It’s that time again and were back to the roots of Mark On The Arts, where everything began 24 years ago with the very first Christmas Playlist. At the time it featured then cutting edge/now Holiday classic recordings like The Pointer Sisters’ “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”, John Cougar Mellenkamp’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”, Madonna’s “Santa Baby”, and, of course the then relatively new sensation, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. Ever since I’ve tried, with varying success, to replicate that with the newest and freshest sounds from the year’s new releases and some fun cuts to fill out a CD. While I recently began to doubt if the Annual Playlist would continue now that Cher released the ultimate Christmas album in 2023 to just play over and over again. But, after some recent drought years, 2025 bounced back, after being pretty brutal on most other fronts, and I was able to mine a decent playlist for all your holiday parties or gifts by the fire for another year.
And as a milestone, the 2025 playlist is the 5th Anniversary of MarkOnTheArts.com, when Jeff Harrison encouraged me to move all my FB notes to a permanent site and expand from there. Thanks to Jeff, and to my most talented daughter Hayley, who took over managing this site last year (and has done amazing graphic work for me here and on other bigger projects), and all my faithful followers who seem to really care what I think about Christmas music, theatre, and entertainment in general. I’m grateful for the opportunity to write for you. Here’s to continuing to grow the website in the new year with some hopefully more exciting new firsts!! Thanks for staying engaged and Happy Holidays.
The Criteria (Skip if you Know after 25 years…):
As ever, points are awarded more for taking a particular selection of music and making it not only entertaining and fresh but showing the artist one is famous for being in the interpretation—within the boundaries of the material. Also, while new original breakout singles are encouraged, the CD should be heavy on standards and classics. (I’ve become a little more lax on this rule after Sia blatantly defied it with an all-original album in 2017 that was genuinely fantastic.)
However, I’ve expanded the list of songs you won’t see any longer. Twenty years in the business and along with the grandfather of banned songs, the atrocious “Christmas Shoes” (which will still get you lifetime banned), there are a few other songs I can no longer tolerate listening to after 25 years of evaluating bad renditions. Additional songs that can cost points if I’m in the wrong mood:
“All I Want For Christmas Is You”—She’s so freaking crazy I can’t enjoy it anymore. It’s literally become the new “Christmas Shoes”. Unless she melts down in Times Square singing it again. That shit never gets old….
Let me say it again for the backrow. “My Favorite Things” is not a Christmas song. “Brown paper packages tied up in strings” is not Christmas. It’s UPS. Thanks Barbra.
“This Christmas”—The immortal Donnie Hathaway defined this song, but no one ever who has recorded it seems to be able to live up to his interpretation. This may just be one song that only one artist can do. So, don’t. But the only thing worse than “This Christmas” is…
“Last Christmas”—I’m sorry, but Wham! was pretty much a joke to begin with even in their 80s heyday, and they’ve aged worse than eggnog left out past its expiration date. He left you a year ago, get over it. This song is horrible. But not as horrible as…
“Wonderful Christmastime”—I mean Paul McCartney, you freaking wrote “Let It Be” and “Hey Jude”. This four-note tragedy is all you could contribute to Christmas for the ages? Epic fail.
And the most recent addition to the no-play list,“Mary Did You Know?”. Jesus Christ, Yes! For the 187th time, she freaking knew! A big damn guardian angel dropped out of the sky and briefed her. Stop asking already!!
“Christmastime Is Here”, or anything Vince Guaraldi composed for the Charlie Brown kids. Apparently, these songs are beyond 3D humans and you don’t have Guaraldi playing for you. It may be a good rule to extend this to any song recorded by a cartoon, because Alvin & the Chipmunks’ “Christmas Don’t Be Late” is equally annoying when attempted by human artists. So yeah, any cartoon except the Grinch. That one rocks.
Here are the 2025 hopefuls:
Pentatonix, Christmas in the City
Still the benchmark for the definitive a capella group, and by far the best since Rockapella put the art form on the pop charts, they are dependable for at least a semi-annual holiday release since their best, That’s Cristmas to Me in 2014. This year they have elevated their game and augmented their sound with accompaniments to be more radio friendly. The sound is less standard a capella (which, admittedly became exhaustedly overused after their success), making them sound less like the new Rockapella and more like the new Manhattan Transfer. They wear the new banner well (especially since they have never really recovered from the loss of the best bass ever in the business, Avi Kaplan). Highlights include an Andrews Sisters-inspired “Holly Jolly Christmas”, a big band swinging “Santa Be Good to My Baby” and “Bah Humbug”, and a medley of famous love standards which plays like a pared down version of the infamous “Elephant Love Medley” form Moulin Rouge. Even when they dip back into their familiar vocal sound, it’s a richer, fuller experience, best executed on the abbreviated olde carol “Caroling, Caroling”. Switching styles suits the vets well.
Grade: A+
Leann Rimes, Greatest Hits Christmas
In 2014, country music’s former darling released one of the worst, most sour Christmas albums I’ve every heard. What was supposed to make one raise a glass of cheer resulted more in wanting to raise a glass of cyanide. In a rushed out preparatory effort for her new Christmas tour, Leann Rimes has wisely augmented that embarrassing album with some of here earlier career Christmas now-classics that serve her well. I will maintain the career downturn for the once-admired young singer was her Lifetime Movie for Women affair she had with costar Eddie Cibrian. When they both broke up their marriages, fans turned their backs and both became box office poison, neither able to find any success like they had before. This album shows how infectious and joyous her music once was at the start of her career with her big band arrangements of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “All I Want for Christmas is You” (not that one, the other one). The album is a mixed bag of old and new (she insisted on using that silly cut of “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” from the horrible album) but they at least balance each other out now.
Grade: a bell curve C, covering all the extremes, up from her blatant fail on her last attempt
Trisha Yearwood, Christmastime
The country songbird with the powerhouse voice gives a variety of new cuts that showcase her smoother sounds and it’s a delight. Big band swing versions of “Cool Yule” and “Candy Cane Christmas” succeed as does a surprisingly serene version of “Blue Christmas”. (Ever since Annie Wilson blew that number out of the park on the first A Very Special Christmas compilation, I’ve wanted to hear a big voice country singer like Yearwood or Wynona top it. Has never happened.) The biggest disappointment is that she does the same thing Wynona does on every one of her Christmas albums and restrains her powerful voice to croon too many ballads, even slowing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” for some unknown reason. If you can wail. wail!
Grade: B+
Brad Paisley, Snow Globe Town
The country artist puts out his second Christmas CD and its a surprisingly fun collection of rockabilly holiday selections old and new. After a soft opening “Plug it in, Sparky”, a 40 second instrumental and vocal warmup, he busts into a strong opener, “Counting Down the Days”. Great versions of country-tinged classics of “The First Noel”, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, and, of course, “Jingle Bell Rock”. His title song seems to be a strong attempt to get some country radio play this season. It may not be a party album (or it might be for certain parties where they holiday line dance), but it’s a great one to have Christmas dinner or open presents to.
Grade: A
Mickey Guyton, Feels Like Christmas
The only black woman to ever be nominated for a Best Country Solo Grammy drops a fun collection of mostly original songs but they’re all easy on the ears. Much more pop-oriented than her peers, she opens strong with “Save a Little Christmas for Me” (which sounds like a great theme song as well as a great title for a future Hallmark Christmas movie) and “Sugar Cookie” (which sounds like it could have been a hit for Martha and the Vandelles). She also delivers on the title song and a gorgeous gospel arrangement of “O Holy Night”. The only slight misfire? Who paired her up with washed up 80s hair-boy screamer Michael Bolton on “Christmas Isn’t Christmas Without You”?
Grade: A+
Jessica Vosk, SLEIGH
It’s the year (well the second one, more on that later this month), of Wicked and this veteran of the Broadway show, considered one of the best Elphabas of the modern era, drops an album that is sure to be, well, “Popular”, at least in certain circles. Vosk has a great full voice and attacks her selections head on. She opens with a strong 1-2 with a remake of Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” (a two-tiered Wicked salute), followed by a respectable version of Mariah’s song we do not mention. She follows with some effective mashups of “Do You Hear the Faithful” (“Do You Hear What I Hear” and “O Come All Ye Faithful”) and “Let It Snow/Winter Wonderland” (a duet with Broadway golden retriever Neil Patrick Harris). She does technically violate some (most!) of my rules of the entries (brazenly including not just the dreaded Mariah song, but also “This Christmas”, “Last Christmas”, “My Favorite Things”, and “Mary Did You Know?”!). Girlfriend is blatantly defying more than gravity here! But her voice is a strong, clear welcome interpreter of the pieces. And bonus points for her novelty hit that might just become radio play on the Sirius Broadway Channel Holiday lists, “The Twelve Gays of Christmas”, where she sits with her gay gurlfriends sipping wine and getting drunker by the verse as they open more useless gifts saluting gay icons, stereotypical for her audience, like “Four Golden Girls……and Judy & Liza with a Z”. You get the idea. It’s fun shenanigans.
Grade: A+, SLEIGH, Queen!
Roberta Flack, Holidays
The 70s easy-listening R&B legend proves she can still kill us softly with her songs in this reverent collection of quiet, spiritual carols, perfectly suited for her voice and stylizations. I would in fact say this is one of the best matches of material to artist in recent years of the playlist. She is still in fine voice everywhere in her seventh decade as a Grammy sweeping recording artist. She is best on hymns like “We Three Kings” and “O Come All Ye Faithful”, and standards like “The Little Drummer Boy” and maybe the best female recording of ‘The Christmas Song” since Anne Murray 40 years ago. The surprise find, a unexpected gorgeous finale of “Let It Be”
Grade: A+, an institution
Eric Benėt, It’s Christmas
Benet delivers a smooth, velvety collection of songs that are perfect for a glass of wine around the fire. Sultry R&B arrangements are heavy on the original tracks, which is disappointing, because he does such a wonderful job on more standard fare. He excels on “Please Come Home for Christmas” and “O Holy Night”, and even novelty song “Mele Kalikimaka”. I’d love to have heard his smooth baritone croon “The Christmas Song”, a request you don’t often hear form me. Benėt is a new contender to be a modern day Bing Crosby and Luther Vandross, which isn’t as unlikely a pairing as you might think.
Grade: A
Best Album
This one has had me stumped all week because even there is no standout album (I guess a Cher Christmas only comes once ever lifetime or so) and a lot of solid entries with seriously good tracks. So I rotated play for two solid weeks. Early favorite Pentatonix, with their best album in recent years and a fresh new sound, seemed a viable winner, but, when other competitors joined the contest, at 16 cuts, it could have used an edit of about 4 self-indulgent tracks to avoid a slow section (I guess old habits are hard to break). Jessica Vosk excited me with her opening selections, but loses steam on the back nine with deadbeat selections like “Winter Song” and “Grown-Up Christmas List”, plus the grand slam of every banned song on the list and a questionable call of making personal favorite “Hard Candy Christmas” a disco anthem.
Roberta Flack emerged as an unforeseen serious contender with her consistent album strong in content matched to her voice, but in the end, the surprise winner is newcomer to the contest Mickey Guyton’s Feels Like Christmas as the one album that, even with the speedbump we call Michael Bolton, never stops pleasing. It’s upbeat, it’s fresh, and it delivers on both fun new radio-ready content and well-chosen standards. Of all the strong, appreciated entries, Guyton lived up to her album title, in a year where we have most needed to draw upon the missing spirit of Christmas.
Most Disappointing Album
This is a rare year where there really isn’t one. I questioned maybe Trisha Yearwood for downplaying her talents so, but the album is really too good to consider lesser than. So the title probably has to go once again to Leann Rimes for reminding us of that dreadful 2014 disaster we had all forgotten. A redemption of sorts, but why?
After sorting through all these contenders and last year’s passed over cuts, and a few fun novelty numbers to round things out, the list is finalized. As I get accustomed to the fact that I’m no longer chained down to the 80 minute CD limit, I find myself realizing I can expand or contract the list as needed beyond the forever limit of 21-22 songs. Welcome to this season’s slightly expanded playlist! And get ready for next season’s 25th Anniversary Update!
WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS:
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 2025
1 . SAVE A LITTLE CHRISTMAS FOR ME, the Jonas Brothers
The Disney kids all grown up (and glown up) have been a dependable source of holiday singles the last few year, having opened the playlist with some yuletide festivity on several occasions before. This from their 2025 Disney+ holiday movie.
2. SANTA TELL ME, Jessica Vosk
I wanted to salute Ariana Grande on another banner year with Wicked For Good. but Vosk gave us a great cover by a new artist instead that is almost as good as the original, which also worked as a sort of salute as a popular Broadway Elphaba’s salute to the “Popular” movie Glinda.
3. GIFTS FOR ME, Meghan Trainor
Trainor, like Kelly Clarkson and the Jonas Brothers, has been a dependable artist to drop a fun Christmas track every year since her 2020 debut Christmas album. This is as good as any of the stellar tracks there, a modern day version of “Santa Baby” where Trainor, an independent modern female, has a champagne budget Christmas list of gifts, but takes matters into her own hands instead of relying on a man to deliver them.
4. ROCK’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE, Leann Rimes
From the 2004 Playlist, Rimes re-releases her best Christmas track ever for revisiting this year, especially when the original title song of the list is so hard to come by these days.
5. CHRISTMAS AIN’T CHRISTMAS WITHOUT YOU, Cher
From the definitive 21st Century Christmas album that never stops giving, we’re years in after mining it already and there is still gold there to appreciate and strengthen a list. Screw you, Grammy Awards, for ignoring one of the best solo albums of the millennium, because Cher still gets no respect.
6. SAVE A LITTLE CHRISTMAS FOR ME, Mickey Guyton
The country singer’s lead off track is just plain fun. And I might have to write that Hallmark movie to go with it next year. Hold me to that, guys!
7. SANTA BE GOOD TO MY BABY, Pentatonix
The reigning kings (and queen) of a capella continue to reinvent themselves with a new, more mellow and radio-friendly sound with instrumental to full band accompaniment.
8. COOL YULE, Trisha Yearwood
The Steve Allen holiday classic made famous by Louis Armstrong gets a great modern update by Yearwood. Almost as good as Bette Midler’s 2006 campy reinvention.
9. JINGLE BELL ROCK, Brad Paisley
Country boy is right at home on this Bobby Helms rockabilly classic.
10. SANTA BABY, Ariana Grande & Liz Gillies
It was easy to release “Santa Tell Me” above to Vosk when I had this ace in the hole as a back up to honor Grande’s high profile year of Wicked 2. Grande still gets a salute spot here with her first film frenemy, the sultry-voiced Gillies from their TV debut on Victorious.
11. PLEASE COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, Eric Benėt
This is the perfect holiday classic for Benėt’s velvety R&B voice.
12. GLOW, Kelly Clarkson & Brett Eldridge
Kelly Clarkson has worked overtime for the last several years at making sure we get at least one marketable new single for the season, sometimes two or three, here with country artist Eldridge with the title track from his first album. Mariah, sit your trifling, crazy ass down, there’s a new, real Queen of Christmas on the throne.
13. HANUKKAH HONEY, Layla Frankel
I always like to include a Hanukkah number when I find one, and Frankel gives us a festive entry with a 60s girl group sound, which I can also never resist.
14. BAH HUMBUG, Pentatonix
Pentatonix gives another swinging tale that is basically “Ode to Ebinezer Scrooge” written by Cab Calloway.
15. CANDY CANE LANE, Trisha Yearwood
Trisha exploring more of the big band sound and it works for her.
16. THE FIRST NOEL, Brad Paisley
Paisley gives us a humble version of the holiday hymn that is true to both country sound and the piece.
17. WE THREE KINGS OF ORIENT ARE, Roberta Flack
You’d never know it’s been 50 years since Flack’s Grammy winning legacy made her a legend. She sounds like it could be last year. And this is the perfect carol for her smooth, calming vocal style.
18. ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU, Leann Rimes
Rimes swings it hard on the Vince Vaugh classic and makes it her own for a new generation.
19. I WONDER WHAT YOU GOT FOR ME, Anastacia McClesky
Another fun 60s girl group Wall of Sound entry, McClesky gives us a track that sounds like it could have been covered by Martha & the Vandelles on the Phil Spector legendary Christmas album
20. GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN, the Cast of Wicked
In honor of the second season of Wicked, the Broadway cast of the show gives us the unlikely mashup of ye olde carole as if it were a big band swing number arranged like “Sing! Sing! Sing!”. Somehow it does.
21. HARD CANDY CHRISTMAS, Levi Kreis
Another tribute number, to the fact that I finally had the privilege of directing one of my favorite shows of all time, and it may have honestly been my best work ever, thanks to an amazingly talented cast. This final 11:00 number from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas gets a loving treatment from indie rocker, Tony winner, and piano sensation (his well-earned Tony was for playing Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet), 2018 Best CD winner Levi Kreis. I’ve been waiting till I had an association with the show again to use it. Jessica Vosk also contributed a version that almost made it, but she chose a disco arrangement, which wasn’t the sound I wanted this year as a salute to the show. I’m sure it’ll be here next year.
22. THE TWELVE GAYS OF CHRISTMAS, Jessica Vosk
Which made room for her here. I couldn’t resist. I love a good novelty song. One last party trick before we take it home with the solemn finale. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s gonna be a bumpy song.
23. O HOLY NIGHT, Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger also had a big year, with her well-deserved Tony win for Sunset Boulevard, one of the most amazing performances I’ve seen in recent years. She has a remarkable voice built for big ballads and this quintessential Christmas hymn suits her perfectly. She took a lot of crap from the over-reactive, often Toxic Broadway fandom in 2025 (but what diva didn’t?), but this is to salute her breathtaking vocals and her most-deserved win this year. She was this season’s Best Actress in a Musical. This track was going to either Guyton or Benėt, but this is ultimately Nicole’s song in Nicole’s year.
23. I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS, Lea Salonga
Another track from last year’s sumptuous album from one of the most glorious voices in Broadway (and Disney) history. Her lush arrangement and soaring voice is so perfect, I once mistook it for the quintessential remake by the inimitable Miss Linda Ronstadt. No small praise.
24. THIS WILL BE OUR YEAR, Cher
And the best way to end this playlist is with a great original New Year’s song by the modern day Christmas equivalent to Darlene Love, who Cher happened to backup on occasion in Phil Spector’s Brill Building music machine pre-Sonny & Cher. Something to inspire a look forward to a hopefully brighter, better 2026, which we all so desperately need.
Enjoy this playlist and stay tuned to other Holiday themed posts in the next few weeks. In the meantime, follow and feel free to share the playlist to others as a much needed gift of good will this Season. To all my followers, Happy Holidays and best wishes for a prosperous and much better New Year
SPOTIFY link to FULL PLAYLIST HERE