Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: I didn't know he sang. I thought he rapped or whatever.
[00:00:04] Speaker B: Robert Downey Jr. You thought Robert Downey Jr. Rapped?
[00:00:07] Speaker A: No, that was a reference to Mariah. I'm sorry.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Divas, are you there?
Do you hear sleigh bells ringing?
[00:00:39] Speaker A: Are they ring ting tingling too?
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. Wait, I feel like my nose is tingling. Maybe it's turning red too.
Is that Christma?
Oh, my goodness. My divas, I hope that you are all staying warm.
Happy holidays to all of you.
I know that Cam and I have been very nice this year, actually. I've been nice. I don't know about Cam.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: I've been naughty.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: Of course you have. Of course you have. But, yes. Divas, thank you for joining us during this lovely Christmas time.
Cam and I are so excited to show you what we've got planned today.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: Yeah, we're going to be doing something a little bit different, a little Christmas special, if you will. We don't have an album to review today, but at the same time, we wanted to give some festivity. And so, yeah, we. We kind of have something different. What are we gonna do, Nellie?
[00:01:42] Speaker B: So Santa, as you know, because we are Santa's helpers, His El says diva helpers as. As you will, has tasked us with making the most perfect Christmas album of all time. And honestly, this one was a hard, hard, hard challenge because, you know, there are so many beautiful Christmas songs out there and so many beautiful, wonderful Christmas albums. You know, what's a girl to do? But we know our answers are correct. We know that Santa will be very proud of us. Do you think so too, Kim?
[00:02:14] Speaker A: I do believe that Santa will be very happy with our choices. I think with Christmas music, it's kind of a genre of its own. Like, even Spotify wrapped, it usually comes at the beginning of December as opposed to the end of the year. So it's kind of interesting to not take into account the Christmas moments. But, yeah, it's just. It's so iconic and comes back every year, and it's kind of like this inaccessible kind of music that you can't listen to until it's festive.
[00:02:45] Speaker B: I will say now that I don't work retail.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: It's.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: It is actually so delightful to hear Christmas music working in retail. Listening to Christmas music made me wanna die, which is such a shame because Christmas is my favorite holiday and I really, really do love Christmas music. But, like, imagine, like, doing markdowns or trying to work as a cashier while Celine Dion's best Christmas songs are playing and you're Dealing with a hellish customer. It's actually, like, really, really, really nightmarish. And it came out alive. I really did. And I live to tell the tale.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: Now you're here.
[00:03:22] Speaker B: I'm here.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: I'm so glad you got through that.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: If you ever need to talk.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: No, I'll just sing.
[00:03:33] Speaker A: No, but, yeah, I. When I worked, I worked, like, at grocery stores and stuff, and I heard the Christmas music, and I was always. I was always here for it. But. But I think doing it at your own leisure, listening at your own leisure is kind of a different moment.
And as I've gotten older, I've gotten to kind of choose what I like of Christmas music. And, I mean.
Nelly, what. What's my favorite Christmas album of all time?
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Don't even know what you know.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: And that's the thing. I don't even have to say it because, honestly, I feel like the audience can even chime in right now. Like, if it's not Mariah Carey for anything you say, it's like, then we know that you're in danger.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: That's your distress call.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: I'm a clone. It's not me. I've been kidnapped and replaced like Avril Lavigne.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: It's Melissa.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, it's Melissa here. No, but, yeah, that's absolutely my favorite Christmas album of all time. I've beaten it to death. I've literally beaten it to death. I love it so much. But y' all will see, in the festivities we have planned, since I've been so naughty, Santa's making us make a little list of the best Christmas songs.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: So with that, actually, before we get into our track listing and the songs that we've chosen. Cam, what's your favorite Christmas tradition?
[00:05:00] Speaker A: My favorite Christmas tradition, one that always brings good memories to me, is every year, usually around my house in Ottawa. There's this street called Taffy Lane, and we go and drive down there on Christmas Eve. Usually we'll get some timmies, you know, like, some French Vanilla moments with the family, and we'll walk down Taffy Lane and see all the lights. And this street goes all out. Like, there are so many different lights and festivities, and it's really decorated to the nine, so. And if it's snowing, you know, it's like, it's a nice little Christmas moment. It really helps get you in the Christmas vibe. And then, yeah, usually I go home and after that and wrap my gifts to the Polar Express. That movie.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: Oh, my God, I love the Polar Express.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: I really fucking love that movie.
It's so hated.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: It's hated.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Wait, sorry. You were gonna sing. Can you. Can you. Can you sing for me?
[00:06:03] Speaker A: Wait, what is it? When Christmas Comes to Town.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: I want to say this because I've never had the opportunity to say this on the Internet before, but in that movie, when they're at the back of the train and it's the little boy and the little girl singing Christmas Comes to Town, that little boy goes to hit the low now, and he's, like, all around, like. And he can't fucking hit it, but they had nothing else to do but use it.
So next time you see the movie, you're going to think about this.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: It's funny because I don't know how I missed that. I remember so many points. I remember the hot chocolate and how good it looked. I need that bad. I need that bad.
But also, like, I think of, like, how much I shipped them when I was younger. There's a part, she's singing and the way that he looks at her. I'm just like. I remember being so young, and I'm like, oh, my God, they need to be together. They need to be together fast.
I romanticized too many things when I was younger. Like, I don't know why I couldn't just let them be friends, but I'm like, no, they need to hold hands. They need to kiss.
But she. Her voice sounded so. I remember, like, just listening to it and being like, she's going to be a star.
I'm sorry, girl.
I hope you do still become a star. But, like, the way. She's, like, so good. Like, so good.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Yeah, she all them pretty well ate in that movie. And, like, did you know Tom Hanks? So that whole movie is motion captured. So Tom Hanks did the motion capture for the little boy.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: The little boy, the conductor and Santa.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And. And Josh Hutcherson is the voice of the lead boy. That's him.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Wait, what?
[00:07:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: Josh Hutcherson. Why was Josh Hutcherson in everything?
Like, he had so many creds when he was younger.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: Yeah, he did so much. My family always hated Bridge to Terabithia, though, because they didn't like that the girl died at the end. Like, hated that movie. They're like, that's so stupid.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Yeah, she didn't. She really didn't have to die. That was. That was. That was a stupid choice. I agree with them.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: That's the only thing I remember.
[00:08:22] Speaker B: But that's the thing. I know that's the Thing is that, like, that is the most notable fact. But, like, if you're. If your only fact that you're hanging on to every movie is the fact that the girl dies, make a better movie, make a better story.
But anyway, sorry. Sorry. It's all the. All to the. Sorry. To the Bridgies, to the Bridget. To Arabithia Stans. But, like, why'd you kill your girl?
Okay. Oh, my God, that's so cute. That is very, very, very cute. I feel like Polar Express is such, like, a nice, wholesome family moment. I remember whenever I think of Polar Express, I think of, like, the school assemblies for Christmas, like, the holiday assemblies. And, like, it was always pajama day. And, like, we'd be watching Polar Express in the gym and all those freaking, freaking cowards, they'd be like, I'm so scared. They were so scared of the movie. And I'm just like. Because it looked freaking creepy, I guess, to have Tom Hanks's face times three.
But, like, they're like, oh, my God.
And I was like, pass me the remote. Turn this up. Turn this up. Turn it up.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: I love that kind of bops. They're kind of bops in that movie as well. And, yeah, I didn't.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: I didn't.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: I mean, I kind of discovered it as a teenager. The only thing I knew of the Polar Express before that, it was in the Harry Potter 3 DVD. Like, the opening, there was a trailer, and I was like, what the fuck? I don't care about this movie. And then the movie ended up being really good, but I beat it to death as well. So I need to find a new movie.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Oh, I love that movie.
[00:09:52] Speaker A: Sorry, Dzou, what's your favorite Christmas tradition?
[00:09:55] Speaker B: So, actually, because our family, like, there's seven of us, so. So we realized one year that we have enough people for Secret Santa. And so we've been doing Secret Santa pretty much, like, every other year. So if we're not on a trip, we're doing Secret Santa. And just. I don't know. I really. Something I really love about Christmas is I just. I love anything to do with nostalgia. I already know that nostalgia will be the death of me. Like, it will kill me. Anything to do with nostalgia, I'm there. I.
Which is why, like, I can't even count the amount of times I've watched Home Alone.
[00:10:29] Speaker A: Oh, I love Home Alone.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: Home Alone.
I was obsessed with the Preacher's wife as well.
Oh, my God.
What a nice little Easter egg for us.
Oh, and sorry how the Grinch Stole Christmas as well. Both versions. Okay. I love the animated and the Jim Carrey. I love also how, like, it's just referred to as a Jim Carrey version. Not even the live action, just Jim Carrey version.
Cause he's just everything.
But. Yeah, I don't know. I just, like, my traditions are a lot to do with, like. I mean, it's, you know, pretty standard, just traditional family time.
But it's also. Cause, like, I come from a family where, like, Everybody is doing 12 million things at once and very busy.
So this is a. It's just a really, really nice time. Like the one or two days that we have together to just be like, hey, let's like, slow down.
So very, very nice. Very, very nice tradition. Very, very nice time for all of us. But that makes me think of also just like, Christmas movies in general. Like, you mentioned the Polar Express being like, part of your tradition. Do you have any other gems that you think of that come to mind in your top three?
[00:11:39] Speaker A: I loved Home Alone when I was a kid.
And I mean, like, all the Home Alone, I had a DVD set with all four of them.
Um, so including the two good ones with Macaulay Culkin and then the two bad ones that are. That came out after with, like, three.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: No, three after. Right.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, I think. I think there's been another one since that DVD came out. But, yeah, I.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: Awful.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I'd say, you know, they're pretty iconic. The first two is very iconic. I'd say two is actually probably better for me.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Agreed.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: But in terms of, like, a music moment, something I always try and watch every year.
So in 1994, when Mariah Carey's Christmas album came out, she had a benefit concert for the Fresh Air Fund, which is like a camp for kids who live in the inner city of, like, Chicago and, you know, wherever. And the us that don't get the chance to go to camp, so they pay for the camp.
[00:12:42] Speaker B: Oh, that's so nice.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: Yeah. So Mariah did a benefit concert for that, and she sang a bunch of Christmas songs from her Christmas album. And so they taped it, only released, like, one performance of it, Joy to the World. And then it never saw the light of day for 25 years until the 25th anniversary where they released it. And I was gagged. I was so gagged because the lambs were like, we know you have this in the vault. Sony, we know you have it.
So I try and I try and watch that every year because it's, you know, it's. It's her at that Time doing a Christmas concert and she could fucking sing. She like she could still sing, but she could sing then. So yeah, it was, it was, it was, it was crazy. But yeah, that's something I like to watch.
It's like a cute little, little moment. It's not long, but. Yeah, I know, I know that's not a movie, but. And weirdly, elf isn't my favorite.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: You like Elf?
[00:13:41] Speaker A: No, I don't, I don't really like Elf.
[00:13:42] Speaker B: Oh, sorry. Okay, never mind. Sorry. I was about to, I was about to drag you.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: No, it's funny, but it's not really my thing. Like it just gives me really, really weird vibes. Like I don't, I can't explain it.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: I'm just not a Will Ferrell guy, like girly at all really. So like I remember when we'd watch it in class, like it was torture.
I just never found him funny.
[00:14:07] Speaker A: I mean I could see how he's funny. It's just. I don't, I don't know, something about the movie. I'm like, I like side eyed a little bit but like people love that movie. So like do your thing. I'm not trying to be a Grinch, But yeah, I, I don't know. I, I would like to watch the Preacher's Wife I think this year though. But I more associate like classic movies with Christmas time kind of because that's what they used to. When my parents were growing up, they would play classic movies around Christmas time including like the Sound of Music and the wizard of Oz. So I just kind of associate that with Christmas and even like Harry Potter, like the first few.
So yeah, it's less like Christmas movies and just like certain kinds of movies.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: Interesting. Yeah, sorry, I'm like, that's actually so interesting. Like wizard of Oz during Christmas time.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: Well, my mom also has like a million wizard of Oz ornaments cuz that's her favorite movie ever. So I've always, always associated it with Christmas and even like Emerald City's green. Right. So it's just always been tied together in my brain because that's what I grew up with.
But yeah, and I love it. It's, it's super cute.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: I think my mom's favorite Christmas movie is Madea.
A Medea Christmas movie. Madea. Tyler Perry.
Like have you ever seen the Tyler Perry Christmas. Like Madea movies don't, but there's one specifically. It's like a Christmas one and my mom is obsessed. Anyways, this is not about Tyler Perry. This is about Christmas.
It's Christmas. It is Christmas. It is the most wonderful time of the year. And now that we've gotten to talk about our traditions and what we like to do, it's now time to get into what we like to listen to.
So, as mentioned, Santa has tasked us with the very challenging task of making the most perfect Christmas album of all time. And so Cam has. Cam and I rather have pulled different songs from various Christmas albums that fit different categories that we've set to fulfill to fill out this most amazing Christmas album of all time. Now, you're gonna listen to this track listing. You're gonna be like, where's this? Where's that? We don't care. Do you know why? Because it's our Christmas. Okay? It is our Christmas, and you can't take away our gifts. So if you disagree, go to hell.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Don't be a grinch. This is. This is our. This is our album, bitch, not yours.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: It is literally ours. So don't take it away. Don't take Christmas away from us.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Mm. It's not about you.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: It's not about you.
So with that, let's take it away. Cam, wanna start us off?
[00:16:55] Speaker A: Sure. So a little bit about the rules.
So for both of us. We both don't know what each other picked. We have our pre picked categories that we're gonna give our answers to. We can't do more than one song from a Christmas album. And I already. I'm already telling you, Nellie, I already broke the rule. I broke it. I don't give a fuck.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: And that's the thing is that, like me telling Cam to only choose one song from any Mariah album. Like, not even just the Christmas album. Any Mariah album. I think he'd chase me. So I. You know what? I'll let him. I'll let him bend that little rule. I was a little bit more. I followed the rules, particularly, which is why I'm on a nice list.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: Good for you.
I'd rather be naughty.
[00:17:38] Speaker B: Of course you would. Of course you would. But, like, I feel like I have a sense of what you might have chosen, but also you might prove me wrong. So I'm excited to hear. I'm excited to hear. Should we sing them?
[00:17:51] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: Instead of. Instead of saying the title, let's just start singing it for each category.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Maybe you can.
I mean, I need some auto tune. I need some auto tune.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Cam, you're a star.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: By the way, our lovely editor Blake. I was listening to our Paul Abdul episode that he edited and sent back, and there was a moment in the Episode which the listeners will know if they're listening to every episode, because it would have come out before this where we were talking about. We both sang Paul Abdul straight up. And I said, can you auto tune this? I said, can you auto tune this for me? And. And at the end, he fucking did. He fucking auto tuned us singing straight up by Paula Abdul, put it in the song and then put it at the end. And I was like, you're so iconic, Blake.
[00:18:42] Speaker B: You're going to Hollywood. You know that, right? Like, you're actually going to Hollywood. We appreciate you, Blake, so much. We hope that you're having a great holiday season.
And I hope that you don't disagree with us as you're listening to this.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: I know, I know, but I just wanted to mention that so maybe he could make fetch happen with a little bit of Auto Tune. But we'll see.
[00:19:03] Speaker B: All right, Cam, start us off.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: So the first category is best original Christmas song.
Girl, this is a joke.
You don't know what this is.
What is it, Nelly?
[00:19:22] Speaker B: I. Okay, but the thing is though, Cam, I knew you'd be predictable. Okay. All I want for Christmas is you. I already know it's going to be the best original Christmas song. Yeah, and that's true, though. It actually is.
It literally is. It literally is.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: It's classic.
It's from the 90s, so it sounds modern, but it also kind of sounds like it's from the 70s or the 60s.
But also, Mariah's voice is timeless, so doesn't have a particular moment. It doesn't sound like it's from 1994.
And yeah, are you kidding? Also, Mariah's. Mariah's Christmas album, her first one, both are very good, but her first one, Merry Christmas, that is the best vocal she's ever laid down in her career. She sounds so good on that album.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: You know what I also like with this song specifically too? I literally feel like I'm on a sleigh ride with her vocals. Like, I literally like when she's like, woo, baby. Like, I feel like I'm like turbulent. Like, it's like I'm on. I'm in the freaking wind.
She.
[00:20:26] Speaker A: Her.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: Her runs are insane.
Insane.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: And the layering too, it's so cute. There's a. Like, her voice is doubled up and the backgrounds are so cute. It's such an iconic song. I mean, there's really not much to say about it that hasn't been said. But yeah, like, I feel like that's just a 100,000 million billion kajillion trillion quintillion gadillion percent. No brainer.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: No, she's amazing. I. I can't even be mad. Also, I don't even know what I would say in place of that, so.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: Left her down because you'd be wrong.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: All right, moving on to the best children's choir arrangement. Because when you think of Christmas, you also. You think of the kids. You think of the children, too, which is why I, of course, had to include somewhere in my memory from Home Alone.
Somewhere in my memory.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: Oh, I know that shit.
[00:21:35] Speaker B: It's so good. That's my. That's my.
[00:21:38] Speaker A: That's my.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: I was. It was actually a toss up between that one and the song from the second one, Christmas Star.
Whatever.
Whatever.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: I don't know that one.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Yes, you do.
[00:21:54] Speaker A: I.
I only remember the.
As the theme from the movie. That's.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: That's. It is a running. It is the running theme, I think, for both movies pretty much, actually. But, like, the second one has, like, a variate. Like, it's like. It's sounds like the sister song to that one.
And I actually.
For the longest time, I actually liked the second one more. But when we're talking about, like, the best, like, the most iconic and, like, obviously it's somewhere in my memory and. Yeah, the kids.
For the kids.
[00:22:27] Speaker A: I gotta. I gotta listen to that. Maybe I'll add it to the rotation again.
[00:22:31] Speaker B: I told you nostalgia is gonna kill me. And, like, because Christmas is. Has so much to do with nostalgia, like, this is the song that I, like, associate. I think of just, like, being a kid and just waiting for fake Santa to come down our fake chimney that we don't own.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I think Santa was. I think I probably stopped. Well, I don't know. What if there's kids listening?
[00:22:58] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, you're right. All right, next.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: Well, if there's kids listening, girl, the.
[00:23:03] Speaker B: Parents need to get lost.
All right, Cam, the next category is yours.
[00:23:10] Speaker A: All right, so for the next category, it is the best Christmas ballad.
So for this one, there's so many good Christmas ballads, but. But I had to pick a modern one of someone that Nelly very much loves and I love, too. This is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever. And it is. Who would imagine a King by Whitney Houston from the Preacher's Wife Jen.
[00:23:35] Speaker B: A king.
Are there any recruiters out there listening?
[00:23:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:42] Speaker B: Any talent? Talent agents?
No. You know me. You love me, Cam. You really do. Oh, thank you. I love that song so, so much. And I was trying to find a way to, like, fit her into One of my categories, but I could not make that happen.
[00:23:56] Speaker A: That's fair. Yeah, no, I think.
I think we had to have Whitney absolutely in there. Like the thing with Whitney's Christmas catalog, she has the Preacher's Wife, which is not a Christmas album, it's a gospel album. But there's a lot of Christmas songs in it, like Joy to the World and this song.
So.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's like. I feel like this song because it's like, it's a lot to do with nativity, which is very Christmas.
So I feel like it definitely does fit the Christmas out of the. Out of the songs in the album. Like, it's one of the most Christmas themed for sure. The movie is a Christmas movie, so it definitely fits in general.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: But like, it's a Christmas movie.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: It is a Christmasy movie. It's themed around Christmas.
[00:24:46] Speaker A: Oh, okay, then that's a Christmas movie.
[00:24:48] Speaker B: Exactly. Thank you.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: I gotta watch it then for Christmas.
[00:24:51] Speaker B: It is so good. And like Denzel Washington and Courtney V. Vance, like, it's a great, great cast. Also Denzel Washington, like.
Nevermind. Let me not say my thoughts here.
[00:25:03] Speaker A: I've heard your thoughts on this.
[00:25:07] Speaker B: Let me not expose myself.
Oh, Denzel. Oh, Whitney. Sorry. Christmas. Oh my God. Christmas. Merry Christmas.
Oh, what a great choice. Thanks. Thank you, Cam. For that one.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: No worries, Dal.
Okay, so for the next one, our category is Best Christmas Uptempo. And for this one I chose Baby Please Come Home by Brenda Lee.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: Oh, wait, that's fun.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: That's kind of. It's kind of an iconic song. Like I. Obviously I prefer Mariah's version, but I mean, it's pretty iconic. Baby, please come.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: Interesting. Interesting. I wasn't. I don't know what I was expecting from you, but it wouldn't have been that for some reason if I had.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: To pick because I could probably answer Mariah for every single one of these categories. Right. I would say Joy to the World lives live at St. John the Divine would be my favorite up tempo of Mariah. But we can't have too much Mariah. We gotta. We gotta spread it out. So.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: I love that. That is. And also like Brenda Lee also has.
Hold on. There's another song that she has that I really freaking love. Wait, one more time. Oh, Rockin around the Christmas tree. Oh my God. Sorry. That would be my honorable mention.
[00:26:30] Speaker A: That's a good one too.
[00:26:31] Speaker B: That would be my honorable mention. All right. Okay. That was a great choice.
So I have been tasked with best Christmas mid tempo. When I tell y' all I was fighting for my life. Because I was. I didn't know if Cam was gonna choose like a Whitney song, so I was like, oh my God, Whitney is mine. But I was like trying to make fetch happen with like some of the ones from her album. And I would have chosen Joy. Actually, not Joy to the World, but Joy from the Preacher's Wave. But it's not really Christmassy. So I had to go with the very next best thing, which I absolutely love, which is Winter Wonderland by Ella Fitzgerald. And it comes from Ella Wishes yous A Swinging Christmas.
Now Ella Fitzgerald also, I think is a major, major honorable mention in general of a diva that we didn't get a chance to record. But she is the moment. Okay. Going into the category. Cause also like even thinking about like this album was released I think 1960.
Yes, 1960.
Peak jazz. And thinking about just like the ways that she like her covers of different songs just like literally completely makes the original obsolete. And this, she has so many covers of different Christmas songs on this album. And I'm like, I. I don't even know if I want to listen to the original because the original was probably some lame ass, lame ass dude singing the Christmas song. And so like I.
Winter Wonderland. I don't even. I don't even care for whatever came before. It is such a beautiful, beautiful rendition of it. And it's a beautiful mid tempo song also, again, nostalgia, you know, it'll kill me.
[00:28:16] Speaker A: I love that. Great choice, Nellie.
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Thank you.
And so as we know, we. With different albums that we've covered, there's always a skip.
Okay? There is always, almost always, Almost always a skip.
Which I, of course it was a toss up honorable mention for this one was Grandma Got Run over by Reindeer.
But my skip. Cuz I also wanted to include more divas in here. I'm so sorry, Joni Mitchell, but River.
What the fuck, girl?
Hate that song. Down. I hate that song.
[00:28:53] Speaker A: Down. How does it go?
[00:28:55] Speaker B: Come along, Christmas Come along, Trip, Come along.
And she's like, I wish I had a river that I could skate away on.
No. And especially Robert Downey Jr. Did a cover of it that's even more horrendous.
And I just.
It makes me want to never celebrate Christmas ever again.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: I didn't know he sang. I thought he rapped or whatever.
[00:29:25] Speaker B: Robert Downey Jr. You thought Robert Downey Jr. Rapped?
[00:29:28] Speaker A: No, that was a reference to Mariah. I'm sorry.
[00:29:35] Speaker B: Kim.
I literally looked you in the face and I was like, wait, Iron man, that's funny as fuck.
But when I Found out that he sang, I was like, don't ever do that again. And especially with this song, I'm like, no, I. I can't. Sorry to all the RDJ stands also. I'm not that sorry. Like, I don't. Whatever. I just. Whenever this song would come on the radio, I'm like, turn this shit off. Or better yet, let's turn this car around.
Let's go. Let's go. Let's go somewhere else.
But, yeah, that is. That is my honorable mention. Sorry, Joni Mitchell, but what the.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: That's real. That's very real.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you.
[00:30:17] Speaker A: So for the next category, it is best rendition of a classic traditional Christmas song.
So for me, this is where I start to break our rules that we made.
[00:30:29] Speaker B: Of course you do.
[00:30:31] Speaker A: But just like Janet says, make the rules and break them if we're not having fun.
[00:30:36] Speaker B: Is Janet in the room with us right now? No, not your room.
[00:30:44] Speaker A: Yep. Janet, come out. No, I'm just kidding.
So for me, it would be oh, Holy Night by Mariah Carey.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: And I can't fault you, though.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: I love the Celine Dion version as well. And I thought about putting this in in this place, but it just does not top the Mariah version. For me, it is probably the craziest vocals, some of the craziest vocals of her career.
She didn't sing it live until, like, 2001. And even that, it's like, I don't know how life that was, but yeah, she really, really gives it on the song.
There's deep parts of her voice. There's really bright, strong, high parts of her voice.
There's a big whistle at the end. I probably never heard her voice stronger than in this song.
So it's. It's just so gorgeous.
One of my favorite Mariah Carey and. And Christmas songs of all time. And one of my favorite vocal moments in general ever.
Because the thing with Mariah, you know. You know how there's, like, songs that are, like, good for a Christmas song? Like, Mariah just makes it good in general. You know what I mean?
[00:31:53] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true.
[00:31:55] Speaker A: So for me, like, it's just.
Have you ever seen, like, that meme of, like, for family guy stands? Well, I'm. Okay. I'm low key. A huge family guy, Stan. But there's. There's. There's this joke in the show where Carter Peterschmitt, like, Lois's dad, is listening to music, and right in front of the speaker, and the music is so loud that it's blowing him and his lazy boy backwards.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: Oh, my God.
[00:32:22] Speaker A: That's just how I feel when I hear these vocals.
And I'm just so gagged. I was. I've always been gagged by this. No one has done a Holy Night better. And people try.
[00:32:31] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, her. Oh, Holy Night. Also, like, I love a good song. Like, I love a good, like, song that strays away from the four, four time signature. I'm pretty sure it's in three, four time. Is that the three, four times or six, eight. Yeah, three, four. And it's just, it's an. It's just so.
And she just, like, leans into, like, the drums really well.
Like, they act like such good support in the song. And she just.
It is, It's. That was. That was a great choice. And I can't even be mad at the fact that you literally took the rules and you shat on it.
But, yeah, yeah, sue me.
[00:33:14] Speaker A: That's why I'm naughty.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: But like, yeah, like, Merry Christmas as an album is phenomenal and it'd be hard. It would be a shame to only have to choose one, so. I getcha.
I getcha. We originally actually were gonna try and do, like, the best. Try and choose the best Christmas album of all time, but there was not a world in which we could not have Merry Christmas by Mariah Carey as the best Christmas album of all time. So we pivoted.
[00:33:40] Speaker A: Yeah.
Also, I'm kind of not breaking my rules because oh, Holy Night is also on Mariah's second Christmas album.
So technically, sure, it counts.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: Sure.
I have an honorable mention for this song or for this category, rather.
Drummer Boy.
Drummer Boy by Justin Bieber.
Like, sorry.
Like, I think for me, for me, what makes this one stand out for me is that, like, the, like, oh, Holy Night already loved the song and she just made. She took it. She took it to another level. Little Drummer Boy. I was so freaking confused when I first heard it. Also, maybe because I'm not Jewish, but I was like, what does this mean to me? What does this mean for me? What does this mean to you? And I.
How can I. How can I connect myself to this? Because, you know, I have to connect myself to everything. And Justin Bieber just made it in a way that I just spiritually connected to it because, like, the way that he just added an unnecessary riff to the song, I'm like, that's something I would do. Honestly, you would do as well. Cam the.
Like, there's no reason.
There was no reason for that. And yet he did. He did that for you and me, so. And then the Rump bump. Like, yeah, like, hit it, you know, so that is my. My reason for the best rendition of classic traditional Christmas song is. Was actually made by none other than Justin Bieber.
[00:35:23] Speaker A: I love how Justin Bieber's little drummer boy is up there with A Holy Night by Moriah for you.
This makes me laugh.
[00:35:35] Speaker B: I.
That's why I'm not a lawyer, because I'm freaking losing in court.
I have really bad takes.
Anyways. All right, next.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: So next is the best romantic Christmas song. And for me, I had to include a song by Celine Dion. This is one of her only writing credits in her career and she kind of wrote it by mistake because she thought it was a song that already existed.
But it's. Don't save it all for Christmas Day.
And the sentiment in the song is basically, you know, don't be lovey dovey just because it's a holiday.
And, and. And don't be.
Don't show me love just because it's Christmas, you know, all year round. That's what I want from you. Yeah. So, yeah, it's just a very.
It's very sweet. And I. Yeah. And I wanted to include Celine. This one my favorite Christmas songs. And yeah, vocally, girl, she hits it. She. She really goes there.
So it's probably my favorite song from her Christmas album, if not her cover of A Holy Night. But yeah, it's. It's such a good song. If you haven't heard it.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: Oh, I'm very grateful you included Celine. I was like devastated when I didn't get a chance to include Celine because if I got the category of best original Christmas song, I might have actually put the magic of Christmas Day as like.
[00:37:01] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: Best original.
God bless us, everyone.
Oh, I love that song so much.
But I'm really like, that is. That is such a beautiful song. I also just love that album in general. Like, it is so tender.
[00:37:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:16] Speaker B: And like, we've mentioned this because, you know the classic three, Celine, Whitney, Mariah, and how special each of them are. Like, she has such a way with her voice where, like, she's so gentle, but also like, never fails to hit exactly where she needs to go. There's no scooping with her. There's no, like, there's none of that. She hits it like, she is like, has perfect aim with her arrow, her bow and arrow.
And especially with just like, with how tender her voice is. It's the perfect voice for a Christmas album. So she did it. She did it so well.
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And this was right after falling into you and let's talk about love. So she was really on top of the world. I think both of those sold at least 30 million albums worldwide. So she was really doing well.
So riding high with that. And while we're talking about the vocal trinity, I would just like to mention how important timing is with a Christmas album, because with Mariah, hers was in between Music Box and Daydream and probably the peak vocally of her career. And then for Celine, like I said, riding high just after My Heart will go on and because you loved me. Unfortunately for Whitney Houston, she kind of got the shorter end of the stick. She did do the preacher's wife in 96, and that had a whole soundtrack. But Whitney's Christmas album is not my favorite.
[00:38:51] Speaker B: Whitney's.
[00:38:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I just think, unfortunately, it was the wrong timing for her. This is when she was heavy into her drug use and her. Her voice in just, what, seven years had unfortunately deteriorated quite a bit. So Whitney's Christmas album is not my favorite.
I do prefer the Preacher's Wife. And, you know, she also has. Do I Hear what I hear from 95? So there. There are a lot of great Christmas songs by Whitney Houston.
Yeah. But, yeah, like I said, timing is everything. Can you imagine if we got one, like, in between or, like, right before the Bodyguard?
[00:39:31] Speaker B: I know, I. I remember from that album, like, really liking. Like, I really liked her rendition of the First Noel. I also really love the First Noel, like, as this person's song in general. It's cute, but I can. I can see what you mean. Like, I think it was. It's. It, like, there is such a clear difference between her Christmas album and the Preacher's Wife. I think there was such, like, a level of, like, her. Her voice had, like, rapidly matured just with, you know, everything that she had going on within just within seven years. So, like, it. Like, it. There is definitely, like, a stark difference, but, yeah, it hurts me to say, but I'm like. I do agree. I do agree. I don't think it's her strongest.
I don't think it's the strongest Christmas album, but I think it could have been. It could have been different had her vocals had been different.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: Yeah, like, and I don't know if her heart was really in it either.
[00:40:29] Speaker B: True.
[00:40:30] Speaker A: It might have been just to fulfill, like, a contractual obligation. I don't know. I really don't know. But an album by Whitney that's very overlooked is the just Whitney album from 2002. And, yeah, it didn't do very well because she was having so Much problems publicly. That's why didn't she. That's around the time she had the Diane Sawyer interview where she's like, crack is whack. That iconic moment that. That. Okay. Like it or not, that is so iconic. But yeah, I. I think. I think unfortunately the timing wasn't.
It's just a hard time at her career because I feel like afterwards. Sorry, we're talking about Whitney, but this DVD coda, what do you expect?
This is right before I looked to you, where she kind of was open about everything that had been going on. This is when she was still married to Bobby Brown and still very much in the hole.
So, yeah, it makes me sad also to listen to it, just knowing what was going on. So I think that's why I prefer the Preacher's Wife and some of her 90s material more. But yeah, I just. I just wanted to mention that I love her.
[00:41:36] Speaker B: I love her down. I still. We still love you, Whitney.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: But yeah, sorry, back to.
Back to the track listing. I love our tangents.
That was. That said, that was a great choice for best romantic Christmas song. I just. Sorry, last thing I'll say about that is that, like, Celine just is such, like, she has such a fawn appearance, like F A W N. Like, she's like a doe doe eyed girl.
And so, like, I think for. What an amazing crossover to have, like, a romantic Christmas song be such a hit. Like, it's. She's everything.
We love you. We love you, Celine. And I will see you. Okay. I will see you. We'll figure it out.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll make it work.
[00:42:21] Speaker B: So with that, this leads to best acapella Christmas song there were.
[00:42:27] Speaker A: Huh?
[00:42:27] Speaker B: This one was hard. I was like, holy crap. I didn't realize how many, like, acapella Christmas arrangements that I really, really did love.
But I would be a freaking fool to not include Pentatonix. I'm sorry, I. I need to include Pentatonix in here. Mary, did you know they're. Mary, did you know Arrangement. I remember it. Glee clubs were never the same.
Like, it, like, literally, Trent, like, it transformed us as a whole. I remember performing this live in class, in our vocal class live with grade nine vocals.
But, like, it's. It just really, really did shape the way that a lot of us thought, like, Pentatonix did have a big, big.
Played a huge factor in, like, the ways that we envisioned stacking vocals, particularly with people that, like, that I went to school with. Because, like, you know, you hear, like, songs like you hear. You hear Brandy, for instance. And you're like, oh, my God, what a beautiful vocalist. And you're like, I can't do that.
I can't freaking do that. I can't go into a studio and stack my vocals.
And then Pentatonix, which obviously freaking barbershop quartets were always a thing and stuff, but Pentatonix just felt like such a new age, reimagining the ways in which we thought of singing in groups. And they just had all very distinct looks too, that I'm like, I freaking knew their names. I don't know their names now, but I felt so familiar with them. And their rendition of Mary did, you know was just. It was just freaking everything. And the. I also really liked their Winter. Winter night hymnal. Is that what it's called?
[00:44:12] Speaker A: I. I really like. What's their original Christmas song. That's really good.
Christmas to me. Sorry. That's Christmas to me.
[00:44:21] Speaker B: Because that's Christmas to me. That was when Avi was still there. I mean, yeah, Mary did you know Avi was still there too? Christmas to me was such a beautiful song too. But it was. That was a great album in general. Like, the first Christmas album that was really, really, really good. That also, like, was that. That was the era in which they would, like, post, like, evolution of music videos and stuff and they would do, like, it just. They just. They were able to bring us back to different times very effectively with their vocals. Anyways, all that to say, Pentatonix, you will always be famous.
And I really. I really. I really loved this rendition.
With that, this also leads to best modern pop Christmas song.
Now, now, now, now, now, now.
I actually originally, immediately thought Kelly Clarkson like anything Christmas by Kelly Clarkson, but I think I actually, like. I. I couldn't stop calling Back to Santa Tell Me by Ariana. I actually. I couldn't. I couldn't not do that. I also, like, feel like when. When I'm like, we're thinking modern. Modern. Like today I'll be talking to my little cousins. Even I can talk to my little cousins about, like, Santa, Tell me. And they'd be like, oh, my God, Iconic. Best Christmas song. And I'm just like, I just have to. I think it's gotta be like, a little bit more universal of a truth, though.
Kelly Clarson, underneath the Tree.
Like, I. That is my major, major honorable mention.
[00:45:53] Speaker A: I love that song. And Wrapped in Red.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: Wrapped in Red was so good.
But I really. I. I think Santa Tell Me is just like, I. I just. I gotta. I gotta.
It's also so good when Ariana thought she was black for a second. Like, it's so good. Like, it's so, so, so good.
[00:46:11] Speaker A: Black Iona.
[00:46:14] Speaker B: So I. I had to include that there. I don't have much to say about it. It's just a really good song.
[00:46:19] Speaker A: Cute. No, that. That is a great song. I listened to it today, actually, and, yeah, it's such a good Christmas bop. It's one of the biggest Christmas songs ever.
So, yeah, it's. It's. It's so fire. And I think it's going to grow bigger legs as it gets older.
[00:46:34] Speaker B: Exactly. But it's really.
[00:46:36] Speaker A: Well, yeah. Yeah.
[00:46:39] Speaker B: So now this is my last category, which is best Christmas Vocals.
Now, Cam, what do you think I'm going to choose?
[00:46:54] Speaker A: I would say Whitney, but I know it's not Whitney.
[00:46:59] Speaker B: Do you know who it actually is? Boys to Men. Ah, it is Boyz II Men, and it is their rendition of Silent Night.
[00:47:06] Speaker A: Oh, I need to listen to that. I love Voice to Men.
[00:47:09] Speaker B: You know, I actually was considering them for best acapella as well, because this is an acapella rendition, but I couldn't not put pentatonix there.
[00:47:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:20] Speaker B: And I, like, it was so easy to put them in west vocals because I'm like, it's literally freaking boys to bed.
And this Christmas album is so, so beautiful. And I remember first hearing it in, like, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, this rendition specifically, and just falling in Love.
Like, I never. I never actually really liked the song. I think Silent Night is a very boring Christmas song.
Boring song in general, but the rendition just adds so much texture to the song, and, like, I can feel, like, the hairs on my neck just, like, ugh.
[00:47:58] Speaker A: They could sing Happy Birthday, and it would give you chills and give me chills.
They're so amazing.
[00:48:06] Speaker B: It would give me a lot of things. It would give me a lot of things, Cam.
So I freaking love this rendition, and you should, too.
[00:48:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I, I love Boys to Men.
Recently, I actually heard it's funny you mentioned them being in a show or this song being in a show, because I recently heard so Hard to say Goodbye their cover of it. I think it's a cover. And Family Guy, they used it in a. In a part where, like, RER was recalled or something, so he missed RER I don't know, Stewie. So it was used as a joke, but I was like, that's a really good song.
[00:48:44] Speaker B: Oh, God.
[00:48:45] Speaker A: Which I feel like. I feel like that's a very niche experience.
Like, like, you know, anyway, Boys to men is amazing. I love them.
[00:48:57] Speaker B: I associate that song with funerals. It is a very.
It feels like a very funeral experience. Well, actually, like, never mind. Let me not make this jerk. Beautiful song.
[00:49:10] Speaker A: All right, so for the final category, we're gonna end on a bit of a somber note, so best sad Christmas song. And this one is also my last, as it's our last in general.
And for this, I would have to choose the incomparable Judy Garland singing have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.
The original song is quite sad. It was made, I think, in 1944 for Mimi and St. Louis, the film, which is kind of a Christmas movie. Kind of not. It covers, like, a whole year, I think, and goes through different seasons. But the song was written for that. And I'd say it's a sad Christmas song because she actually sings it in the movie to comfort, I think, her little sister or something. I haven't seen it in a while, but. And a lot of, like, a lyric has changed in. In a lot of covers of it, but the original lyric is, until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow.
But it might have been Frank Sinatra that changed it to. I. Don't quote me on that. Seriously, don't quote me on that. Change it to hang a shining star upon the highest bow.
So. But, yeah, is. It is actually kind of a sad Christmas song if you look at its original intention. And I think the writer of it originally had completely different lyrics where it was, like, such a downer. It was so much of a downer. Judy Garland was like, girl, I can't sing this. Like, this is like. This is so depressing.
So he rewrote the song, and now it's a classic. Another honorable mention for me.
One of the saddest Christmas songs I know of is by Mariah. It's an original. It's from 1994. It's called Ms. Yous Most At Christmas Time.
That is such a beautiful song. Sorry, I've given Nelly no opportunity to speak.
[00:51:01] Speaker B: No, no. I'm looking into this as you're. As you're talking. I'm like, I never actually considered have Yourself at Christmas as a sad Christmas song. So that's why I'm like, oh, let me actually look at the words.
[00:51:11] Speaker A: Nelly's. Nelly's like Google, and she doing her research while I was like, on her. Like, on, like, a pink laptop.
[00:51:19] Speaker B: It's like, glowing tapping.
[00:51:22] Speaker A: But, yeah, that is such a great Christmas song. Miss you most at Christmas time. The vocals are amazing. And, yeah, if you haven't heard It. Go listen to it.
One of my favorite Christmas songs, even though it's such a somber moment. But I love Music Box by Mariah Carey, and it feels like a music box Christmas song, so I love both of those. But I had to give it to Judy Garland because she is just so amazing. And like I said, my association with the wizard of Oz and Christmas just kind of is. It's too perfect for me, so I'd have to give it to that. To that one.
[00:51:58] Speaker B: You know what?
I'll give that to you.
I think. I think all things considered and how naughty you've been this year, I'm like, you had a pretty nice Christmas, a nice Christmas list.
And I do think that we made a diva Christmas album. Like, I think. I think we did. Made a really well rounded diva Christmas album. I also thought this would be a great opportunity on my end to, like, include people that we probably won't cover as divas.
[00:52:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, I don't know how we could cover Judy Garland because I don't even know she had recorded albums. I know she had movies, and that's how her music would get out there, but.
[00:52:38] Speaker B: Exactly.
There are possible renditions of, like, groups, like, diva groups, and that's how I can maybe imagine Boyz II Men being thrown in there. But, like, I can't imagine.
[00:52:50] Speaker A: They're divas.
[00:52:51] Speaker B: They're divas. They're divas, but they might not be part of our standard episodes. And Justin Bieber is Justin Bieber. So who freaking knows when.
What opportunity we'd be able to throw him in? So, like, I think this is. This is really, really, very, very special.
We're gonna be making a track list of all these songs together for you to listen so that you can feel like a diva too.
[00:53:12] Speaker A: Mm. It'll be on Spotify. Because if you have apple music, that really sucks for you.
[00:53:18] Speaker B: Yeah, it really, really does.
[00:53:19] Speaker A: Who is apple music?
[00:53:20] Speaker B: Also, why.
And also, why do you have apple music? But it's okay. Never mind. Jk.
Let me not ostracize any of our listeners.
[00:53:30] Speaker A: No. Do you. Thanks for listening. Give us five stars. Oh, my God.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: But for real. For real. Thank you so much for listening. We wanted to do something very special for holidays, and we thank you for spending some time with us. You could be with your families. You could be receiving gifts right now, but you wanted to receive the greatest gift of all, which is our voices.
[00:53:49] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: Yeah, we appreciate that.
[00:53:51] Speaker A: So.
And, you know, Nelly's been very nice this year, so she'll get some good gifts. I've Been naughty. So I'm gonna get some coal. Yeah.
In my stocking. But that's okay.
[00:54:02] Speaker B: It'll be for me. It'll be me.
[00:54:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Nelly's gonna show up in my house dressed as the Grinch.
Yes. Give me coal, smash all my Christmas ornaments, and. Yeah.
[00:54:13] Speaker B: What a dream. What a dream.
But, yeah, with that, we wish you a very merry Christmas. Happy holidays. We also understand that, you know, not all of our listeners celebrate Christmas. So whatever your tradition may be, whatever your holiday transition is, I hope it keeps you. You warm, keeps you safe, and that you're able to also appreciate the warmth of the holidays through our voices.
[00:54:38] Speaker A: Yeah, our sexy voices.
[00:54:40] Speaker B: Sexy voices. And it's just. It's also a shame that there aren't at least I don't know any really non Christmas holiday songs.
So I would love for you to also educate us if there are any diva songs that are non Christmas themed that are, you know, that might be Muslim or Jewish or celebrating Kwanzaa. I would love to listen. But I think, obviously, like, a lot of the songs that we know as holiday are centered around Christmas, which is a shame. We should do better. But I hope that you're able to find some new divas through this as well.
[00:55:15] Speaker A: Yeah, like you said, I think we got to cover people. We normally wouldn't, so that's really cool. And, yeah, I hope, yeah, whatever you celebrate, you. You enjoy this time of year and spend some time with your family.
And, yeah. Thank you so much for listening.
[00:55:29] Speaker B: Thank you, divas, for listening. See you in a little while. We'll be coming back soon. The second half of first seasons of Diva Decoded.
[00:55:37] Speaker A: Yes. We're very excited, and thank you for sticking with us so far.
And we're excited for, you know, what we're going to release in the new year.
[00:55:46] Speaker B: Have a great holiday season, divas.
[00:55:48] Speaker A: Bye. Bye.
[00:56:09] Speaker B: That's my, that's my, that's my. That's my.
