Well, we are off on another Advent Caroling Madness adventure! Thanks for the many submissions, with lots of variety. I didn’t have enough room to include every entry by everyone, but I was able to make sure everyone who submitted got at least one entry in.
Here is the bracket for Carol of the Bells:
One of the best parts every year is for you all to yell at me for my seeding, and I’m sure I’ve given plenty of fodder for your venom. It’s been a year filled with hard things, and I can tell that affected my seeding this year—any arrangement that played this straight and cheery felt too fake to me this year. I was drawn to complex, minor-sounding harmonies that recognized the Advent longing for Christ to break in, while still holding the hope in these lyrics.
Let’s get to voting! The first round is always most challenging, because we have to listen to all 16 versions and many are new to us. So you’ve got some time. Get your votes in by Wednesday at 7 pm PST.
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In a perfect world John Williams (Home Alone) would face off against John Williams (Star Wars) in the final round.
Okay. This round? Easy. But my favorites are 8,7,1,15. In that order. Next round is going to be tough.