A diva putting out a Christmas album is about as standard as Santa wearing a red suit. But, truly, the efforts of our favorite Melisma Queens are such a mixed bag. For uninspired efforts, look no further than Ashanti’s 2003 disc Ashanti’s Christmas or Jessica Simpson’s 2004 Rejoyce: The Christmas Album. (I’ll leave it to you PopWatch readers to decide if those two should even be termed as "divas.")
The best diva holiday disc for years (and you best not question this assertion!) was unequivocally Mariah Carey’s 1994 gem Merry Christmas, which is highlighted by jazzy jam "All I Want for Christmas is You." But this year I’m going to challenge that given by suggesting that maybe Christina Aguilera’s "Christmas Time"—from her 2000 album My Kind of Christmas—could be better than Mariah’s perennial fave. It’s both dramatic and a holiday trifle. Watch live-in-concert versions of both here and then sound off about your favorite in the comments below.
Time to throw down, PopWatchers: Who wins the battle of the Christmas divas?
More holiday fun from EW:
20 Worst Holiday Movies
Movie review: A Christmas Tale
‘30 Rock’ recap: A ghost of Christmas past
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Sorry, Tanner. The only diva who can possibly beat Mariah Carey on Christmas is Darlene Love. Admittedly it’s close, but “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” when sung by Darlene Love, is the best Christmas song. Ever.
Josh Groban is the best Christmas song diva!
CHRISTINA CHRISTINA CHRISTINA!
Christina has it all over Mariah.
I wanna give it to Xtina, but that song is far too ludicrous – and far too ludicrously sung – even to shower it with ironic love.
Christina’s Christmas album was just gross. Slick, oversung, and gross. She’s talented, but that album really was the climax of her over singing before she began to pull it back.
Mariah’s, on the other hand, is holiday perfection. Every song is an original interpretation without trying to obviously to be modern. The choirs are incredible. Her voice is incredible. I give myself a week in July where I secretly listen to nothing but that album on my iPod.
Christina’s Christmas album was just gross. Slick, oversung, and gross. She’s talented, but that album really was the climax of her over singing before she began to pull it back.
Mariah’s, on the other hand, is holiday perfection. Every song is an original interpretation without trying to obviously to be modern. The choirs are incredible. Her voice is incredible. I give myself a week in July where I secretly listen to nothing but that album on my iPod.
Ashanti and Jessica are not divas. Divas require talent. Mariah has talent, but I can’t stand her album. At the same time, thanks to her, we have Christina’s opus of oversinging… I’m torn.
Apparently live-in-concert means lip-synching-in-concert. So sad all these young “divas” never learned how to sing in public.
The best diva album has been and always will be Barbra Streisand’s, A Christmas Album.
Christina’s CD is pretty rough on the ears, and this is coming from a fan. It just oozes poor singing technique. Listen to her “Oh Holy Night,” she sings “In sin and error pwwaaiiiiining”…she has to slide up to the vowel, which makes it fairly…laughable, unfortunately. She truly has a rare gift of a voice, I just wish she knew how to use it better.
Mariah captures the commercialism and overzealousness of Christmas pretty well in her CD. “All I Want for Xmas” is a new holiday standard, and her Oh Holy Night may have vocal gymnastics, but it’s on such a grand and awe-inspiring scale that she pulls it off in a way Christina’s trill-every-note-to-death renditions simply can’t.
Both great singers but Mariahs’s Merry Christmas CD is a classic! No one can touch her! SERIOUSLY!
Christina is amazing.
both are great singers. mariahs xmas cd is amazing.christina is also great but she did oversing in her xmas cd.
I love both Divas.
Mariah’s album is a timeless classic.
Around 2000, Christina’s voice wasn’t as nurtured as it is now. She didn’t really know how to control it…So…
I think Mariah won this contest hands down. I LOVE CHRISTINA AND MARIAH!
P.S. is that seriously Lil Bow Wow? lol
Christina is far better. She has a more sultry voice and persona.
I am truly sick of Mariah’s poor old me victim songs and potty attitude. To me almost all of Mariah’s albums are the same. Her Christmas album sounds so sappy.
You gotta be kidding me. Mariah is far, far, far better.
I’d have to give it to Christina, based just on the performances above. She still can hit notes, Mariah used to. I personally wouldn’t buy either of their albums, though. You only listen to xmas albums once a year. Save your money!
For true perfection, check out the Popwatch about Judy Garland’s performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from “Meet Me in St Louis”. These 2 divas are not even close to being in Judy’s league.
Mariah Carey will always be the best. Christina is not even in the same league.
You gotta be kidding me? Comparing Mariah & Christina is like comparing Britney to Madonna except Mariah & Christina can sing. Anyway Mariah’s All I want for Christmas (Which she wrote), is a modern day classic can’t nobody touch her.
I remember when EW reviewed Mariah’s Christmas album in 1994 and gave it a bad grade, saying that “All I Want for Christmas is You” failed as a Christmas song because it was too difficult to sing along with. Now it is considered a classic. HA!
Wow i actually thought that the Christina song would be worth a listen, but its awful. Not fun at all. Was this before she went dirty? She could probably make a better track now. Mariah wins it in my opinion.
Serious? Comparing 4 minutes of overproduced early 00s R&B dreck to one of the most joy inducing songs of all time? No thanx plz.
Mariah’s is happy and more than ten years later, I think truly a classic. Christina’s Christmas Time is too much. It’ll never be a classic because it can only appeal to one group of people. Those in love with pop trash blended with bad rap interludes. I love Christina but Mariah’s song wins hands down.
Um, Xtina is lip-synching
Mariah is an Icon and ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ is, W/Out a doubt, one of the only modern classics to be widely regarded as having a permanent place in the holiday/seasonal canon; Christina on the other hand, though extremely talented, pales in comparison to Mariah.
I’m not a fan of either, but Mariah wins this one – hands down.
MARIAH. DUH. Christina aint nobody Destiny’s Child’s Xmas album is more iconic than her’s!
MC wins by far! Everyone has covered ‘All I Want For Christmas’…a song which Mariah wrote. Mariah’s Christmas album is one of the biggest if not the biggest sellers in history. Props to MC for conquering the mainstream and Christmas!!!!!
Christina’s song doesn’t have the much-needed classic arrangement. It sounds dated. But her voice is really something. Mariah’s song is (personally) not the best Christmas song out there. A modern classic…maybe…because of it’s Christmas movie-ready vibe. But even here (and she recorded this during her prime) her voice is struggling.