Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Editor’s Note: As Idol Season 11 kicks off, let’s catch up with some of the contestants we met at this time a year ago.

Who can forget the night Idol introduced us to 26-year-old Chris Medina and his heart-touching backstory?

Chris was making plans for his wedding when Juliana Ramos was in a car crash in October 2009 that left her in a wheelchair with brain damage.  He then became one of her caregivers.

Chris made it to the green mile episode of Idol, but was eliminated in a decision that left Jennifer Lopez in tears.

Many of you probably recall that Chris released a single called “What Are Words” last spring.  The song climbed as high as 83 on Billboard’s Hot 100, but failed to become a major hit.

At least in the U.S.  Apparently the song reached number one in both Norway and Sweden, where Chris has performed lately. In fact, he performed on Norway Idol on Dec. 2.

And you might not know that he released a second single, “One More Time,” in Sweden and Norway in mid-November, followed by an album titled “What Are Words” on Nov. 25.

Neither is available in the U.S. yet, but I’ve embedded the video for “One More Time” and audio for the album’s closing track, “Juliet,” below. Snoop around YouTube, and you can find audio of most of the other album tracks as well.

As for Juliana, Chris writes about her frequently on his Facebook page; check out the Dec. 26 post where he talks about kissing the family dog that she hates. You can track Juliana’s progress — and she’s making progress — on her mother’s blog.

Chris also writes this on Facebook:  “New season of American Idol is just around the corner. I remember exactly how I was feeling right about now. Somebody’s life is about to change in 2012!  Happy memories.  Thank you American Idol and Samuel Fuller for making dreams come true!”

Video for “One More Time”

“Juliet,” closing track from the album “What Are Words”