The final song of Ariana Grande's Christmas Kisses EP has arrived. This morning (Dec. 10), the "Right There" singer released her version of the Eartha Kitt Christmas classic "Santa Baby" with a little help from her former Victorious co-star Liz Gillies.
Though Grande's first three holiday releases from 2013 ("Last Christmas," "Love is Everything," "Snow in California") have all featured super heavy production and modernized instrumentation, Grande and Gillies have gone back closer to the basics with their "Santa Baby."
The 2013 version of this classic song begins with the signature clunky drums, keyboards and a little touch of xylophone that helps to make it feel like a childhood Christmas track (despite being one of the "sexier" songs of the season). Grande and Gilles have also added a bit of kazoo into the musical mix, which does help to give the song a fun vibe.
Just isolating the production and actual music of "Santa Baby" easily makes it the best song from Christmas Kisses. Grande has one of the best voices in pop, but blasting synthesizers and putting her nearly equal in the mix to the music does not help to make a memorable song (we're looking at you, "Last Christmas").
But, how do the vocals work? The answer is... not as well as they could have.
Grande and Gillies weren't just co-stars on Victorious, they're also real life BFFs, so the chemistry in the duet is there, and Gillies smoky vocals help to balance out Grande's baby voice, which is just... in total full force on "Santa Baby." Of course, the song is meant to be that sort of "baby sexy," and Grande pulls that off in a way but ends up taking it a little too far. In the first verse, she's nearly lisping and it's just distracting.
Of course, Grande doesn't have to belt her heart out to be a solid singer, there's definitely some strengths in restraint. However, in "Santa Baby," she doesn't even try to enunciate or even sing clearly. For someone who does know how to sing properly, it doesn't come through here.
Listen to "Santa Baby" from Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies below.
And, if you want a stunning version of a Christmas classic from Grande and Gillies, check out their 2011 version of "The Christmas Song."
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