Idol Chatter & Voice Views

For the first time since Season 5, the debut album from the American Idol runner-up will not be available during the holiday shopping season.

But there will be a Jessica Sanchez album, the teen told The Hollywood Reporter last week (full interview here).

Jessica says she expects to have a single out in January, followed by an album in the spring.

It sounds like she’ll also be returning to Idol to promote her new music when the live shows begin in Season 12.

Jessica told The Hollywood Reporter to expect a variety of music on the new album.

“It’s not stuck on ballads and stuff, but more like urban R&B. But it will still be soulful Jessica.”

Of course, Jessica will also be featured on upcoming episodes of Glee. She expects to begin filming in January.

And since it will mark her acting debut, she says she’s been taking acting lessons.

The 2013 release of Jessica’s album is a departure from Idol tradition.

In fact, when Crystal Bowersox balked and said she wanted more time to work on her debut two years ago, the album still came out on Dec. 14.

The last Idol runner-up to release an album the following year was Katherine McPhee, whose self-titled debut didn’t hit stores until Jan. 30 of the following year.