants to know what happened and why this or why that & I will answer those questions someday, but In the meantime I’ll say this. I never expected to win, but I did, I was so grateful and I know that people are feeling like I let them down,” they wrote. “I used to feel like I let myself and everyone down too. I know that there’s more coming for me. I know that everything happens for a reason and I know that this too shall pass no matter what things may look like right now.”

Diaz is far from the only Idol contestant to find themselves in relatively modest circumstances. Sanjaya Malakar—once a household name for his ostentatious performance in the sixth season—also made headlines back in 2013 for busking in New York. “Since Idol, I’ve stayed the same. I’m still learning every day about the industry,” he told HuffPost at the time. “I was 17 years old when I was on the show, so it was really my introduction to the industry and to what I wanted to do … I will always want to do this.”

Many reality shows have faced scrutiny in recent years about the lack of support given to contestants dealing with the overwhelming experience of sudden fame. Sure, the music industry itself might rely on a combination of talent, luck, and business acumen, but do vocal competition series bear any responsibility for thrusting young people into the spotlight with no safety net? With the formula for shows like Idol and The Voice so deeply ingrained, it certainly doesn’t seem that change will come to the industry any time soon.