I remember when Christmas was marked by Christmas specials that were of high quality. They involved orchestras and singers of renown ushering in the season with classic renditions of old Christmas favorites. But those such memories are all in the past, and I wonder if they will ever become present events again.
Let me just rattle off a few of the highly touted Christmas specials:
An American Idol Christmas featuring Rueben, Anastasia, and that first chick we forgot about
Dr. Phil’s Christmas featuring Vanessa Williams and JOJO
And last, but certainly not least, An intimate evening of Christmas merriment with Clay Akins
I’ll tell you what, nothing says “Christmas spirit” like JOJO and American Idol. I am so sick of these people getting Christmas specials just because they are famous, and then proceeding to butcher classic songs. So I propose the following stipulations that one must meet in order to garner one’s own Christmas special:
- You have never competed on American Idol
- You have had a career (that consists of doing music more than 10 years and putting out more than 3 albums, none of which are a “Best of”
- You are world renown for actually being able to sing well, not just picked by American idiots (I suppose that is similar to #1, but applies to the Billboard Top 40 as well)
- You promise not to butcher the songs by doing awful renditions including numerous “runs” up and down the scale just to prove that you can hit notes
Though not comprehensive, I think it is a good start. You are welcome to add your own stipulations to the list. Hopefully, if followed, we can put the “mas” back in “Christmas.”
2 comments:
The best Christmas special I remember was by the California Raisens. It was all in Clay-mation (not of the Aiken variety), and they did the coolest rendition of "We Three Kings" I have ever heard.
I also recall Wierd AL being on the Winans Christmas specail. That was a little bizarre.
I too loved the Clay-mation of the California Raisins. Those things were so awesome.
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