Watch Mariah Carey Sing “Oh Santa!” With Adorable Dancing Kids On Corden
Two days ago, Mariah Carey pulled off an historic pop-chart feat. “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” her immortal holiday jam, is now the #1 song in America, 25 years after its release. It’s only the second Christmas song ever to hit #1; the last one was 61 years ago. This is also Carey’s first #1 hit in more than a decade, and it gives her 19 #1s — one fewer than the Beatles, more than anyone else ever. This is a massive coup for Carey, so you will understand if she’s steering hard into this whole Queen Of Christmas thing — to the point where she is now going on TV and singing different Christmas songs.
Last night, Carey was the musical guest on James Corden’s Late Late Show. (Corden, star of the movie Cats, is still taking time off from his show; the equally enervating Ken Jeong guest-hosted for him.) On the show, Carey sang “Oh Santa!,” a Chant-happy uptempo R&B yuletide jam from her 2010 album Merry Christmas II You. The song wasn’t a big hit, and I honestly forgot that it ever existed, but it’s pretty good. Maybe Carey is just laying the foundation for it to hit #1 in 2035.
On the show, Carey sang in front of a massive Christmas tree while surrounded by four adorable and athletic dancing kids. You’d think Carey would be exactly the type of superstar who would be pissed off about little kids upstaging her, but apparently not! Her voice sounded good, and she hit her trademark dolphin-squeak notes a few times toward the end of the song. Watch the performance below.
“All I Want For Christmas Is You” remains the most recent song, by anyone, to become a holiday standard. I don’t see “Oh Santa!” joining it, but I suppose stranger things have happened — like a 25-year-old Christmas song hitting #1.