Ariana Grande & The Heirs To Mariah Carey’s Christmas Throne
From Bieber to Sia and Kelly Clarkson all getting festive over the years, who can compete with the OG Winter Queen?
It's that time of year, the most wonderful, when Mariah Carey shoots up the charts worldwide with a song released 23 years ago because she is undeniably the Queen of Christmas.
'All I Want For Christmas Is You' somehow sounds better every year, as do her two Christmas albums - Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas II You, obviously - and she even released a film based on the song this year.
However, holiday albums have had a resurgence in recent years with everyone from Ariana Grande to Sia releasing their own collections of festive originals, but who lives up to the ultra-festive bar set by MC?
Do any have the potential to be holiday classics that we still ask Sophia The Robot to play them for us in 2040?
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
Yeah
I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need (and I)
Don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow (and I)
I'm just gonna keep on waiting underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it to the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do?
Oh, baby, all I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
Oh-oh, all the lights are shining so brightly everywhere (so brightly, baby)
And the sound of children's laughter fills the air (oh, oh, yeah)
And everyone is singing (oh, yeah)
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa, won't you bring me the one I really need? (Yeah, oh)
Won't you please bring my baby to me?
Oh, I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just wanna see my baby standing right outside my door
Oh, I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Oh, baby, all I want for Christmas is you
You, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas is you, baby
All I want for Christmas (all I really want) is you, baby
All I want (I want) for Christmas (all I really want) is you, baby
Well, there's certainly a few contenders. Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson and Justin Bieber's albums have all certified platinum in the US, although Kelly's is undoubtedly the one that comes back around each year, most likely due to her year flawless (and frankly life-changing) cover of 'Run Rudolph Run'. Honestly, it's everything about Christmas - snow, woolly jumpers, Home Alone - bundled into 2 minutes and 28 seconds.
The album itself, Wrapped In Red, is a mix of good 'ole fashioned covers and a handful of originals, and we reckon Clarkson has her eye on Mariah's crown as she dropped another new tune titled 'Christmas Eve' fresh for this winter.
While we're being honest, we're going to go ahead and say that Christina Aguilera's album My Kind of Christmas is a forgotten classic. Despite being a million-seller in the States, you'd be forgiven for not having heard of it before now because the very-of-its-time pop production didn't go down too well with critics at the time.
Released in 2000, it is everything you could possibly want from a Christina Christmas album recorded in the early '00s: jaw-dropping ad-libs, *NSYNC-esque production and - most importantly - an interlude titled 'Xtina's Xmas'. It's wonderfully outrageous and while she may not be recognised as an heir to Mariah's throne, she sure is one to us.
Of the aforementioned albums, Justin Bieber's was the only one to receive the official blessing of Miss Mariah Christmas herself. His 2011 album Under the Mistletoe featured a ('SuperFestive!') cover of 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' that was actually a duet (!) with Carey and released as a single, complete with its own music video. Forget winning the lottery, that is like meeting Santa Claus!
Bieber's festive set also spawned the modern Christmas classic 'Mistletoe', one of few original festive songs to be released in recent years that has actually stuck around. With Usher and Busta Rhymes also featuring on Under The Mistletoe, it's definitely not such a classical affair but a super-sweet and nostalgic snapshot of Bieber 1.0 before the bad boy-turned-good-turned-somewhere-in-the-middle journey happened.
Also, the album debuted at Number 1 on Billboard 200 - the US album chart - which means it charted higher than any other album mentioned before. Yes, even Mariah's! The scandal!
Lights fill the streets, spreading so much cheer
I should be playing in the winter snow
But I'ma be under the mistletoe
I don't wanna miss out on the holiday
But I can't stop staring at your face
I should be playing in the winter snow
But I'ma be under the mistletoe
With you, shawty with you
With you, shawty with you
With you, under the mistletoe
Everyone's gathering around the fire
Chestnuts roasting like a hot July
I should be chilling with my folks, I know
But I'ma be under the mistletoe
Word on the street, Santa's coming tonight
Reindeer's flying through the sky so high
I should be making a list, I know
But I'ma be under the mistletoe
With you, shawty with you
With you, shawty with you
With you, under the mistletoe
With you, shawty with you
With you, shawty with you
With you, under the mistletoe
Ayy love
The wise men followed the star (the wise men followed the star)
The way I followed my heart
And it led me to a miracle
Ayy love (ayy love)
Don't you buy me nothing (don't you buy me nothing)
'Cause I am feeling one thing, your lips on my lips
That's a merry, merry Christmas
It's the most beautiful time of the year
Lights fill the streets, spreading so much cheer
I should be playing in the winter snow
But I'ma be under the mistletoe
I don't wanna miss out on the holiday
But I can't stop staring at your face
I should be playing in the winter snow
But I'ma be under the mistletoe
With you, shawty with you
With you, shawty with you
With you, under the mistletoe (yeah)
With you, shawty with you
With you, shawty with you
With you, under the mistletoe (under the mistletoe)
Kiss me underneath the mistletoe (kiss me underneath the mistletoe)
Show me, baby, that you love me so-oh-oh, oh, oh, oh (oh, oh, oh, yeah)
Kiss me underneath the mistletoe (kiss me underneath the mistletoe)
Show me, baby, that you love me so-oh-oh, oh, oh, oh (whoa, whoa)
While a Number 1 album will always be impressive, the charts aren't all that important as Mariah's reputation has evidently overshadowed the chart position.
This brings us to the ultimate heiress to Mariah's Christmas Throne: the one and only, ever-glowing, incredible Ariana Grande.
Let us be clear that this is not due to past comparisons or to stir up juvenile fan feuds but rather because, just like Mariah, Ariana is a festive vocalist with a lot of Christmas cheer to give and original ways to give it, making her the most promising of all to keep the cool and classic in Christmas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlR0MkrRklg
Ariana's rise to the festive reign began in 2013 when she dropped a 4-track EP Christmas Kisses, a sweet introduction with two timeless covers ('Last Christmas' and 'Santa Baby') and two original songs. It was a sweet way to dip her toes into the mulled wine but the lights really switched on when she dropped the insanely catchy 'Santa Tell Me', which has become a certified Christmas staple.
With an adorable video and earworm of a chorus, the jingly bop has came back around each year alongside 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' and 'Mistletoe' as the winter kicks in.
Her title as the Christmas Princess was cemented in 2015 when she dropped the sensual Christmas & Chill, a 6-track EP with a a Netflix-switching title that says it all, as she makes the festive season her own with six banging R&B bops that are sultry odes to making your, er, loved ones feel special at the best time of year.
There's no question that Mariah Carey will always be the Christmas Queen but with hope of a Christmas & Chill follow-up coming next year, we'd say Ariana is leading the younger festive pack of pop.
All hail our Christmas Queens and Kings! Merry Christmas!
Words: Ross McNeilage
Listen to your favourite tracks no matter where you are with the MTV TRAX music app. No ads, no limits, no monkey business. Download it now for FREE at mtvtrax.com.
WATCH KELLY CLARKSON'S 'WRAPPED IN RED' VIDEO BELOW
Snow is falling down
Prayers are being answered
Miracles all around
From afar, I've loved you
But never let it show
And every year another
December comes and goes
Always watching
Never reaching
But...
This Christmas
I'm gonna risk it all
This Christmas
I'm not afraid to fall
So I'm at your door with nothing more
Than words I've never said
In all this white, you'll see me like
You've never seen me yet
Wrapped in red (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Blue is where I've been
Green can't buy me you
Silver does remind me
That mistletoe's for two
So I found a color
That only tells the truth
That paints a picture
Of how I feel for you, oh, oh
This Christmas
I'm gonna risk it all
This Christmas
I'm not afraid to fall
So I'm at your door with nothing more
Than words I never said
In all this white, you'll see me like
You've never seen me yet
Wrapped in red (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
I'll never feel you
If I don't tell you
This Christmas
I'm gonna risk it all
This Christmas
I'm not afraid to fall
So I'm at your door with nothing more
Than words I never said
In all this white, you'll see me like
You've never seen me yet
Wrapped in red (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Wrapped in red (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)