Round 2 Results are In!!!

The Second Round is now closed.  We have our Sweet Sixteen and things are starting to get real.

We had TWO TIES!  As per the rules of the Bracket, any ties are decided by a cancer survivor.  This round, we turned to Konkrete Kathy, Sister Cement, the Asphalt Angel herself to advance our deadlocks.  

We also had several songs advancing to the Third Round for the first time ever.  

Here are the results of Round 2:




We have a winner for the non-gendered translation:  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlethem.  

And firm agreement to the person who called out the Mannheim Steamroller version.  That is one of the recordings that spurred my love of the wide variety of Christmas music.  This bracket would not exist without those cheesy but wonderful arrangements.  Thank you, Chip - we truly are all in this together.






Secular victory in a battle of giants.





"Ding fries are done." 

"CotB is very anxiety-inducing for musicians to perform. Instrumental and vocal."  

    So true if you don't have enough people to stagger breathe.  





Robed monks trampling toy soldiers is what the world needs now.





This was a lot closer than I expected.  Good showing for Rudolph but he's the one going home. I'll Be Home into its first Sweet Sixteen!






"This feels slightly racist.  I feel guilty voting for O Come All Ye Faithful."  

    You're fine as long as it's not White Christmas.






"Any song that makes grown men frolic wins."

    Be careful what you wish for.







"Shouldn't these two cancel each other out?"  

    Sadly no...but there are some weirdly bombastic version of Silent Night out there.






Our first tie! 

"I’ll be honest, I don’t know what these are. They sound like Eastern European pastries."

    In Russia you don't eat Troika.  Troika eats you.

And our winner by tiebreaking vote is TROIKA - into the Sweet Sixteen for the first time!








"I want to know if Barney and Ben got their firearms. One of the best bridges in Christmas."

    Thank you for drawing my attention to the fact that I've never actually listened to the words of this song past the first line.  This one is definitely due for an update.








"Your grandparents fought the Nazis so we could have music like 'Sleigh Ride.' No joke: it is a style that Goebbels condemned as 'degenerate art.'"








Our other tie!

"I beef with jingle bell rock too, random commenter last round… let’s start a revolution."

    The Christmas Bracket: Bringing together dissidents since 2021

And rest easy, malcontents.  Our tiebreaking vote is for Do You Hear What I Hear?






Hot take for the Brass Band crowd: I am not a big Philip Sparke fan.  That said, his Winter Wonderland arrangement is the best version of this song in existence.





O Holy Night is inevitable.  It comes for all of us.







Picturing the Grinch crashing a production of the Nutcracker.  First time in the Sweet Sixteen for our green friend.






Melancholy Peanuts for the win.  First time in the Sweet Sixteen.



And that's all!  Some interesting matchups to come in Round 3...  See you back here soon!




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