3 Singers Who Should Have Gotten First Place
They may not have won, but they should have!
3. Sharaya J (Season 2 of The Four)
While James Graham, the winner of the second season of The Four, has the singing chops, Sharaya’s overall artistry encompasses crowd control, performativity, and originality. Her bars were original and specifically designed for a one on one final battle. However, James’ performance hit the emotional high notes and were more consumable to a broader market. Not straying from a comfortable zone, James inches past Sharaya to ensure his victory. We have seen his type before. Sharaya offers new, raw rap vocals that, if it were more in style for the time, would have easily surpassed James due to pure well-rounded artistry in general.
2. David Archuleta (Season 7 of American Idol)
Opposite of the Sharaya versus James scenario exists the David A. versus David C. on season 7 of American Idol. David Archuleta’s musical style was focused more heavily on his vocal performance while David Cook’s offered extra flare through his ability to play the guitar. Considering the year (2008), Cook’s rock angle gave an edge that was in style at the time. However, considering the direction of music today, Archuleta’s style would be more suited for larger markets, more easily consumed in today’s pool of popular music. Although rock is still an iconic genre of music, one would be hard pressed to find Cook’s style topping charts in 2021.
1. Dia Frampton (Season 1 of The Voice)
Dia caught audiences’ attention with her unique, raspy voice. Seemingly demure, she left audiences stunned with her performance of Heartless by Kanye West. Going on to the finals against Javier Colon, she debuted her original, Inventing Shadows. Beautiful, shadowed choreography accompanied her piano playing and incredible voice. However, as the final round was voter choice, these factors were unable to secure her the rightfully earned victory. Today, Dia is still performing. While her numbers did not skyrocket her to stardom, she is still able to do what she loves by performing alongside her sister, Meg Frampton in their band, astutely named Meg & Dia. Together, they supported artist Amber Liu on her February 2020 tour across the US.
