Looking for some Idol music to augment that holiday playlist? There’s a lot to choose from. Even more than you realize–the Idols love to release Christmas tunes.
Let’s start with the new stuff. 2008 offered plenty holiday music from the Idols.
First the freebies. ‘Cause everyone loves free stuff. Jason Castro accompanies himself on the ukulele for his take on the holiday classic, “White Christmas,” available at Amazon.
More new singles: Michael Johns self-penned charity single, “Another Christmas” benefits MDA and the Red Cross. It’s available on iTunes and Amazon. Ramiele Malubay offers her holiday single, “We Are One (this Christmas) HERE. And Carrie Underwood duets with a very dead Elvis Presley. If you’re into that kind of thing, download “I’ll Be Home For Christmas from iTunes and Amazon.
There are new Christmas albums this year from Elliott Yamin–download My Kind of Holiday from iTunes and Amazon. Mandisa’s It’s Christmas can also be downloaded from iTunes and Amazon. Paris Bennett has A Royal Christmas – iTunes and Amazon.
More Idol Christmas music–Older releases, after the jump…
Speaking of 2007, Jordin Sparks had a song on last year’s This Christmas soundtrack. Get “Ill Be Home for Christmas at iTunes and Amazon.
If you hate yourself, make sure to download William Hung’s Christmas Classics. Or at least they were classics, before he got done with them…
Best of the Rest:
- Jon Peter Lewis’s Canadian, self-penned holiday hit (seriously, it peaked at #13 in 2006) “It’s Christmas”.
- Clay Aiken’s 2004 Christmas album, Merry Christmas with Love went platinum – iTunes and Amazon
. And more from Clay–the iTunes-only EP All is Well.
- Check out this oldie but goodie from Season 1 and Season 2 contestants, American Idol, The Great Holiday Classics, including holiday favorites from Clay Aiken, Tamyra Gray, Ruben Studdard and Kelly Clarkson.
- George Huff’s My Christmas EP, was released shortly after the Season 3 tour ended in 2004.
- Breaking for the Holidays, from 2006, featured Idols, Jon Peter Lewis, singing the Beach Boy inspired “California Christmas” and Vonzell Solomon’s “It’s Going to be a Cold Cold Christmas”. Also, check out Vonzell Solomon singing “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”.
- Josh Gracin has several Christmas songs available – “Please Come Home for Christmas”, “Oh Holy Night” and “The Virgin’s Lullaby”.
Thanks for the head’s up on JPL’s “It’s Christmas”, MJ. I missed it the first time around, but grabbed it from iTunes a couple of minutes ago – love it! Thanks, too, for the links to Chris Sligh’s tunes. Already had several of the others, also thanks to you – love me some Christmas music, especially when it’s free! Merry Christmas to all!
MJ you didn’t mention Carrie’s Walmart exclusive EP of 5 Christmas songs. Granted it’s Walmart and you’d have to buy CR to get the Christmas tunes but it’s still Christmas music. And it’s some good stuff too, especially The First Noel and What Child Is This?
Here is the COMPLETE list (as far as I have found) of Idol Christmas albums and singles (sorted by season of the contestant followed by first name of the contestant; italics indicate pre-Idol recording) – some of them are hard to find and you may have to go to their own website or MySpace to get them:
Albums
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ All Is Well (EP, 11/28/2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Clay Aiken
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Merry Christmas With Love (album, 11/16/2004) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Clay Aiken
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Christmas (album, 11/06/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Kimberley Locke
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ My Christmas EP! (EP, 11/09/2004) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ George Huff
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Sing Me Home (album, 12/17/2004) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Lisa Leuschner
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Hung for the Holidays (album, 10/19/2004) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ William Hung
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ My Kind of Holiday (album, 10/07/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Elliott Yamin
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Sounds of the Season (album, 10/16/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Elliott Yamin
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Please Come Home For Christmas (album, 2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Lisa Tucker
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Christmas Joy EP (EP, 11/20/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Mandisa
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Christmas (album, 10/14/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Mandisa
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ A Royal Christmas (album, 10/14/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Paris Bennett
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ The Carol Commission (album, 11/02/1999, w/M-Pact) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Rudy Cardenas
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ The Thrill of Hope (album, 2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Sean Michel
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ Christmastime (album, 11/01/2002, w/Chapter6) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Luke Menard
Singles
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“O Holy Nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/04/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Josh Gracin
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Please Come Home For Christmasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 11/01/2005) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Josh Gracin
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Virginà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Lullabyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 11/01/2005) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Josh Gracin
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Jingle Bellsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 10/17/2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Kimberley Locke
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Up on the Housetopà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 10/25/2005) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Kimberley Locke
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Christmasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 08/30/2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Jon Peter Lewis
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Very Merry Christmasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/15/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Bo Bice
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Upon A Christmas Nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/21/2005) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Scott Savol
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Santa Claus Is Coming to Townà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/04/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Bucky Covington
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“This Christmasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/04/2006) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Elliott Yamin
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Warm Me Upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (limited single, 12/02/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Elliott Yamin
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“O Come All Ye Faithfulà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/11/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Katharine McPhee
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Santa Babyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 09/18/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Kellie Pickler
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (limited single, 12/15/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Chris Sligh
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“When You Come Home Againà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (limited single, 12/15/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Chris Sligh
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“White Christmasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/15/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Jason Castro
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Another Christmasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/09/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Michael Johns
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“We Are One (This Christmas)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ (single, 12/02/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ Ramiele Malubay
All-Idol compilations
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ American Christmas (album, 11/27/2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ 9 contestants
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ American Christmas 2008 (album, 11/25/2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ 12 contestants
à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¢ American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics (album, 10/14/2003) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ 6 contestants
Not to mention the many compilations mentioned with a mixture of Idol and non-Idol acts…
This was actually quite a decent effort. The best part though, was the bonus disc, which included Kelly Clarkson’s versions of “O Holy Night” and “My Grownup Christmas List.”
It’s interesting that she has never released a Christmas album.
No contestant from season 1 has released any standalone Christmas recording.
I’m one of the few who think that recording an xmas cd no matter how well received could be a double edged sword to an idol. That is why I never chime in when David’s fans cry for an xmas cd. It’s not just that I don’t really like or buy them (I did get a few of the freebies, lol), it’s just that if it’s for a sophomore cd, it can take the winds out of a pop career easily.
I always thought that is one of the things that happened to Clay, he became father xmas instead of a pop singer. I must admit though that I never thought of him as much of a pop singer anyway, and xmas was better suited for him. I don’t feel that for Archie, but he is just too new to the game to be putting out an wmas cd. IMHO! That is unless it will be accompanied by a regular cd either prior or right after the holidays. It should not be treated as a regular cd, you really can’t tour on xmas songs!
I chose songs that could be downloaded–as a last minute round-out-your-holiday playlist kind of deal.
I didn’t know about Carrie’s EP either…and can’t seem to find information about it.
As for some of the more obscure ones on there, it might be a good idea to check them out and purchase them if you like them, since they are just typical struggling musicians, not the big name acts with major backing.
Thanks for the download list, MJ! Quite a bunch of holiday-celebrators we have here…
Let me shamelessly plug the Young People’s Chorus of New York City’s debut cd. It so happens that Phil Stacey sings on one of the songs called “Where Are My Angels.” The cd is available for download at amazon.com . Their link is below, with a sample of each song. Phil’s is the 3rd. It is based on a touching story, which can be found on the second link below. the 3rd and 4th are of the cd and Phil’s song, respectively.
http://www.coolsideofyuletide.com/
http://www.ypc.org/coolsideofyuletide/Coolside_Of_Yuletide_Press_Release_11-21-08.pdf
http://www.amazon.com/Coolside-Of…sic&qid=1229053963&sr=8-1 (the whole cd, “Coolside of Yuletide”)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/…TF8&qid=1229053963&sr=8-1 (“Where Are My Angels”)