Happy Birthday Chris Richardson!

Chris Richardson became known, along with Blake, for taking some classic songs and giving them a modern spin. While the judges had mixed opinions on some of his updates, they were glad to have someone taking risks. His rendition of Jason Mraz's "Geek in the Pink" had Simon calling his "the best performance of the night by a mile," and Randy said it was even better than Jason's version! Simon didn't always give him high praise, though. In fact, he called his performance of Rascal Flatts' "Mayberry" a "nasally, tinny vocal," to which Chris replied "nasally is a form of singing!" Simon also criticized his performance of Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be," but simultaneously gave him a compliment, saying that the girls will love him because of his appearance and sex appeal. Randy was the first to draw the comparison to Justin Timberlake, and many seemed to agree that his appearance and singing held some similarities to the successful pop singer. Chris definitely never shunned the comparison, as he thinks Justin is extremely talented. But as he explained in an interview with TV Guide, "The hardest part is breaking away from that to show people that you are completely different. Me, I'm more in touch with my rock side. My music is more comparable to Maroon5 than it would ever be with Justin." Chris's post-Idol life has been filled with many exciting events. While touring with his "Idol" peers, he spent a great deal of time writing songs for many of them. As he also explained in the TV Guide article, "I know everything about them, and they know everything about me. It's so easy to write for them when you know about them and their personality and who they are as an artist." Primarily, he has written songs for Blake and Jordin, but he has also helped out Phil Stacey, and plans on doing the same for Gina Glocksen. Chris co-wrote "What'cha Got 2 Lose?" and the bonus track "Human" for Blake Lewis. Chris is currently working on his debut album with producer Ivan Coralliza. As is stated on Wikipedia via the Daily Press, "It'll be a mixture of a Maroon 5 sound with a little bit of Jason Mraz. I love rock and roll but I have this soulful type voice and I just like to infuse both of them." Chris also plays the guitar, drums, and the piano. Music might not be the only realm Chris dares to enter. In the TV Guide article, he reports that he has been approached to do some TV work on shows such as the FOX hit "House," and he just might partake in that at some point in his career. For now, he's happy working on his debut album and writing songs. Happy Birthday Chris! We're guessing that he was pretty happy to be hanging out with Martina McBride in this photo taken behind the scenes!