OK we’re a little behind schedule, so today will feature a little more “Last Christmas”, with a little less talk. But first, Germany’s current top 20:

01.Timbaland Pres One Republic – Apologize
02.Ich und Ich – Stark
03.Alex C Ft Y Ass – Du Hast Den Schönsten Arsch Der Welt
04.Rihanna – Dont Stop the Music
05.Alicia Keys – No One
06.Tokio Hotel – An Deiner Seite
07.Us5 Ft Robin Gibb – Too Much Heaven
08.DJ Oetzi und Nik P – Ein Stern
09.Sugababes – About You Know
10.Culcha Candela – Ey DJ
11.Plain White Ts – Hey There Delila
12.Rihanna – Hate that I Love You
13.Seal – Amazing
14.James Blunt – 1973
15.Jimi Blue – Im Lovin Little red hotpants
16.Scooter – And No Matches
17.Kate Ryan – Voyage Voyage
18.Sasha – Hide and Seek
19.Wham – Last Christmas
20.Linkin Park – Shadow of the Day


and now for some music…

Let’s think about this for a second… This one’s labeled as the “ballroom dance instrumental.” So it’s intended to be danced to, probably at ballroom dance competitions and whatnot. Therefore it stands to reason there must be some sort of dance steps for “Last Christmas.” It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

Ray Hamilton Orchestra – Last Christmas (Ballroom Dance Instrumental)


More international hip-hop!

Lumino – Last Christmas


This next one is the shortest dance version we’ve come across, clocking in at just under two minutes.

Robert Blanco – Last Christmas


Nikki Webster doesn’t try anything particularly new in her version, but she sounds like a sweet lady.

Nikki Webster – Last Christmas


This is another fun hip-hop version. Um…yeah.

Kenji Astrobeats – Last Christmas

We’ve gotten several emails asking about a version by Japanese opera singer Yoko Watanabe (no relation to Gedde Watanabe). Well it seems this version is misidentified and it’s really the Sailor Moon version. It seems like a silly one to mislabel, but it’s earned Ms. Watanabe an addition to the list of Artists That Have Not Covered “Last Christmas.”

And the biggest news… after 20 years apart, Wham! finally played “Last Christmas” this past Sunday, and someone caught part of it on video! The quality is not as nice as one would hope, but we hope you enjoy it nonetheless!


In case you didn’t know, BoA is a star. She has three official homepages and about thirty albums! She sounds sassy, too. This version comes from her Japanese Winter Love album released just this year and available at amazon.com.




BoA – Last Christmas






Jo Sung Mo delivers a fairly traditional take, with just a little bit of funk. And it also has a mysterious guest rapper come in half-way through. We couldn’t decipher much from the fan page we found; this might be from his Happy Christmas/Last Christmas “soundtrack,” but if it is, it’s not in the tracklisting.



Jo Sung Mo – Last Christmas



This sounds like it’s recorded over a karaoke track of the song. And that certainly is not a dis, because this guy has potential. I would say Jason Duong is just a bit inexperienced. Wet behind the ears, you might say. Searches produced a number of “Jason Duong“s, but none appeared to be our main man here.



Jason Duong – Last Christmas



This one comes to us unlabeled, Thanks mystery person! Here’s what we know: it’s hip-hop, it’s in a language we aren’t familiar with, and it’s a nice change of pace (even if there are a lot of hip-hop versions).



Honey Family – Last Christmas

For the past few years, the Parenthetical Girls have released Holiday EPs, the first of which had a pretty awesome version of “Last Christmas.” (This year’s EP has a track called “Last Christmas part 2,” but they say it’s related to the original only by name, so we’re not going to post it.) At the Parenthetical Girls site, you can find a few more Christmas gems and songs from their other releases as well. I’m not sure how to best describe how engaging their music is, so I’ll let Pitchfork help me out: “Xiu Xiu fans hungry for the new nervousness would do well to seek out the work of … Zac Pennington’s Parenthetical Girls, for a strong dose of panic-pop.” Panic pop? Ok, sounds good to me.

Well, we had the great pleasure to see the Parenthetical Girls when they came through town a month or so ago. Lead singer Zac Pennington took a minute and talked to us about his version and his love for holiday music in general, and then somehow we convinced him to give us a hand with today’s reviews. He got a good day, too; all today’s tracks are Magical Snowflake Award winners!