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Past Winners: Where Are They Now?

Mattipoo

By Mattipoo
in The Voice (US)

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Lily Adler

Lily Adler

This show has given me many winners of which I did not care for: Jermaine Paul, Javier Colon, etc. Tessanne unfortunately falls into the ones I did not care for, but I do hope her career takes off. Unlike many on TWoP, I did not like the coronation song Ryan Tedder wrote. I found it generic and a typical Tedder song.

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TheGreenKnight

TheGreenKnight

I believe the only winners so far that I've liked have been Javier Colon and Danielle Bradbery. I did buy Cassadee's song "Wasting All These Tears" though. I didn't like her on the show at all, but that song grew on me after I heard it several times. It really sounds like a Taylor Swift song, actually. I don't Danielle got any good material for her album, which is a shame. I loved Javier's winning song ("Stitch by Stitch"), but didn't care for the album.

I'm not sure if there's any point to winning The Voice based on these examples, really.

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treebyleaf

treebyleaf

Matthew Schuler (Season 5 front-runner until he crashed) just released a new single with Shaggy. I was a bit surprised since he's said he likes rock more than R&B but this song sounds polished and I could imagine it doing well if it got good radio play. Crossing my fingers for him since he was my favorite out of that season.

Also Michelle Chamuel (Season 4) continues to release new music. Unclear what her goals are for exposure/collaborations but she is writing and singing a ton.

Agree that none of Danielle's songs on her new album were that great. I guess I take for granted that pop/country stars have an inexhaustible vault of catchy tunes to choose from.


Ooops didn't see this thread was for "winners" only! Sorry! Don't know how to delete the above post.

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Mattipoo

Mattipoo

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I guess Cassadee Pope is currently the most successful winner, but not by much. Her single "Wasting all these tears" is pretty good and I have heard it on the radio a few times. Let's see how Tessanne Chin does.

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adhoc

adhoc

Last week, as I was flipping through the channels, I landed on this special, "Outnumbering Hunger," and there was this blonde country singer who was very good. I was watching, thinking "she looks familiar...no not Miranda Lambert, but who?...she's really good..."  And suddenly I realized it was Danielle Bradbery.  Except, this Danielle Bradbery was very poised and connected with her song and personable and comfortable on set.  I'm not sure how long it's been since she won The Voice, but she really has matured. She looks great and her voice sounded great. (Okay, I guess maybe it wasn't live and could have been doctored, but whatever.)

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Padma

Padma

I always thought Danielle was very impressive for a 16 year old and had everything it takes to make it big. Glad to hear she's maturing as an artist and performing, really, I expect her to become a country music star.

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Percysowner

Percysowner

Josh Kaufman just got cast as Pippen in the Broadway production by the same name. Is this the first contestant to get a big Broadway role? I've seen the play at community theater and I have tickets to the touring company production that hits my town in February. It's a great show with really good songs. Good for him. I know it's not the kind of success people think of coming from the show, but Clay Aiken did fine moving to Broadway.

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BogoGog24

BogoGog24

(edited)

Whatever happened to Danielle? Wasn't her album supposed to be promoted along with the Sochi Winter Olympics coverage? Looks like another dud of a winner just like the rest of them.

Not that I know of. Her song "My Day" was used as the official song. She's been touring around the US a lot, mostly as an opening act or at festivals. She is currently working in the studio writing new songs. Her debut pretty much flopped so I guess that's why she's getting right to work on a new album, but overall she is one of the more successful Voice winners. Her first single did ok on country radio and the album debuted at #5 on the Billboard country albums chart. She got to open for Brad Paisley and Hunter Hayes on their tours and will be opening for Scotty McCreery this fall. She isn't selling big but she's gotten a lot of great opportunities, she also has an endorsement deal with Sketchers sneakers. And for the past couple months she's been doing a request line and covering songs on her YouTube page, which I think has helped increase her fan base by doing non-country songs. Her and Cassadee are really probably the 2 most successful winners so far.

Edited by BogoGog24
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viajero

viajero

Cassadee Pope debuting her brand new single at the Special Olympics.  Just beautiful in pretty much every way.  Plus her range on this song is just crazy.  To hit some of those notes with that kind of precision and live in outdoor stadium? 

 

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Mattipoo

Mattipoo

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Cassadee Pope is possibly the most (and likely only) commercially successful winner this show has produced so far. I mean, she may not be a major country star but she has released a moderately successful album with singles that charted on Billboard, unlike any of the other winners. She looks great in that video and sounds fantastic. Hope she achieves more success eventually.

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jjjmoss

jjjmoss

(edited)

Cassadee Pope is possibly the most (and likely only) commercially successful winner this show has produced so far. I mean, she may not be a major country star but she has released a moderately successful album with singles that charted on Billboard, unlike any of the other winners. She looks great in that video and sounds fantastic. Hope she achieves more success eventually.

If you count her as successful, you kinda have to count Danielle too. They've both sold over 100k albums and got 1 single in the Hot 100 plus 1 other single that at least placed on the country airplay chart.

Edited by jjjmoss
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Mattipoo

Mattipoo

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(edited)

It ain't hard to be considered "successful" (for a "The Voice" winner anyway) since most of the other winners either did not chart at all, didn't release any album after their win, or were dropped by their label. So yeah Cassadee and Danielle are the 2 most successful ones. Pity, since I really had high hopes for Tessanne Chin and thought she could really break through to the mainstream after her win with her powerful vocals.

Edited by Mattipoo
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viajero

viajero

While Melanie leads all other Voice alums in terms of You Tube views of her original material (well over 30 million and counting), I don't think she ever charted all that high because the marketing of her singles was mostly by word of mouth, which spread her sales out over time.  We'll have to see if this new album changes that.

 

In the meantime, Cassadee remains easily the most commercially successful, with the following milestones:

 

The only one with a single that went platinum

The only one with a Top 5 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart

The only one with a Top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart

The only one with a No. 1 album on the Billboard Country Album chart

 

Danielle Bradbery's album made No. 5 on the country album chart and No. 19 on the Billboard 200, but Heart of Dixie did not even make Top 10 on the country singles chart.  In contrast, Rae Lynn did have a single that reached No. 7 on the country chart.

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waving feather

waving feather

Cassadee seems to be doing moderately well. I wonder if this is what she envisioned for herself though, to be a country singer. But whatever works as a singer, I guess.

 

I didn't help Tessanne that she sang mostly old fashioned songs while she was on the show.

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viajero

viajero

I didn't help Tessanne that she sang mostly old fashioned songs while she was on the show.

 

This is the conundrum faced by the contestants and coaches on this show.  To win, you need to sing a lot of old standards, which is what appeals to the aging TV audience.  But these are not the people who buy new music in significant numbers.  Which means that to have a post-show career, you almost need to reinvent yourself (unless you are a country artist).  This is what Melanie's done.

 

It would be interesting to see a season where they don't let the contestants cover any song that was initially released more than 20 years ago.

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jjjmoss

jjjmoss

(edited)

If you wanna go solely by 1-week peaks, Sawyer's Season Eight Collection is the most successful Voice album having peaked at #6.

 

Except, y'know, it's not the most successful just because of its peak. While Cassadee has had somewhat more success than Danielle, either both are successful or neither is because their levels are still comparable.

Edited by jjjmoss
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BogoGog24

BogoGog24

It also helps a lot that Cassadee had an established fan base coming into the show. I'm sure not all Hey Monday fans transitioned with her to country but I'm sure that a lot of them did. Danielle's fans all came from the show, so taking that into account, their success is about the same. Danielle may not have the sales and chart positions Cassadee has, but she has gotten a lot of opportunities to open for some top country artists such as Brad Paisley, Hunter Hayes, Scotty McCreery, Miranda Lambert, and will be joining Thomas Rhett and Brett Eldridge in the fall. She has sponsorships with Sketchers, AcuVue, and Mary Kay cosmetics. And one of her songs was used in the 2014 Winter Olympics promos. For a 16 year old that just sang in her bedroom most of the time, she's not off to a bad start.

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viajero

viajero

(edited)

Speaking of Melanie, I thought this Billboard interview was pretty interesting.  You certainly can't say she doesn't take her art seriously.

 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/videos/interviews/6685879/melanie-martinez-cry-baby-role-model-the-voice

 

As regards The Voice:

 

I realize that The Voice is long behind you, but I'm wondering if you learned anything from that experience that you still use today in terms of your music and performances?
I definitely learned a lot about the whole behind the scenes of TV, and I'm definitely not like, 'Oh, everything is so perfect, and I'm having such a great time it's so perfect, you know?' When I was 15 that's obviously what I thought. And then when I auditioned when I was 16, I realized that it's actually very crazy behind the scenes. I'm definitely more comfortable in front of a camera because of it. Which is cool because I was not before that. I was very awkward. And I definitely made a lot of great friends that I'm still friends with today.

 

Edited by viajero
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nextian

nextian

Cassadee and Danielle have both released their first singles from their second albums. I've heard them both on country radio and seen Cassadee's video. I actually think they might get a little more airplay this time around because country music has been rightly ripped over the coals lately for their lack of support for solo female artists not named Miranda or Carrie. That being said I think Cassadee looks great in the video, and they both sound great on their songs, but the songs aren't great. Who knows, maybe they'll grow on me.

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viajero

viajero

(edited)

I agree that they both sound good on their new singles, though I think I like Cassadee's song better.  Danielle's sounds more like tritest kind of current teen pop with a couple of breakdowns thrown in. If not for the banjos and electric guitars, it almost sounds like something Fifth Harmony would put out.  But I guess it does at least have a solid hook, which is what sells these days.  Plus this time no one can say that the subject matter of the song is "too old" for her.

 

Cassadee does look good in her video (as always):

 

Edited by viajero
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jjjmoss

jjjmoss

(edited)

Cassadee and Danielle have both released their first singles from their second albums. I've heard them both on country radio and seen Cassadee's video. I actually think they might get a little more airplay this time around because country music has been rightly ripped over the coals lately for their lack of support for solo female artists not named Miranda or Carrie. That being said I think Cassadee looks great in the video, and they both sound great on their songs, but the songs aren't great. Who knows, maybe they'll grow on me.

No they don't care. They seem to have gotten over Miranda too; her most recent single peaked at #33 in country airplay, and the one before that peaked at #16 which at the time was her lowest this decade. 

 

In the digital era, the only new females with multiple country radio T10s are her, Carrie, and Taylor, and Taylor abandoned the format for her current era.

Edited by jjjmoss
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nextian

nextian

(edited)

You probably know more about country airplay then me jjjmos,I primarily listen to The Highway on Sirius satellite radio, not my local radio station. On The Highway I have been hearing a tremendous upswing in female artists, but that still means it has been primarily male dominated. I'm hopeful some of these newer females hit, but obviously local stations need to get on board as well. As far as Miranda's last two songs, I'm not ready to blame country radio for their disappointing numbers. I assume that you are talking about Little Red Wagon and Smoking and Drinking? If so I was so disappointed she released those two as singles, in my opinion they are two of the weakest songs on an album that has so many good songs. My personal favorite is Priscilla, but obviously she'll never release that now that she and Blake split; But Bathroom Sink is a spectacular song that she could get song of the year type nominations for if she released it. I think she needs to release something besides her latest "sassy drinking girl songs" at this point, she is so much more then just that musically. But again, just my opinion and I'm hopeful maybe country radio will start playing more female artists, and maybe Cassadee and Danielle will be included in that.

Edited by nextian
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jjjmoss

jjjmoss

(edited)

I think that while quality may be an issue, the kings of the format are able to go #1 or #2 almost all the time regardless of how many people complain that their songs are dumb and ignorant and sexist. Voice coach and ex Blake Shelton has 15 consecutive #1s, for example.

That the inarguable #2 female right now went so far below that twice in a row shows a difference of treatment. 

 

Country radio seems willing to embrace new solo females for the span of one hit song before deciding that that's well enough girl power that they bestowed on the world, and stop there. Well, plus groups with females are acceptable esp since most of them are at least as male as they are female.

 

It's weird cuz Kacey Musgraves keeps getting showered in acclaim and country awards attention, yet she hasn't even crack the T20 since her debut single. I mean, you'd think that the industry and critics would mean something.

I do think Kelsea Ballerini has the best chance of any new girl to get a 2nd T10 this year.

Edited by jjjmoss
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nextian

nextian

Trust me, I totally agree with you that there is a huge problem with the lack of airplay and radio support for female artists in country music right now. I also agree that it is clearly a sexist industry when marginally talented men land number one after number one while incredibly talented women go nowhere. I was only stating my hope that maybe some programmers might be starting to be more open to female artists, and that might possibly help Cassadee or Danielle find some success with their sophomore albums.

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trudi-tru

trudi-tru

I like Blake Shelton as a coach, he is my favourite by a long mile. He has tons of charisma and an awesome personality. But the music he puts out is pretty mediocre, even by bro country standars. It completely baffles me that he had so many #1 songs, cause the quality is very very low. He is mile below a Miranda Lambert or a Kacey Musgraves in terms of quality material.

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smlait

smlait

(edited)

I like Blake Shelton as a coach, he is my favourite by a long mile. He has tons of charisma and an awesome personality. But the music he puts out is pretty mediocre, even by bro country standars. It completely baffles me that he had so many #1 songs, cause the quality is very very low. He is mile below a Miranda Lambert or a Kacey Musgraves in terms of quality material.

 

Some of his songs at least still sound like country music.  Unlike, say, the dreck that Sam Hunt has put out (that also makes it to #1).  Or the ten-or-so other young male artists that all sound the same as each other.

 

So, that means that Cassadee and Danielle *ought* to stand out.  And that *ought* to help them be successful.  Maddie and Tae's second single made it close to #1 here (if not actually to #1; we only tend to hear parts of the countdown while running our Saturday errands) so I'm hoping that sets a better precedent.  (Or is Canada just friendlier to female country artists?  I know we have a couple of homegrown ones that do well, but Kacey Musgraves has gotten good airplay for most of her singles.  I suspect she got backlash from Follow Your Arrow - which I love but which I can see not going over well with the crowd that objected to Girl Crush because they thought it was about lesbians.)

Edited by smlait
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HighQueenEB

HighQueenEB

Frankly, I'm not that big of a fan of Kacey Musgraves.  She's not really all that country, not even alt-country, to be honest.  I do like Maddie & Tae and I hope they'll have more success. 

I just listened to the new songs from Cassadee and Danielle.  Neither of them are going to go anywhere on current country radio.  Danielle's song is obnoxious and just plain bad.  Cassadee's is much better and I like it well enough but it's not interesting enough to get any traction.

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viajero

viajero

I'm not a big country fan, but to me most of Kacey Musgraves music sounds about as traditional country as you get these days.  Her lyrics are a different story.  She definitely doesn't stick to the tried and tested formulaic stuff that you get in most country songs.

 

I am a big Maddie & Tae fan.  Theirs is the only country album I've bought in recent memory; about which I have no regrets.  It may not be my favorite genre, but their harmonies are simply sublime.  I think "Fly" just may be my favorite ballad from the past year or so.

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Kromm

Kromm

(edited)
On 8/16/2015 at 1:39 AM, mercfan3 said:

Melanie Martinez seems to have quite the fan following. It'll be interesting to see how much she sells this week. (Her album is really great. A little weird and creepy, but great.) 

She didn't win did she? I think she went about halfway in.

Nevertheless, she could come out of this more successful than anyone who did win. In the 10 months or so since you wrote this Martinez's profile has continued to grow. She's had talk show appearances off the success of her album, a good deal of media coverage, and a growing fanbase among indy music fans.

She's not a mainstream success by any means. She's just too weird for that to happen. But she's nevertheless possibly getting to be the most successful show alumnus in other ways. Those aren't cheap videos she's making either--it's clear her record company (Warner) is very behind her. She's also apparently the creative force behind virtually everything--not just the songs, but also whatever is in those videos.

For those who haven't really kept up on her....

Her YouTube channel has about 2 million subscribers. A lot for an indy type artist. And her total views there are around 291 million views. Admittedly the really big artists sometimes get 291 million views on individual videos, but again for an Indy music artist her numbers are big. Her Dollhouse video has around 47.5 million views in around 2 years, which is okay. Another video, Carousel, has 35 million in a year and a half. Pity Party, has about 40 million views in 12 months, and Soap in 11 months has 22.5 million, and Sippy Cup in 10 months around 22 million. Best of all, her latest video, for the song Cry Baby is only 2 months old and has almost 16 million views. A lot of artists would kill for that view rate, albeit a mixed blessing if it's not also linked to iTunes and record sales.  But she's apparently getting packed gigs wherever she goes.

And yes, it's some weird, but I'd argue also wonderful, stuff. Here's that latest video, for example. Note that while a lot of this seems like nonsense, if you watch the other videos she's made, they all kind of fit together to make a complicated story with common themes and characters. She's actually an artist... just like they claimed on the show...(where they usually toss that phrase around and it's total bullshit). It's interesting too that with this level success, she's never been back on the show I think.  Since she's likely contractually bound to owe them appearances if they ask, probably for infinity, they probably haven't.:

Edited by Kromm
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Kromm

Kromm

(edited)

Oh, one sign of viral success?  They made a "Teens React" video about her, just a few weeks ago... 

Sometimes I guess it pays NOT to win these shows. I mean would younger people actually want to support anyone who did? 

Edited by Kromm
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viajero

viajero

(edited)

Those kids in that Teen's React video certainly don't seem to have the highest opinion of The Voice.  A big reason why voice contestants have a tough time having any kind of success in today's music market.

While Melanie's YouTube views may not come close to matching those of the top mainstream pop or R&B artists, they dwarf those of most singers from any other genre.  This includes many of today's most popular country artists.  The fact that her sales might not match those levels probably says more about her market than the popularity of her music.  Plus the fact that she puts so much effort into her music videos.

Edited by viajero
punctuation
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amaranta

amaranta

You know, at the time, I didn't really get Sawyer's win.  But now, I think I do.  At the time he auditioned he was, what, 15?  Then turned 16 before the lives and I guess would be 17 now?  For his age, he has a really seasoned voice with a pretty remarkable tone.  But it's more than that - I remember him.   If it weren't for these forums, I don't think I'd recall that Craig Wayne Boyd existed.  And even with occasional mention of his name here I can't tell you even one thing about Javier Colon.  I don't think I'd recognize him if he walked right up and said hello, and yes, I watched his season.

I now own two of Sawyer's songs, the first winner I've purchased music from - 4 Pockets and Stranger from an EP that came out not that long after his win.  I wasn't aware there was an album until he appeared on the show; I subscribe to a couple of music pubs and I never saw him on the new release lists.  Anyway, I like these two.  And if he's writing what I've heard so far, then he's definitely got promise.

I have music from two other contestants, again just a couple of songs, but they're not winners.  So I'll visit the other thread soon and perhaps post the ones I liked.

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jjjmoss

jjjmoss

On 6/1/2016 at 4:49 PM, viajero said:

Those kids in that Teen's React video certainly don't seem to have the highest opinion of The Voice.  A big reason why voice contestants have a tough time having any kind of success in today's music market.

While Melanie's YouTube views may not come close to matching those of the top mainstream pop or R&B artists, they dwarf those of most singers from any other genre.  This includes many of today's most popular country artists.  The fact that her sales might not match those levels probably says more about her market than the popularity of her music.  Plus the fact that she puts so much effort into her music videos.

Yeah, she has 5 videos more viewed than that one hit of Cassadee's or even that hit Cassadee's featured on. 

As a lead artist, she has 2 videos at over 40 million views - same as Queen of Country Carrie Underwood.

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ProudMary

ProudMary

Over the past few days, I have seen a television commercial for Colgate White featuring Cassadee Pope, which has me wondering which other past winners or contestants had received any endorsement deals.  I have a vague recollection of seeing Danielle Bradbury advertising for something, but I may very well be wrong.  Anyone know?  

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Sammich

Sammich

2 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Over the past few days, I have seen a television commercial for Colgate White featuring Cassadee Pope, which has me wondering which other past winners or contestants had received any endorsement deals.  I have a vague recollection of seeing Danielle Bradbury advertising for something, but I may very well be wrong.  Anyone know?  

Danielle had a Skechers endorsement, but I'm not sure if she was featured in a commercial. I did see her in some print ads. 

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simplyme

simplyme

(edited)

I think it was Danielle who was in some ad with Gwen that played during the Voice when Gwen was a coach, but I have no memory of what it was for.  If not, it was some girl who looked a lot like her.

Well, I bought Melanie's cd Cry Baby.  I decided I liked enough of the songs on first listen (and it was cheap enough) to support someone trying something not mainstream.  I will say the videos are uncomfortable to watch but really well done, and I'm enjoying piecing together a story out of them.  The ideas expressed were certainly ones I could relate to, and a couple of the lyrics were clever.  I could use more verses and fewer repeated choruses per song, but that seems to be the state of music today.  Two verses and maybe a bridge, tops, per song, with the chorus or hook repeating for the rest.  I'm Gen X, but there's a reason I tend to like Bob Dylan songs, and it sure wasn't his voice.  I like more content. *shrug*

Oops.  Pretend I posted the Melanie thing in the past contestants thread rather than past winners... *mumbles*

Edited by simplyme
Realized what thread I was in...
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