Such an amazing response! 32 submissions! How should that many submissions be dealt with? First, I made sure everyone who submitted a song got their place in the bracket. Then, no person got more than two submissions. That got it down to 28 songs. But it’s still a lot to listen to! So, we’re going to have to split things up. Vote on six matchups now, to decide seeds 11-16, and then we’ll have six more in the second round to decide seeds 5-10. Voting for the first round closes Saturday at noon PST, voting for the second round closes Tuesday the 12th at 8 pm PST.
Each year, just like when the NCAA Committee picks teams for the college football playoff or March Madness, part of the fun is yelling about how terrible the committee (ME) seeded the entries. For this advent theme of hope, I wanted to be transparent about my values as a selection committee (of 1, ME).
Content wise, while my own faith in Jesus is a strong conviction, the song did not have to be a song of faith to earn a high seed (lower numbers are higher or better seeds). However, if it is a song of faith, it gets moved down if it demonstrates a “bandaid” theology (just put Jesus on and everything is better), or if it doesn’t acknowledge the harshness of the world we live in. I also moved it down if it supports the myth that just moving back in time, when things were “simpler”, makes everything better. The world has always been hard. Finally, nostalgia is a risky endeavor for these songs. I’m a very nostalgic person, and yet I also hate anything that’s too cheesy…and it’s really difficult to tell exactly when it crosses the line for me. But I know when I know!
Music wise, a song needs to demonstrate high skill according to its particular genre. I love harmonies, with preferences to big choirs and to tight duets. I’m not a big fan of several styles of music; a descending order of genres for me would be folk, country, and muppets (but hey, you’ll notice that some songs this year overcame this!)
I chose the top four songs by my criteria. All four of these earn an automatic bye into round three, so you don’t have to vote on them until next week. But I wanted to announce them now:
#4 was submitted by Tami Burton, and I shocked myself by seeding it so high: Hard Candy Christmas, by Dolly Parton.
#3 was submitted by Kelly Simonsen: Canticle of the Turning, by Emmaus Way.
#2 was submitted by Bethany Bylsma: Firewood, by Regina Spektor.
And drumroll please…the #1 seed was submitted by Elizabeth Curtis Gemeroy: Rise Up by Andra Day.
Those four are safe until round three…now it’s time to vote on who will sit in seeds 11 through 16!
You can click the picture of the song, and play a YouTube version to listen. When you’re ready to choose, click the button next to the name of the song you like and be sure to click Vote.
AND REMEMBER—WE ARE VOTING ON THE SONG THAT MOST EXEMPLIFIES THE THEME OF HOPE!
Two versions of “I Heard the Bells” will face off against one another to see which one will earn the 16th seed: #16, submitted by Jennifer Perez and performed by various artists, against #17, submitted by Tami Burton and performed by Frank Sinatra
To determine who will sit in the #15 spot, Sally Moore’s “Peace on Earth” by The Trail Band will face #18 “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, submitted by Heidi Hopkins.
Vying for the #14 slot will be #14 Enya, singing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, submitted by Carol Sherwood and Bethany Bylsma. The challenger will be “Hometown Christmas” by Switchfoot, submitted by Erin Craig.
Which version of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” will be in the #13 slot? Judy Garland (#13), submitted by Gabee Lee…or Bing Crosby (#20), submitted by Robin Mohr?
Josh Reid’s submission of “O Light” by Gungor will try to maintain its #12 seed against #21 “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” by Geoff Catellucci. Hudson Moore submitted this and said, and I quote: “absolutely amazing bassy cover.”
And finally for this round, the battle for #11 is between Jane Mendenhall’s “Sing We Now of Christmas” by the Dale Warland Singers (with the #11 seed) and #22 “Jireh (My Provider), submitted by Heidi Hopkins and performed by Limoblaze.
Get your votes in by Saturday at noon PST, and then be ready to vote right away on round 2!
You had too many good ones! The Palestine one is coming in round 2. There just wasn’t room for Greg Brown.
Thank you so much for doing this every year, Gregg. My joking about The Muppets aside, your work on something like this is one way you foster community. And, I get introduced to new music every year, expanding the stuff I listen to that’s not necessarily Christmas-related. So much appreciation.
So true!
What Melanie said!
People don’t seem to be loving the not-specifically-Christmas entries, but I’m here for it.