Wednesday 18 December 2013

Michael Bublé's Christmas special TV review

Michael Bublé's third annual Christmas special on NBC starts with Bublé summoning the ghost of Elvis Presley and ends like something out of a documentary on the Benedictine monks. In between, his guests include Mariah Carey and Mary J. Blige. Call it cheerful and eclectic.

Each guest sings one solo and one duet with Bublé. Like a good host and a smart singing partner, he backs off enough to let Blige and Carey have most of the spotlight during the duets, which are "All I Want for Christmas Is You" with Carey and "The Christmas Song" with Blige.

"The Christmas Song" gets a slow reading, in contrast to Blige's upbeat "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Bublé starts the show in a back hallway at the studio, doing a spirited "Blue Christmas" with a couple of his guitar players. His numbers during the show include "I'll be Home for Christmas" and "Santa Baby", both truncated for TV. He wraps it up with "Silent Night", surrounded by candles and backed by a children's choir.

Bublé isn't the most polished television host, and it doesn't help that his running comedy bit, with Cookie Monster, feels forced. The nominal theme of the gag is that Bublé's wife - model Luisana Lopilato, though she isn't mentioned by name - has baked cookies for Carey and Blige, and Michael is trying to persuade Cookie Monster not to eat them all. The best line is a voice-over intoning, "Can supermodels actually bake?" We don't get an answer. And most of us are unlikely to find out.

(New York Daily News)



COMMENTS
There are not yet comments to this article.

Only registrated members can post a comment.
© MCArchives 1998-2024 (26 years!)
NEWS
MESSAGEBOARD