Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas To All!’ on CBS and Paramount+, Where The Singer Continues To Secure Her “Queen Of Christmas” Bid

Opening Shot: Outside, New York’s Madison Square Garden is lit up in red. Inside, the lively crowd is ready to greet their Christmas queen. And after a jazzy vamp she appears, descending to the stage inside a grand tiara and doing vocal trills to “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from the Nutcracker Suite. 

The Gist: Mariah Carey’s Christmas spirit doesn’t end with her certified 12-times Platinum holiday platter “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which first appeared way back in 1994. That song’s ascendance to the perch of seasonal standard is only part of the Christmas persona the singer, songwriter, and performer has perfected, particularly in her round of holiday residencies between 2014 and 2019. Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All! Is the big network television version of those residencies, combining standards like “O Holy Night” and “Joy to the World” with originals like “Christmas Time Is In the Air Again” (written Broadway EGOT Marc Shaiman), “Miss You Most (At Christmas Time),” and “When Christmas Comes.”

With the stage at Madison Square Garden populated by Christmas trees and a tiered setup for her talented band, Carey also brings out a few special guests. Speaking of Broadway, Billy Porter appears onstage to sing “Jesus Had a Mama Like Mine,” while Mariah reunites with Jermaine Dupri in his gold crown for “Here Comes Santa Claus” and portions of a medley that features non-holiday, everyday Carey bangers like “Heartbreaker/Honey” and “Fantasy.” The Rockettes dancers are done up in candy cane colors for “Oh Santa!”, and a cheeky version of the Waitresses classic “Christmas Wrapping” features Carey’s own children amongst the kids performing while the singer appears on a big screen dressed in what can only be described as “Christmas Madonna” chic. By the time Drew Barrymore appears to fete the host – “That is the magic of Mimi! She grabs you by the heart and she does not let go!” – it’s also time for the big finale, the title of which you can probably guess. Mariah Carey hasn’t been able to secure a trademark for the title “Queen of Christmas.” But with specials like Merry Christmas to All!, she’ll get there someday.    

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special from 2020 is available to stream on Apple TV+, and features Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson amongst its special guests. And joining Merry Christmas to All in the new content for Christmas category is Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas, which the country legend filmed at Dollywood alongside guests like Miley Cyrus and Tom Everett Scott. 

Our Take: “I’m not the queen of scheduling!” The crowd on hand at MSG for Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All! would undoubtedly gobble up anything their queen said like Santa eating so many cookies by the chimney. But it’s the singer’s most off-the-cuff moments that really endear in her latest Christmas special, as those instances have always done throughout her multi-generational, multi-Grammy career. But just in case her persona doesn’t grab you, Carey brought along a few sure things. Her duet with daughter Monroe on “Away in a Manger” is like if you had “cute overload” on your Christmas list, and her son Moroccan aka “Rocky” appears on stage periodically to act as a kind of pint-sized hype man for his mom and the holiday in general. It’s also Rocky’s privilege to introduce a red-crowned Slick Rick to the proceedings during an inspired and busy rendition of “Here Comes Santa Claus,” so if special guests in the form of rap royalty are your thing, Carey got you exactly what you asked for.

In general, Merry Christmas to All! handles its duties as a holiday special with ease, freely changing up the mood to please whoever might be in the room where it’s streaming. Mariah Carey brings solemnity to “Silent Night,” the flavor of contemporary R&B to “When Christmas Comes,” the whimsy of an Old Navy Christmas season ad whenever her children or their friends are on stage, and a sense of true ownership over the medley of classic hits she performs, everything from “Honey” to “Big Energy/Fantasy” and her inimitable show-stopper, “We Belong Together.” (Carey even calls out how invigorated she feels after singing that last one.) But ultimately, there’s comfortability here. All Merry Christmas to All! does is solidify Carey’s stance as the holiday’s feelgood queen.

Sex and Skin: C’mon now. More prompts like that and you’ll get a lump of coal in your stocking.

Parting Shot: There was never any question what the grand finale would be, and Mariah Carey, wearing an epauletted leotard with fringey Christmas highlights, is at the joyful forefront of an onstage riot of holiday cheer as she performs “All I Want for Christmas Is You” with help from her kids, the Rockettes, red streamers, swirling particles of snow-fetti, and digital candy canes.  

Sleeper Star: Mariah Carey really connects with Daniel Moore, her music director, whenever he’s at the long grand piano, and Moore deftly controls the level of vibe emanating from the musicians, be it for the hush of quieter moments or splendor of full-on gospel choir grandeur. 

Most Pilot-y Line: Carey is a fun host, and her stage banter often feels delightfully impromptu. “Thank you for coming! I’ve been missing being out here in New York, singing with the people, particularly around Christmastime.” And then she points out a fan near the stage. “I see you in that coat! I had an ensemble like that on earlier, darling…”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Whether or not you keep the sound on for its entire run time, Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All! wants nothing more than to entertain, with plenty of yuletide visual spectacle to match its pleasant mix of holiday chestnuts and favorites from Mariah Carey’s catalog. 

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges