Former 'American Idol' Winner Says She's Back to Singing on the Subway

Samantha Diaz, better known as Just Sam, won American Idol in 2020, but, unfortunately, her path hasn't followed that of winners like Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood.

Instead, the singer has been forced to return to busking around the Manhattan subway for income.

The Harlem resident has taken to Instagram with a collection of videos showing her singing on subway trains and platforms with a tip box in front of her, something she once talked about doing prior to her time on the show.

Now, the 24-year-old is performing her take on Beyoncé and other musicians, much to her fans' simultaneous delight and chagrin.

"What happened LIONAL [sic] RICHIE??? I thought you were her friend and and [sic] mentor. Why was she dropped like a hot potato? No excuse, I love the show but this feels wrong on many levels," one commented on the Instagram video.

"I know she’s doing what she has to do to make ends meet but this breaks my heart that she’s back to wear [sic] she started after American Idol. I just wish someone would take her under there [sic] wings and mentor her because she has a voice that needs to be on the radio not the subway.🥰," another said.

"I could listen to all day 🥰🥰🥰 I don’t think the people on the train understand how lucky they really are!!" a third wrote.

When the singer first auditioned, she gave the judges the same run down she always gave to her New York City audiences, telling the trio made up of Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to sing a quick song for you. If you like what you hear, please feel free to give whatever you can. Thank you."

She later found out she won alone in her bedroom, after the series went remote due to the pandemic.

"We didn't know what to do with the win especially being that we had absolutely no help," she said of herself and her grandmother, per The Sun, adding, "There are people who have had more success than me and good for them I'm happy for them, but I am not them. I don't like my situation, but it won't be this forever."

Per People, Just Sam previously revealed that she parted ways with her record label, Hollywood Records, which signed her in May 2020 after she won Idol, and said she owed the company money.

"I'm not even going to tell you guys the amount of money that I had to pay after leaving the label to claim songs that I had already recorded," she said, per Just Jared. "I'm recording all the time or making music all the time, writing every day, doing what I have to do to survive."

Earlier this week, Iam Tongi won season 21 of the program.