'Idol' Judges Moved by Chris Medina's Performance and Brain Damaged Fiancee
"American Idol" judges moved by Medina's performance and brain-damaged fiancee.
Jan. 27, 2011— -- It's the tear-jerker moment from Wednesday's "American Idol" that everyone is talking about this morning.
Aspiring contestant Chris Medina from Oak Forest, Ill., sang an emotional rendition of The Script's Breakeven before bringing his wheelchair-bound fiancee Juliana Ramos, who suffered a traumatic brain injury during a car accident in 2009, into the audition room to meet the judges.
Though the judges were moved by both Ramos and Medina's performance, some "Idol" fans are already complaining about the so-called "Gokey" effect, referring to season eight's Danny Gokey, whose wife died of congenital heart disease four weeks before his audition.
"I feel terrible for what happened to him and his fiancee, but is it fair to everyone else?" one person wrote on USA Today's "Idol" message board. "Maybe there is nothing fair about this show and I am being crazy, but the show should not be doing this."
"Thanks Brian. I had tears tonight," another person wrote. "I hope the hate for him isn't as bad as it was for Gokey S8."
Medina, a 26-year-old Chicago native, had planned to marry Ramos in December 2009, two years after he proposed to her at the Starbucks where she worked as a barista.
But on October 2, 2009, two weeks before her planned bridal shower, Ramos was severely injured in a car accident on her way home. The accident left her nearly paralyzed, with traumatic brain injuries, as well as a skull and facial fractures. The bridal shower turned into a fund-raiser for her medical costs.
"Even though the doctors said she wasn't going to make it, I believed 100 percent she was going to," Medina said during a taped piece on "Idol." "I didn't know what to expect after that, but I certainly knew she wasn't going to die. A month and half later she woke up."
Now Medina, along with Ramos' mother, is her full-time caretaker. "I was about to make vows two months before the accident," he said. "What kind of guy would I be if I walked out when she needed me most?"
But Medina, who has a band called Able Body, had not forgotten his singing aspirations. On the band's Myspace page, he has posted several songs, including a video for the song "What Has Become of Me" that he wrote during Ramos' hospital stay.
Steven Tyler Meets Chris Medina's Fiancee
"If I were to make it to Hollywood I feel like it would get her to be happy about something again," Medina said on "Idol." "I feel like I would already have won something."
Clearly blown away by his soulful performance during Wednesday's Milwaukee auditions, the judges asked Medina to bring Ramos into the audition room to meet them.
"Go get your girlfriend," Jennifer Lopez said.
"You got to bring her back and introduce us," Steven Tyler echoed.
"Oh my God, that would make her day," Medina said, before running out to wheel his wife-to-be into the room.
"I got to tell you, I'm so happy right now," Tyler said turning to his fellow judges.
As Medina brought Ramos into the room, followed by her mother, the judges walked over to her, introducing themselves and shaking her outstretched hand.
Leaning close to her, Tyler said, "I just heard your fiance sing and he's so good. You know, because he sings to you all the time. I could tell."
Then Tyler kissed Ramos on the cheek, like he would one of his daughters, and whispered, "Oh baby, that's why he sings so good because he sings to you."
Delivering the good news, Randy Jackson said, "Dude, you're going to Hollywood."
Medina wheeled out Ramos, who carried the golden ticket in her hand, to shouts of joy.
As the camera cut back to the judges, Tyler still moved, could only utter, "Wow."
Related Stories
ABC News Live