Diana DeGarmo vs. Fantasia | Head 2 Head 🗣️

In the 28^th edition of Head 🗣️ 2 Head 🗣️ (2023), American Idol: Season 3 finalists Diana DeGarmo and Fantasia contend for the best rendition of “I Believe.”

Welcome to Head 2 Head! On Head 🗣️ 2 Head 🗣️, we pit at least two musicians singing the same song together, comparing their performances.  Then, after much deliberation, we deliver a verdict of which performance was the best, or at least, subjectively, which performance moved us more.  In the 28^th  edition of head 🗣️2 head 🗣️ (2023), 📺 American Idol: Season 3 finalists 🎙 Diana DeGarmo and 🎙 Fantasia contend for the best rendition of 🎵 “I Believe”. So, without further ado, let the Head 2 Head commence!

1. Diana DeGarmo, “I Believe”

💿 Dreams – Single • 🏷 19 Recordings Limited • 📅 2004 

“Have you ever reached a rainbow’s end / And did you find your pot of gold?” Picture it, Sophia Petrillo! It’s May 25, 2004, and 🎙 Diana DeGarmo and 🎙 Fantasia Barrino are facing off to become the winner of 📺 American Idol: Season 3.  Both young ladies have amazing voices, though it felt as if DeGarmo had an uphill climb given how distinct and powerful Fantasia was.  Like the first season, but unlike the second season, both winners performed the winner’s single live.  The song, 🎵 “I Believe,” was an original penned by 🎼✍  Tamyra Gray, Louis Biancaniello, and Sam Watters, (Biancaniello and Watters produce the studio version).  DeGarmo, who was 16 at the time of the Finale, possessed powerful pipes – she was talented, period. But, her live rendition of “I Believe” felt forced as opposed to natural, not to mention pitchy moments.  While DeGarmo had the tools to sing this inspirational ballad, it just didn’t feel like the song for her.

The ‘studio’ version of “I Believe,” in the hands of DeGarmo, is much stronger, to be fair.  That is to be expected. She sings the melody, which is tuneful, and those inspired lyrics, superbly.  Overall, her youthful but skilled pipes pack more of a punch than they did live.  During the first verse, she shows the right amount of poise, hitting her stride heading to the centerpiece, the chorus.  Of course, it is the second iteration of the chorus, following the second verse, where the power is at its most powerful.  Even though the studio take is the optimal version, DeGarmo hits a questionable note during the final chorus 😬.  The power is unquestionable but the pitch – suspect.  Fittingly, the vamp section which graced the live version, as well as Fantasia’s rendition, is scrapped. That vamp section doesn’t make much sense for DeGarmo and the singer that she is… that’s the part that felt incredibly forced in the Idol Finale. Still, at the same time, it’s sort of missed… Anyways, DeGarmo is respectable on “I Believe” save for that one truly pitchy instance…

2. Fantasia, “I Believe” 

💿 Free Yourself • 🏷 19 Recordings Limited • 📅 2004

“I can see it in the stars across the sky / Dreamt a hundred thousand dreams before / Now I finally realize…” Have I mentioned that 🎙 Diana DeGarmo had stiff competition against the other teenager, 19-year-old, single mom, 🎙 Fantasia Barrino.  Where DeGarmo fell short of the glory on her live performance of 🎵 “I Believe,” Fantasia delivered one of the greatest moments on 📺 American Idol, PERIOD. To be fair, the future 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B artist/actress had already ‘put in work’ potentially securing the win – 🎵 “Summertime”, HELLO! Still, her awesome performance of 🎵 “I Believe”, which ends up on her platinum certified debut album, 💿 Free Yourself  (2004),  sealed the deal, period. The night that she performed this gem, she poured every ounce of herself and spirit into the performance. Fantasia made us all believe with “I Believe” 🤩 🤩 🤩.

“I Believe” can best be described as an adult contemporary R&B song with gospel influence. Gospel, of course, is entrenched in Fantasia’s blood, making her an incredibly dynamic performer. Given this, “I Believe” felt tailor made for Fantasia from the start. No, it’s not that a powerhouse pop artist couldn’t navigate it, but, Fantasia had the package to nail this.  Thanks to her utterly sublime performance, with those gritty, nuanced pipes, this is easily among Idol’s best original songs if not the very best.

Notably, her inspiring no. 1 hit would win two Billboard Music Awards in 2004.  Of course, backtracking, on the vamp section, “Love keeps lifting me higher,” where Fantasia is backed by the gospel choir, she absolutely nails the ad-libs and riffs.  Her experience from church shines through and honestly, that evening, left no doubt in my mind that she would reign victorious. “You see, I’ve waited all my life, for this moment to arrive / And finally / I believe.”  

Appears in 🔻:

• 11 Excellent Songs You’ll Totally Believe In (2020)
• Fantasia: The First Two Albums: 4GEMZ (2021)

The Verdict 👨🏿‍⚖️ 

🎙 Diana DeGarmo or 🎙 Fantasia? It should go without saying that Fantasia wins, hands down.  “I Believe” was always better suited for Fantasia, period. DeGarmo was talented, but, beating one of the very best contestants to ever appear on the show – that’s a herculean task.

Diana DeGarmo vs. Fantasia: Head 2 Head 🗣️ No. 28 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; 19 Recordings Limited; Hernán Toro, Los Muertos Crew, RDNE Stock project, Thomas Ronveaux from Pexels]