[Open Post] Merry Christmas!

I am totally hotlinking that animated snow thingy from Google- watch me get shut down!! I did however make that Christmas pudding, so consider it fair game for you to pinch that, Sergey! It's good right? (Anyone wishing to shade my mad skills, please attach a drawing of a pudding, done by thine own fair hands, before proceeding!! )

Anyway, the reason for this post is OBVIOUSLY to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope you're all surrounded by loved ones and are being spoilt rotten, but it's naive of me to assume everyone is so fortunate (my own dad is working tomorrow!). Also, not everyone celebrates the holiday, so it might just be a regular ol' day for yourself.

So to anyone about, please feel free to use the comments to chat or leave messages about whatever you like. I'll try logging on at some point tomorrow to say hi- but I'm guessing I'll be very drunk. Also, I'd love for any of you passing by on the fly- who are celebrating- to let me know how badly your Christmas is going- family fights/drunken relatives/ burnt turkey, that kinda stuff ! I'm a fiend for Drama!

Inappropriate hugs to everyone!

Tamar Braxton Performs "Silent Night" @ The Queen Latifah Show

If you're familiar with the Christmas carol Silent Night, I implore you to do yourself a favour, and forget its melody before you watch the video below- maybe try hitting your head against the wall. Why? Well, Tamar Braxton's rendition, recorded for the The Queen Latifah Show, plays so fast and loose with the melody that you'd be hard pressed to have guessed what she was singing if not for the lyric.

Aside from that, the performance, backed solely by a Spanish guitar (fifty thousand million billion internet points to anyone who gets that reference), did show that Tamar's voice is defintetly on the mend; with most parts of it- aside from the low notes- sounding strong. Contrast to the lower end, she seemed to have no problems entering the head-voice, so I would have loved to have heard her explore that part of the range a bit more. Also, did anyone else think she sounded like Beyonce at around 1.05?

This was a somewhat experimental/ freestyle version of Silent night, and I can't  knock Tamar for it. After all, so many Divas have recorded versions of the classic- who could forget the "Duelling Divas" post dedicated to that fact- that the only way she wasn't going to draw comparisons to others was by trying something totally different. She did look nervous as hell doing it, though!

[Question] Which Christmas Songs Are Keeping You Festive in 2013?

Tis the season for Christmas music! With that being so, I'd like to know: what are you listening to this festive period? The year has seen many of our talented Divas releasing albums dedicated to the season, but I'll be interested to know if any songs from those sets have made your playlist this year. If so, then let me know which, in the comments!

More impressive than the amount of albums we've seen come our way, is that two of those releases have birthed original tunes- Leona Lewis' One More Sleep and Kelly Clarkson's Underneath The Tree- that have actually managed to give Mariah's All I Want For Christmas Is you a run for her airplay money. Something practically unheard of in years gone by! I suppose subsequent Christmases will tell us if these newbies truly have the staying power of the Carey classic, but it doesn't take away from the fact that they have been all over radio this year.

So come on friends, share the Christmas song(s) that have been keeping your spirits festive this month.

[Watch] Mariah Carey Duets With Michael Bublé on "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

Michael Bublé welcomed festive Diva, Mariah Carey, to his Christmas Special yesterday to duet on her holiday classic All I Want for Christmas Is You.

Now we've had our fair share of fluctuating vocals this holiday from Mariah [Hear: Bad /Good], so it was anyone's guess which way this recording would go. Good news is, she smashed it! There was some rasp at the top of the chest, but Mariah was nimble and dynamic, sounding healthy and rested throughout the rest of the range. I especially loved the way she didn't let that end riff go, still singing while Bublé was wrapping up the segment. #Diva!

[Watch] Lady Gaga And Christina Aguilera Perform Together On The Voice USA - Miracles Can Happen!

Did Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera just have their Whitney Houston/ Mariah Carey moment on The Voice USA??! These two Divas are supposed to hate each other, but yet, here they are duetting together on Gaga's Do What U Want like they were super best friends!

I can't really judge the performance properly just yet- I need the shock to die down- but hearing the two Divas together does make me appreciate how similar their voices are. The whole thing could have benefited with some further rehearsal, being a little messy- vocally- in places, but I really enjoyed the staging and look of the whole thing.

Hopefully this momentous occasion- which doesn't seem to be getting as much media attention as I would have thought- will bring about a ceasefire between the duo's warring fans. Lord knows they could both do with more people buying their records.

[Watch] Christina Aguilera Sings "We Remain" Duet, Live @ The Voice USA

Christina Aguilera tackling her contribution to the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, live, was something I've been itching to witness ever since hearing the mid-tempo ballad. However, her choice to turn We Remain into a duet for the finale of The Voice (USA) wasn't the greatest idea.

Christina, for the most part, was pretty great. Her voice sounded very much like the recording, with her coarse belt being beautifully suited to the song. However, there were definitely parts where she was out of tune- especially when attempting to harmonise on the held notes with her duetting partner Jackquie Lee- and where her falsetto sounded weaker than usual.

But my real problem was with Jackquie Lee, who, I admit, I've never heard of before. Her voice just wasn't up to the song, or being pitted against Christina. She also sounded pretty strained at the end, which makes me think Christina has been passing on that dreaded "technique" to those under her mentorship- which is not a good thing.

Still, Jackquie must have something about her to have gotten this far in the contest. It's just a shame this performance didn't do much to show what that something was.

[Watch] Katy Perry Continues To Be Out Of Tune @ 2013 X-Factor UK Final

Katy Perry, surely you should be improving with all the practice you've been having promoting around Europe of late. So why is it that your latest rendition of Unconditionally at X-Factor UK was perhaps the worst you've had of the song thus far?

Effectively, you're only shading yourself getting on the stage of singing competitions- this one being the final of one, no less- and not being able to consistently maintain a tune. Take some vocal lessons, toute suite! And if you already are, get a better teacher for heavens sake! That is all.

[ Someone is doing their darnedest to remove any trace of this performance from the internet- seriously, it's almost as hard as finding a bad Hallmark movie (which is impossible, I'll have you know). Below is a clip from the Daily Mail, which will give you a taster, but the full thing can be seen here.]