The Holiday Music Fest

This will be an "All I Want for Christmas" folderol.  Certaiinly, this is not a little-known song -- but the reality is that there are two songs by the same name, and both are very popular, though one (as popular as it is in country music circles) is more under-the wire.  And we have lesser-known, fun performances of them -- with a bonus.

The best-known of course, is the version sung and co-written by Mariah Caray.  James Corden had a "Carpool Karaoke" performance of it with the singer recently...but after a lively start, it took a quick right-turn and became totally different and a joy.  If you didn't see it, I shall say no more.

The other version was released in 1989 by an offbeat group, Vince Vance and the Valiants, and it's a rousing, song with a powerful vocal.  After it was discovered, it's become a Top Ten holiday recording on country radio for 20 years.  The thing is, when the group finally made a video they used a model who lip-synced the song, and that lead singer on the number, Lisa Layne, as a hidden voice.

I thought it only right and proper to give Lisa Layne her due.  So, here she is -- still performing on her own, here in Branson, Missouri -- with the song.  It's not as gritty and driven as the original recording, but she still does a terrific performance of the very good song.

And finaly, as a bonus, we go back to the first song, the Mariah Caray version, but this time "performed" (in a manner of speaking...) by -- President Barack Obama.  Not really, but a group named Baracksdubs, which does this sort of thing, has strung together words from the President's speech over the year and -- with a bit of help, I assume, from autotuning -- created a very amusing, entertaining version of the song.