THE DRAW
QUARTERFINALS
Luther Vandross vs. Hanson
This Is Christmas vs. Snowed In
The legendary voice of Luther Vandross is a bit too much for a pre-teen, teen and post-teen to handle, though their album did have some interesting medley’s. Either way, Hanson is outta here.
Celine Dion vs. Harry Connich Jr.
These Are Special Times vs. When My Heart Finds Christmas
Proof that Christmas albums have some of the dumbest titles of any genre.
Harry Connich Jr.’s album went triple platinum and was a huge release in the early 90’s, but it’s numbers still pale in comparison to Celine’s huge holiday release. She moves into the semi finals.
Mariah Carey vs. Christina Aguilera
Merry Christmas vs. My Kind Of Christmas
Two diva’s going head to head.
Both albums feature some of the classic Christmas hits, but Mariah’s went onto become one of the biggest Christmas albums of all time, while Christina’s received poor reviews critically and we’re still waiting for her to finish her vocal run on “O Holy Night”.
Mariah gets the easy win.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra vs. Sync
Christmas Eve & Other Stories vs. Home For Christmas
Give NSync credit, they managed to put out a Christmas album with original songs that are still getting major airplay today. The same can’t be said for many pop acts, and certainly not ones from 20 years ago. The unfortunate problem is that they’re matched up against the brilliant instrumentation of Trans-siberian orchestra and simply can’t compete. JT and those other guys are eliminated.
SEMIFINALS
Luther Vandross vs. Celine Dion
Two gigantic voices going head to head in this semi-final battle. Celine’s album is packed full of huge hits and, to be honest, there isn’t really a bad recording from start to finish. You probably know most of these songs because there’s a good chance your Mom had it on repeat during your childhood. Vandross delivers a rock-solid performance as usual and backs it up with over a million copies sold. But, even a platinum selling album can’t stop Celine who did 5 times that with her solo effort. She’s into the finals.
Mariah Carey vs. Trans-Siberian Orchestra
The Trans-Siberian orchestra is a freight train of sound and talent that doesn’t slow down on this 17 song whopper of an album. You can find them sitting comfortably at #9 for best selling Christmas albums of all time, which sold over 3 million copies.
The only issue is that sitting at #3 on that list is Mariah and her even bigger album. Record sales don’t count for everything, but the impact of Mariah’s album on the holiday season outweighs the heavy-hitting orchestra. She’s into the finals.
FINALS
Celine Dion vs. Mariah Carey
Celine Dion - These Are Special Times
Released: October 30th, 1998
Albums Sold: 5,310,000
Best Selling Christmas Albums Ranking: #4
Grammy Nominations: 2
Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas
Released: October 28th, 1994
Albums Sold: 5,370,000
Best Selling Christmas Albums Ranking: #3
Grammy Nominations: 0
Mariah Carey - Merry Christmas
These two albums were almost neck and neck with their success. Celine may have even had the edge from a critical standpoint, as These Are Special Times was very well received, but the difference maker in this contest was the one and only hit single “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
A huge song that is almost always at the top of holiday playlists and heard on Christmas radio stations seemingly once every 15 minutes. Not to ride the success of one single, however, Mariah’s album boasts a number of excellent holiday renditions including Silent Night, Santa Clause Is Comin’ To Town and her immensely popular cover of O Holy Night.
Your champion – Mariah Carey (Merry Christmas)
