Author
Howard Gensler is a veteran journalist who’s worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide and the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a founding editor of bettorsinsider.com.
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How Do New Yorkers Fare on National Singing Competition Shows?
The modern-day, American TV singing competition has been going strong for more than two decades now, ever since “American Idol” popped onto FOX with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Johnson sitting behind the judges’ table and Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman co-hosting, for a brief time, before Seacrest went solo.
The show was such a hit, copycats popped up in different genres. Even cover bands got their moment in the sun. But the big three are “Idol,” “The Voice” and “America’s Got Talent,” which rewards entertainers in addition to singers, notably magicians and ventriloquists, some of whom sing – and quite well.
EmpireStakes.com – normally your source for all things on New York sports betting – researched how the state has fared in these competitions.
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States with Most Winning TV Show Singers
Utilizing Wikipedia.com to gather each winner from the first season on of NBC’s “The Voice,” FOX & ABC’s “American Idol” and the singers who won on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” EmpireStakes.com broke them down by state.
Three Winners from Empire State
The first was Jermaine Paul, who won Season 2 of “The Voice” in 2012. Paul hailed from Harriman, maybe an hour north of the city on the New York Thruway and won with a style that was a combination of R&B and gospel, but he went mostly mainstream on “The Voice.”
His “Voice” journey started with Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” in the blind audition, where he chose Cee Lo Green as his coach. In the battles, he sang “Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car” by Billy Ocean, was let go by Green and saved by Blake Shelton. In the next round, he advanced with Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” made it through the quarterfinals with “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins and passed through the semis with “Open Arms” by Journey.
In the finals Paul sang “I Believe I Can Fly” by R. Kelly and “God Gave Me You” by Dave Barnes and did a duet with Shelton on “Soul Man,” by Sam and Dave. He premiered his debut single, “I Believe in This Life,” on the show.
Paul continues performing around the country but never had a hit recording career.
Harlem’s Samantha Diaz (known as Just Sam) won American Idol Season 18 in 2020. Sam was raised by her grandmother after her mother was incarcerated and made money singing in the New York subways.
An R&B artist, Sam sang Andra Day’s “Rise Up” to earn her ticket to Hollywood. Over the coming weeks, she covered an eclectic group of songs from artists such as Arlissa, Shawn Mendes, Cynthia Erivo, Selena, Fantasia, Bill Withers, All-4-One and Kelly Clarkson.
After “Idol,” Sam, who uses “they” pronouns, was signed by Hollywood Records but soon thereafter left the label and has since released a few independent singles.
Carter Rubin, from Shoreham on Long Island, auditioned on Episode 3 of the 19th season of “The Voice” in 2020. He sang “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi and picked coach Gwen Stefani over John Legend. In the Battles he advanced with his performance of Meghan Trainor’s “Like I’m Gonna Lose You.” In the Knockouts he advanced with Lauren Daigle’s “You Say.”
In the live playoffs, Rubin sang Mariah Carey’s “Hero,” the Muppets’ “Rainbow Connection” and in the finals covered Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb.” He also sang an original song, “Up From Here.” He won the whole show at age 15.
Since then, he’s been navigating his career and teenage years and covering songs on social media. His most recent single was released last year and was called “Time Machine.”
EmpireStakes.com keeps its readers up to date on sports wagering in the state, informs them with cultural stories such as this one and, of course, is a great source for the best NY betting promos.
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