Seemingly abandoning any ambitions of becoming a relevant pop star, 2009 X Factor winner
Joe McElderry continues to stake his claim as his generation's
Cliff Richard, with his second easy listening album in less than six months,
Classic Christmas. Indeed, having been handed a lifeline with his second talent show victory on Popstar to Operastar (which came just weeks after being dropped by Syco), the likable Geordie appears determined to capitalize on his unlikely career reprieve as much as possible. Given his rapid rise to fame and equally rapid fall, you can't exactly blame him for milking the situation, but it's a shame that it seems the only way he's connecting with audiences is with such lazy and uninspiring material. Of course, following the unexpected number two success of its predecessor, which sold twice as many as his underrated more conventional debut,
Wide Awake, it was always a given that
McElderry would stick to its classical pop formula. But while he acquits himself well on the a cappella treatment of "Silent Night" and the stirring rendition of "Little Drummer Boy" (one of two tracks featuring Northumberland piper
Kathryn Tickell), his voice remains too lightweight and characterless to pull off the likes of
Johnny Mathis' "When a Child Is Born" and the Italian-language version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" ("Adeste Fideles"), while he's made to play second fiddle to the booming tones of his Popstar to Operastar mentor
Rolando Villazón on "O Holy Night." The more contemporary numbers, such as the jaunty bossa nova reworking of
Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" and the big-band interpretation of
Chris Rea's "Driving Home for Christmas," are far more suited to his talents, although the tinny synth pop accompaniment to
Wham!'s "Last Christmas" sounds even more dated than the 1984 original. It's difficult to begrudge
McElderry its inevitable success, but as an annual output of seasonal-themed affairs awaits,
Classic Christmas doesn't exactly whet the appetite. ~ Jon O'Brien