Tamyra Monica Gray (born July 26, 1979) is an American actress, songwriter, and singer, best known for her rise to fame as one of the finalists on the first season of the reality television program American Idol in 2002 . She has since expanded into acting, most notably with a recurring role on the third season of the drama Boston Public in early 2003 . In 2002, Gray became one of the ten finalists on the first season of American Idol, eventually finishing fourth . Her performance of the Burt Bacharach classic "A House Is Not a Home" was described by Judge Simon Cowell as "one of the best performances on television" that he had ever seen . During the third season of American Idol, she returned to the show on several occasions to sing "Raindrops Will Fall" and "Star", songs she co-wrote for her debut album, and to sing the National Anthem to open the final results show of the season . Gray also co-wrote the American Idol season three single "I Believe", which was performed by Idol finalists Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo . DeGarmo released "I Believe" on her first single album . Barrino then released "I Believe" as her American Idol single, which debuted at No . 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts . After American Idol, creator Simon Fuller signed Tamyra to his newly formed independent record label, 19 Records, a division of his 19 Management, Gray's first solo album, The Dreamer, which Gray wrote herself, was eventually released on May 25, 2004 . The album sold 39,000 copies during its first week in release and has sold 122,000 to date. The H. Hector and J. Vasquez mixes of Tamyra's lead single, "Raindrops Will Fall," peaked at #5 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart; another set of remixes of the same song also hit #9 on that chart. Gray later parted ways with 19 Entertainment but remains close with Fuller, who attended her wedding to Sam Watters in Capri, Italy. .