Basically, on social media I’m known for two things: Lord of the Rings and Advent Caroling Madness. (Ok maybe also how to arrange eggs in a carton and how to break children’s hearts about Santa.)
For the 13th time, we are bringing fighting and competition, as well as fun and beautiful music, to the Christmas season. You nominate and vote for the best (or at least, most popular) version of a particular Christmas song, I set up a bracket like the college basketball tournaments in March, and along the way we find new music, cry when people vote terribly, and watch me get annoyed with Muppet Christmas Carol submissions.
I came up with this brilliant idea of melding my love of Christmas music and March Madness over a decade ago, and we’ve been at it ever since. (More in-depth background at this link.)
This year I have selfishly chosen a less well known song that I find beautiful: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly.* Find a favorite version (or two or three) on YouTube and send me the link (as a comment here, or a comment on the social media post.) Deadline: Friday, Dec. 12, at 8:00 pm PST.
*I learned that Infant Holy, Infant Lowly, was originally a Polish carol (W Żłobie Leży), perhaps dating as far back as the 13th century. The first published version appears to be written by a Piotr Poweski (or Skargi), a fascinating man who apparently dreamed of a reunification of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. Edith Margaret Gellibrand Reed translated the Polish carol into English in 1920 and published it the following year. More can be found at this link.