A MarkInTexas Made-For-TV Christmas: Michael Bublé: Home for the Holidays (2012)

[Sorry for the delay in the last four entries.  Catching Covid did a number on my ability/interest in writing.  And yes, it is now 2023, but it's still the Twelve Days of Christmas, so technically, they're not late!  That's assuming, of course, I get this wrapped up this week] 

Maybe even more than Pentatonix, Michel Bublé is identified with Christmas.  That's a bit of a surprise, as the Canadian crooner has had an active career in non-Christmas music, even producing several non-Christmas hits, including "Haven't Met You Yet".  Of his 11 full-length studio albums, only one of the is a Christmas album.  Of course, that one, Christmas, just happens to be, by far, his best-selling album, and his renditions of Christmas songs are in constant rotation on all-Christmas stations during the holidays, far more than his non-Christmas music is during the rest of the year.  Plus, of the eight concert specials he's filmed over the years (seven for NBC, one for ITV in Britain), seven of them have been Christmas specials.

Michel Bublé: Home for the Holidays is his second NBC special (and third overall), filmed in his hometown of Vancouver.  Like most variety Christmas specials of the aughts and teens, it alternates between Bublé singing solo numbers and interacting with the various guest stars, all of whom appear for a song or two before disappearing for the rest of the special.  

After opening with a Bublé solo of "Let It Snow Let It Snow Let It Snow" performed all over Vancouver, including on the dock in front of a bunch of green trees (belying the fact this was shot during the summer/early fall), in a store window, on the streets of Vancouver, in a hockey rink (we get it, he's Canadian), and while dressed as a Mountie on a horse (yes, we know!), he finally arrives at the soundstage where he finishes the song in front of a studio audience.  He then brings out his first guest, Carley Rae Jespon (yes, this was during the "Call Me Maybe" era) as if he's a talk show host.  After some banter, they duet on a medley of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock".

After a solo performance of his rather forgettable original "Cold December Nights", he then banters with Elmo from Sesame Street (performed by Kevin Clash, probably one of the last times he performed the role, as the special filmed right before the scandal that led to him resigning from Sesame Workshop came out) and dueted with him on "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth".

Elmo helps introduce Rod Stewart, who gets his own solo performance of "The Christmas Song", before his own duet with Bublé on "Winter Wonderland".  After that, thanks to the magic of 2012 technology, he leaps into an old Bing Crosby special to duet with him on "White Christmas".  After that, Blake Shelton shows up for some more banter before they sang a Christmas version of their mutual hit "Home". 

Bublé finally dispenses with guests, to sing solo for the rest of the special, including "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" before bringing on his extended family for the goodnights.

Like so many other specials, this one felt very typical.  The singing was fine, the banter wasn't too cringeworthy, but I'm rather bored with this special format.  Why couldn't Elmo have met Rod Stewart?  Why couldn't Blake Shelton and Carley Rae Jespon have dueted themselves?  I'm sure scheduling and filming times had a lot to do with it, but after having viewed numerous specials from both the modern period and the 60s/70s, I do say that the mixing of the guests was honestly a more entertaining way to do this.  

There's not to much else to say about Michael Bublé: Home for the Holidays.  It's a competent special, amusing with some good singing.  It's not Bublé's fault he wasn't interested in shaking up the format.  I just hope, at some point, to see a special by someone who is.

Next time: A brand-new special, starring one of the most iconic characters of all time, rehashing the same old, tired plot.