| Classic Christmas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 25 November 2011 | |||
| Recorded | October 2011 | |||
| Genre | Christmas, pop, classical | |||
| Length | 44:39 | |||
| Label | Decca, UCJ | |||
| Producer | Steven Baker, Morgan Pochin Music Productions | |||
| Joe McElderry chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Classic Christmas | ||||
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Classic Christmas is the third studio album and first Christmas album by the British singer Joe McElderry. It was released on 25 November 2011. [1] It is his second album released under Decca Records.
Before the album's official announcement, it was available to pre-order from Play.com, Amazon.co.uk and HMV.com. On 6 October, McElderry announced that he was working on the album on Twitter [2] and later on his official website. [3] The album features a collaboration with one of his Popstar to Operastar mentors, Rolando Villazón. A limited Christmas gift edition was announced, it includes the album along with his previous album, Classic , the set also includes a signed photograph, a keyring, and a tag from McElderry on the hand wrapped box. [4]
An advert was filmed, directed by Steve Lucker, it features McElderry outside in the snow, collecting logs and taking them to a large house preparing for a Christmas party, singing a selection of songs of the album. [5] 2 short music videos were made from the footage that was filmed, "Last Christmas" [6] and "O Come All Ye Faithful". [7]
On 8 December, he performed at Durham Cathedral to an audience of 1,500, singing, "In the Bleak Midwinter" and David Essex's "A Winter's Tale", with a new verse written by Tim Rice. [8] He will introduce The Nutcracker at The O2 arena from 27 December 2011 to 30 December 2011. [9]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Entertainment Focus |   [10] |
Prior the release of the album, Entertainment Focus praised the album, calling it "another winning release from Joe McElderry", giving the album 4/5 stars. [10]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mary's Boy Child" | Jester Hairston | 3:57 |
| 2. | "White Christmas" | Irving Berlin | 3:11 |
| 3. | "When a Child Is Born" | Ciro Dammicco, Fred Jay | 3:30 |
| 4. | "In the Bleak Midwinter" | Christina Rossetti | 4:23 |
| 5. | "O Holy Night" (featuring Rolando Villazón) | Adolphe Adam | 5:03 |
| 6. | "I Believe in Father Christmas" | Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield | 3:09 |
| 7. | "Silent Night" | Joseph Mohr, Franz Gruber, John Freeman Young | 3:27 |
| 8. | "Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)" | John Francis Wade, Frederick Oakeley | 3:07 |
| 9. | "Santo Natale (Merry Christmas)" | Al Hoffman, Dick Manning, Belle Nardone | 3:26 |
| 10. | "Last Christmas" | George Michael | 4:18 |
| 11. | "The Little Drummer Boy" | Katherine Kennicott Davis | 2:55 |
| 12. | "Driving Home for Christmas" | Chris Rea | 3:37 |
During the album's first week of release in the United Kingdom, 34,043 copies of the album were sold at retail in the country, and the album debuted at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. [11]
The album debuted at number 73 on the Irish Albums Chart.
| Chart (2011) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart [12] | 15 |
| Irish Albums Chart [13] | 73 |
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| Ireland | 25 November 2011 |
| United Kingdom | 28 November 2011 |
The Nutcracker, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination. The plot is an adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The ballet's first choreographer was Marius Petipa, with whom Tchaikovsky had worked three years earlier on The Sleeping Beauty, assisted by Lev Ivanov. Although the complete and staged The Nutcracker ballet was not initially as successful as the 20-minute Nutcracker Suite that Tchaikovsky had premiered nine months earlier, it soon became popular.
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Joseph McElderry is an English singer and songwriter. He won the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009. His first single "The Climb" reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Charts. He was also the winner of the second series of Popstar to Operastar in 2011 and the first series of The Jump in 2014. In 2015, McElderry played the lead role of Joseph in the touring production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. In 2022, McElderry performed his Freedom Tour, a tribute to George Michael.
Juliette Louise B. Pochin is a Welsh classically trained mezzo-soprano singer, composer/arranger, and record producer. She is known not only for her performances in operas and as a classical recitalist but also for her recordings of operatically styled crossover music. Morgan Pochin Music Productions Ltd, the company she formed with her husband James Morgan, is known for its record productions for artists such as Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe, as well as its arrangements for film and television scores.
Isabel Suckling is a British singer who, upon signing a record deal with Decca Records, became the youngest classical recording artist signed by Decca, and the first choirgirl to sign a record contract with a major music label. Suckling sang in the choir at York Minster at the time, and was discovered by Decca following a nationwide search. She was mentored by the singer, TV/radio presenter and former boy soprano Aled Jones.
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Wide Awake is the debut album of English pop singer Joe McElderry, winner of the sixth series of British talent competition The X Factor. The album was released digitally on 22 October 2010, with a physical release following on 25 October 2010.
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Classic is the second studio album by British singer Joe McElderry. It was released by Decca Records on 19 August 2011 in Ireland and on 22 August 2011 in the United Kingdom. Signed copies were available to pre-order on Universal Music's online store.
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British pop singer Joe McElderry has released five studio albums, one soundtrack album, and thirteen singles on recording labels Syco, Decca and BK Records.
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Steven Baker is an arranger, orchestrator and record producer, best known for his work in the UK classical/pop crossover genre. He has worked on albums and projects for a wide range of artists over the years, including Katherine Jenkins, Joe McElderry, Alfie Boe, Russell Watson, Noah Stewart, Laura Wright, Paul Potts, Hayley Westenra, Rolando Villazón, Lesley Garrett, The Priests, Gary Barlow, Only Men Aloud!, Will Martin, Faryl Smith, Friar Alessandro, Julian Ovenden, Toni Braxton, Neal E. Boyd and The Ten Tenors.
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