Rate-O-Rama: (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays

Welcome to Rate-O-Rama

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Rate-O-Rama : Songmania is a reader participation game.

Every Saturday evening I will publish a Rate-O-Rama article which will feature three versions of a popular song.

The object is to listen to each of the music videos provided within the post.

After listening to each video you can rate each song in the comments section below.

(You must be a member to comment. If you are not a member you can join Vocal Media for FREE. You don’t ever have to pay for membership unless you choose to upgrade your membership)

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The rating method is easy. Simply give each song a rating of 1 to 100.

(The more you like the song the higher the rating).

If possible, please provide a brief comment explaination of the reasoning behind your ratings for each song.

After a week (Saturday evening) I will tally the ratings and in the next Rate-O-Rama post I will announce the average rating each song received from the previous post.

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The Raffle!!!

I am taking the Rate-O-Rama series to the next level. At the end of each month I will do a raffle in which the winner will win a $5.00 tip.

To enter all you have to do is participate in playing the Rate-O-Rama game. Since R-O-R is updated every Sunday night in order to qualify you must play the game during it's initial seven day period with Sunday evening being the cutoff period.

For each game you play you will receive a ticket for the raffle. Therefore if you play all four games in the month you will have four chances to win.

The winner will not only win the $5 prize but I will feature your Vocal Profile on Vocal + Assist on both Facebook and Discord and you will be featured in the first R-O-R game of the month after your win.

The November 2023 Rate-O-Rama Raffle Winner:

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Last week we featured the Christmas classic: "(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home" as recorded by Darlene Love (1963), Mariah Carey (1994), and Michael Buble (2011).

The following are the average ratings for each song as resulted from the votes:

🥇 Darlene Love: 90.3

🥈 Michael Buble: 85.8

🥉 Mariah Carey: 83.5

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The Seventeenth Edition of Rate-O-Rama features three renditions of the Christmas classic: "(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays."

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Perry Como (1954)

Perry Como was the first to record this holiday favorite. The music was composed by Robert Allen, with the lyrics written by Al Stillman. Allen and Stillman wrote several hits together including “It's Not For Me To Say” and “Chances Are”, both hits for Johnny Mathis.

Como recorded the song twice, first in 1954 and again in 1959. In ‘’54 he took the song to #8 on the US charts. Subsequently, Como's rendition fared well on the US holiday charts in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

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Carpenters (1978 / 1984)

The popular brother-sister duo recorded “(There's No Place Like) Home For the Holidays” in 1978 during the recording of their classic Christmas album Christmas Portrait. But the song did not make the cut and was left for the archives. The song was finally released in 1984 a year and eight months after Karen Carpenter's untimely passing at the age of 32. It was included on their Christmas compilation An Old Fashioned Christmas.

Since 2012 Carpenters have placed “(There's No Place Like) Home For the Holidays” on the US Holiday 100 chart nine times with their highest position being #36 in 2016.

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Garth Brooks (1999)

Garth Brooks released his rendition in 1999 on his album Garth Brooks & The Magic of Christmas. The song peaked at #63 on the US Country Music charts.

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My Thoughts

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Perry Como:

Perry Como is a fine vocalist. He sings in clear and true tones. He puts a nice bit of joy in his performance. I like it. I love his arrangement with the instruments giving us cheerful sounds. I give Perry Como a 92.

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Carpenters:

Karen Carpenter's performance is cheerful and lilting. She has an inviting warmth about her voice. Her voice has a smile in it. Peter Knight's arrangement enhances the jovial mood of the song. Knight initially gained fame for his orchestration and arrangements on the Moody Blues' pivotal album, "Days of Future Passed," in 1967. I must give Carpenters a 100. Karen Carpenter's voice is uniquely well suited for Christmas music.

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Garth Brooks:

Let's face it “Home For the Holidays” is one solid tune that easily crosses genres and time periods. Garth Brooks' arrangement is dynamic and full of enthusiasm. I love the cheerful piano solo in the middle followed by the joy-filled horns. Brooks does a great job with the vocals. I give this rendition a 95.

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I will be back next week with the results of this Rate-O-Rama Edition.

Last Week's Rate-O-Rama:

With Love, RHC ❤️

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On the last week of the year we will have a very special Rate-O-Rama!!! Stay tuned!!!