Chris Medina

Chris Medina
Chris Medina performing in Sweden, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Edward Medina
Born	(1983-11-30) November 30, 1983 (age 33) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	Rock, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist
Instruments	Guitar, piano, drums, bass
Years active	2011–present

Christopher Edward "Chris" Medina (born November 30, 1983) is an American singer born in Chicago, Illinois. In late 2010 he auditioned for American Idol making it to the top 40 before being eliminated. He is most famous for his hit "What Are Words" a big hit for him in Sweden and Norway where it reached number 1. It also charted in Denmark and made it to number 83 on Billboard Hot 100.

Medina grew up in Chicago then relocated to a nearby suburb Oak Forest, Illinois, and graduated from Columbia College Chicago.

In late 2010 he auditioned for the reality show and talent contest "American Idol" and received a "golden ticket to Hollywood", making it to the top 40 out of 327 contestants on Season 10 in 2011. The night he was eliminated on February 24, 2011, Jennifer Lopez, one of the judges, could not control how terrible she felt that she was the one who had to tell him he would not advance further and cried afterwards.

On the day after his elimination, February 25, 2011, "What Are Words," recorded for Simon Cowell's record label 19 Recordings, was released worldwide. Medina stated publicly the song is about his fiancée, Juliana Ramos, who suffered a brain injury as the result of a serious car accident on October 2, 2009, two months before they were to be married, and the storyline was heavily used during his American Idol tryout, even being brought on the show to emphasize the powerful nature of the song. (Medina has since admitted publicly that Ramos had been drinking, driving erratically as well as texting, and as a result the accident was her fault.) As of mid 2014, Ramos and Medina are no longer a couple, but they will "forever be soul-mates". The song was written by Rodney Jerkins, Andre Lindal and Lauren Christy, and given to Medina to record.