It wasn’t Mariah Carey’s idea to call herself the Christmas Queen.
He made that clear during a recent late-night press conference about his latest Christmas special for Apple TV Plus, “Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues,” which debuts on Friday.
(Full disclosure: Star was invited to the conference, but when I checked in at 2:05 am Toronto time and was told it might not start until 4:30 am, I decided to go to sleep. Apple kindly shared, however the audio.)
“I never said that was my title,” Carey responded when asked by a reporter if she would ever retire from being Christmas Queen. “I love making music and I love Christmas music, and I happened to write some songs for Christmas and made some albums that people enjoyed, and I’m thankful for that.”
You can say that again. The ubiquitous “All I Want for Christmas is You,” which Carey co-wrote in 1994, is arguably the most successful modern Christmas song ever. It has topped Billboard’s Holiday 100 chart for 46 of the 51 total weeks since the chart launched in 2011, Billboard reported this week. And it’s the best-selling Christmas single by a female artist, reportedly earning $ 60 million (US) in royalties as of 2017.
But Carey wants people to know that he has written other Christmas songs besides “All I Want.” For example, her new song, “Fall in Love at Christmas,” which she recorded with Khalid and Kirk Franklin, has its official launch party on the Apple special, in which Carey performs “All I Want” and other Christmas tunes on A custom jeweled Dolce and Gabbana dress that she claims weighs 60 pounds.
Carey says her love of the holiday season isn’t a sham. “I really, really love the holidays. It is not a scam.
“I really believe that it is about looking into your own heart and sharing your joy and what you feel with your loved ones, your friends, the world… We cannot control what is happening in this world, as if we never know what is happening. from one minute to the next, but Christmas is its own special and sacred time of year. “
It is a time of year that is also particularly well represented on television.
Sparkly and celebrity Christmas specials may not be your thing, but there is sure to be something to love about the Christmas TV torrent that started in late November. Here are some suggestions for adapting to different holiday moods.
The romantic
Single All the Way (Netflix)
I’ll be honest, I generally find Christmas rom-coms as appealing as a lump of coal in a stocking, but obviously other people like them because there are so many of them and they seem to proliferate every year. These movies have finally started to break the heteronormative mold with titles like “Happiest Season” and “The Christmas House” last year. This is Netflix’s first gay Christmas romantic comedy and reportedly the first LGBTQ romantic comedy to feature a black star, starring Philemon Chambers alongside Michael Urie (“Ugly Betty”). The cast includes Canadians Luke Macfarlane (“Killjoys”) and Jennifer Robertson (“Schitt’s Creek”), as well as gay icon Jennifer Coolidge, Kathy Najimy (“King of the Hill”) and Barry Bostwick (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”) . You can find far more Christmas romances than you can possibly list here on W, Super Channel Heart and Home, CTV Drama Channel, CBC, and other streamers like Amazon.
The sentimental
Call Midwife Holiday Special (Dec. 25, 9 p.m., PBS)
It is impossible to pass an episode of “Call the Midwife” without crying, and the beloved British drama about a group of nuns and midwives in a poor London neighborhood during the 1950s and 1960s generally features the pathos of Christmas. This special is no exception with Lucille’s (Leonie Elliott) wedding, several troubled births, and even a tearful callback to a character who died in season 7.
The creative
Blowing: Christmas (Netflix)
This glassblowing competition series filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, has sounded faithful enough to viewers that Netflix commissioned a four-episode Christmas installment in which previous competitors have a chance to redeem themselves. The hot store is decorated like a Christmas wonderland, the challenges are Christmas-themed, and the eliminated artists strip their stockings off the mantel as they leave. “Queer Eye” design expert, hosts Bobby Berk, and Canadian glass artist Katherine Gray are judging again. A little bump, bump, bump to go with your ho, ho, ho.
The classic
Scrooge (December 23 at 8 p.m. and December 24 at 4 p.m. CBC)
I have a tradition of more than five decades of watching this 1951 version of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” every Christmas Eve. If you haven’t seen Scottish actor Alastair Sim in the title role, you’re missing out, in my opinion. But there are classic Christmas movies from different vintages that can be seen, including “Miracle on 34th Street” (December 6, 8 pm, CBC); “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (December 20 at 8 pm, CBC); “A Christmas Story” (Dec 21, 8 pm, CBC); “White Christmas” (December 24 at 7:30 PM and December 25 at 12:30 AM, CBC); “Home alone” (Disney Plus) and “It’s a wonderful life” (Dec 24, 8 pm, CTV). And while it’s not a Christmas movie, CBC also has a perennial favorite. “The Wizard of Oz” (December 6, 8 pm).
The animated
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (December 14, 8 p.m., CBC)
Once again, I draw on my own childhood preferences, but with the same certainty that “bumbles bounce,” this stop-motion animation from 1964 is a Christmas keeper. Follow the Christmas Town misfits Rudolph, the tooth elf Hermey (voiced by Paul Suns of Canada), the explorer Yukon Cornelius, and the jolly Abominable Snowman as they prove their worth in saving Christmas. Other favorite cartoons include “Frosty the snowman” (December 5 and 19, 6 pm, CBC); “Shrek the halls” (December 12, 6:30 pm, CBC) and “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (December 19, 6:30 pm, CBC).
The revived
For Auld Lang Syne (December 10, Apple TV Plus)
Apple partnered with WildBrain Studios in Toronto to bring the characters from Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” back to our screens. In this special, when Lucy’s grandmother can’t visit us at Christmas, she decides to save the holidays by throwing the best New Year’s Eve party. Apple also has the OG “A Charlie Brown Christmas” to stream, as well as a collection of Peanuts cartoons, “It’s Christmas Again, Charlie Brown,” available December 3.
The mysterious
Agatha Raisin: Kissing Christmas Goodbye (December 20, Acorn)
One of the most popular mystery series on this streaming service gets a Christmas special, with private detective Agatha (Ashley Jensen, “After Life”) threatening to cancel Christmas when a client is murdered. The victim Phyllis Tamworthy, lover of Santa Claus, was not well liked by her children, her staff or the local pagans. There’s a lot of Christmas celebration mixed in with crime solving, plus you’ve probably never seen giant candy canes wielded like swords before.
The Spice
Santa Inc. (longing)
If you have a high tolerance for f-bombs and dirty jokes, you might find some joy in this stop-motion animated comedy starring Sarah Silverman as Candy, an elf who dreams of becoming the first female Santa Claus. Although the cast is chock-full of comedic talent, including Seth Rogen, who is also an executive producer, keep in mind that he has the lowest TV series rating ever on IMDb and a measly three percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Also, although it is not a Christmas program, you should know that the Canadian comedy “Letterkenny” launches its 10th season on Crave on Christmas Day.
Reference-www.thestar.com