ERIC LAMONT@BlameEricLamont
Seeing the mishandling of Jamal Roberts got me to thinking of some prior X-Factor, American Idol, & The Voice winners/contestants.
Black contestants with amazing voices who were fumbled by talent competitions.
Black contestants bring ratings, history making moments, & stories.
Melanie Amaro literally won X-Factor USA’s inaugural season and ended up with nothing. They gave a clear R&B diva the debut single of an over the hill pop star “Don’t Fail Me Now”. Awful. It was at that moment I knew they didn’t take her serious.
Candice Glover won American Idol in 2013 with a debut album released in 2014 with little to no support behind it. Stunning voice, beautiful Black woman. Nothing was done for her.
Marcus Canty was literally the one to watch. He had a little Bobby Brown, some Usher, some Dru Hill. MC was a star. The fact that an album didn’t immediately follow his time on X-Factor was BS. However, “Used By You” remains a gem. Truly shoulda been an R&B superstar.
After being unfairly eliminated from American Idol in 2003, Frenchie Davis resurfaced on The Voice in its inaugural season. I knew American Idol was full of shit when she was disqualified but Antonella Barba was allowed to stay on in 2007 when revealing pictures leaked. Mind you, Frenchie was upfront and honest. The photos never even surfaced. However, Broadway welcomed Frenchie with open arms.
And last but most certainly not least:
TARRALYN RAMSEY. Originally debuting as a gospel act in 2000 and then reintroduced as the winner of Born To Diva on VH1 and then AGAIN on season one of The Voice. TR is that artist who can sing anything but the teams and labels behind her have no idea of what to do with her.
Again, a Black woman with a beautiful voice and chocolate skin they never saw it for. I think finding a writing/production team that understood her could have changed the entire direction for TR. Truly one of the industry’s biggest crimes.
