2023 First Round Results

The First Round is now closed!  Results and commentary are below.  

But first, my yearly disclaimer:  I am an unabashed music snob.  I may trash-talk one of your favorites.  But this is all in good fun, so please fire back at me.  There's no banter like music geek banter.  

Unfortunately my snarky comment game is a little off this morning, so apologies for some of the subpar content.  Hopefully I bring it stronger in Round 2.

Speaking of which, Round 2 matchups will be posted soon!  Vote and share!

"O Holy Night" crashed out early last year, losing to the eventual champion.  It's on a mission in 2023.

Jaunty triumphs over mellow in a 6/8 showdown. 

Greensleeves takes out the green grump.  

Imagine being so confident as a songwriter that you fire out a new holiday tune and have the audacity to call it "The Christmas Song."  Come at me, all you OSU weirdos.  

But still, better than thinking it's a good idea to play drums around a newborn.  

There goes Santa Claus.

I actually had Bing create an image of Frosty being interrogated by Russian intelligence agents, but then felt weird about it and decided not to post it here.  You're welcome.

Thank you, good voters!  Faith in humanity restored!

Reminder that this happened, and it was awesome:

Nice to see "Lo How a Rose" get some love.  Underrated gem of the season.

Not much to say about this one.  "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" is musical nutmeg.  It's part of the Christmas recipe but if it weren't there you'd never notice.

When you draw the matchups randomly, you sometimes get massive clashes in the first round.  I am surprised this one wasn't closer. 

Shoutout to my former student who vehemently disagrees with Hallelujah Chorus being made into a Christmas thing.  You're not wrong, Brandon. But if you can't break them with a rod of iron, you may as well sing along.

Seemed like one of those that no one really wanted to win.  

We didn't assign seeds to the songs in the bracket, but this one had serious 8 vs 9 vibes.

"Troika" was a new addition this year (after accidentally including "Wassail" twice last year).  

It did not get a favorable matchup.  "Silver Bells" seems to be a lot of folks' guilty pleasure.  

Yes I know.  The Rudolph portion of the pie chart should have been red.  

GKW advances even though no one actually knows any of the words after the first line.  

So serious question. When you hear "Ding Dong Merrily" in your mind, what instrument is playing it?

Deck the Halls has now lost in the first round two years in a row.  

Is this song even a blueblood any more?  Has the world moved on?

I trash talked this song in 2020 and it made a deep run.  I do not see what the appeal is.  

If anyone can explain it, please enlighten me.  

I disagree, but it's not a hill I will die on.

Hot take: The David Arkenstone "I Saw Three Ships" is peak late 80s new age, and every bit as solid as Mannheim Steamroller's "Deck the Halls" that started it all a few years earlier.  

But yeah, Jingle Bell Rock or whatever.  

I thought this would be closer.  Interesting that Jingle Bell Rock advances but the OG does not.

Team Advent with the strong start!

Closest match in the first round.  Angel Fatigue is a real thing.

"I Wonder" has had unlucky first round matchups two years in a row.  

"Sleigh Ride" looking to repeat its 2020 title run.

Makes me sad that there isn't more love for "Hooray for Santa Claus."  So here's my yearly pitch, lifted straight from last year's loss:  It's got a trumpet solo.  It has kids spelling out "Santa Claus" even though they're pronouncing it "Santy Claus." It has kids shout-singing because it's way above their range.  And it's from "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians."  It's the epitome of "so bad, it's good."

Give it a chance, people.

Really?  Did not see this one coming.  

"Do You Hear" always struck me as one that people just tolerate.  Is there more to it than I realize?

I was very surprised that this was so lopsided. Question:  

Did you think it was the vocal or the instrumental version of "Christmas Time Is Here?" 

And does that makes a difference to your vote?

"Joy to the World" is a regular Final Four contender but has yet to win it all.  

This is a strong start, and I think the path forward is favorable.

Two songs that have great potential to be annoying for very different reasons.  "Kid badly pounding out the bassline on your piano" wins over "Oh no, they're really doing the whole thing."