Just Sam's is the Most Heartbreaking American Idol Post-Win Story

Winning a TV talent show provides a head start in the industry but no guarantee of glory. So, from the moment American Idol was conceived as an idea, it was always going to be the catalyst for some broken dreams, even for some of those who would go on to exit the series beaming from ear to ear and with tic-a-tape in their hair.

One such example is Just Sam (real name Sam Diaz) who won the 18th season of the show – the one that finished in May just after the first Covid lockdown started.

Having auditioned in October 2019, shortly before anybody had really heard the term 'covid' it's fair to say that, pretty much from the outset, things were not quite what Sam had expected from the show.

When they one the final in May 2020, it appeared they had the pop world at their feet. A contract with Hollywood Records and the backing to make a career in music was their prize. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, quite a lot as it turned out.

Aged just 20 and with their only prior experience of music being singing in the New York subway, Sam had no idea how the music industry worked.

'I thought it was gonna be easy,' they said. 'Just go to the studio, record, put out music, and that's not how the world works. That's not how the industry works. It takes time, it takes money that I don't have. It takes patience.'

In the end, the partnership was short-lived, with Sam walking away from their contract and having to pay the record label for the music they had already recorded.

Of course, with no record label, all the support a young person in the music industry needs faded away. While Sam continued to make music, they couldn't afford to release it. There followed years of mental health issues and a hospital admission following severe weight loss.

In 2021, just a year after winning American Idol, Sam was 'embarrassed to be going back to the trains' and sing on the subway again. And in late 2022, they posted a video that seemed to suggest they were working in Starbucks.

The video showed Sam belting out their version of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You – and they've certainly lost none of their talent for singing. So, who knows? Maybe somewhere out there is the right support to help a young singer who has been dealt a tough hand to get back in the game and start making the most of their moment in the spotlight.

Source: JJ, Reddit, Sam's Instagram.