Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Recent post-Voice releases include singles from a trio of former finalists — Ricky Duran, Jacquie (Lee) and Jordan Smith.

Here’s a bit about each of those releases.

The links take you to the songs on Apple Music.

* Ricky Duran, the Season 17 runner-up, released a new single called “Star” earlier this week. Ricky told People that it’s a song about his girlfriend, Alyssa Tosti. Though doing okay now, Tosti suffered a stroke while Ricky was competing on The Voice. “I’ve written a lot of songs about the losses and struggles I’ve had in my life. I wanted to write a song that was about something positive in my life. If there is one thing that is positive, it’s the love I feel for her.” It follows “Selfish Love” and “She Closed Her Eyes” in a string of impressive post-show singles from Ricky.

* Jacquie, runner-up on Season 5 as Jacquie Lee, warns guys not to treat her badly in “Five-Two,” her latest single. As in, Jacquie stands 5 foot 2. Write Jacquie on Instagram: “This is the first song I’ve dropped as a truly independent artist — no label, no management, and absolutely no budget. It’s the first song I’ve recorded, mixed, and released myself. It’s the scariest moment of my career, and that’s how I know it’s the right move. This is me — owning my sound and my image, owning my strengths and weaknesses, owning my future wins and losses. And it feels good.”

* Jordan Smith, the Season 9 champ, dropped a new single called “So Many Reasons” on Friday. The song is one of his wife Kristen’s favorites and he opted to release it on their fifth anniversary. It follows “Battles” and “Great You Are” as the third Christian single this year from Jordan. He also recently announced that he and Kristen will be serving together as worship pastors at Near Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky.