Courtesy of Forbes
“The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show” premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, Nov. 29, with all-star special guests and an incredible host. The special featured performances from James Corden, Camila Cabello, Kendall Jenner, Lana Del Ray, Zooey Deschanel, Troye Sivan, Leon Bridges, Fred Armisen, the Rockettes and the six-time Grammy-winning host herself.
Amazon’s extensive advertising campaign for the Christmas special drew many viewers in with their trailer, teaser trailer and social media ads, while the actual special flopped. The spectacular guest list was perfect for promoting the show, but many of the songs and Christmas banter between Musgraves and her guests failed to be funny or entertaining.
The 45-minute special began with an unremarkable bit between the country star and James Corden singing the Christmas classic “Let It Snow.” In the almost four-minute song, every time either celebrity uttered the words “Let It Snow,” the windows would open and snow would come rushing in. In a frantic flurry, Corden and Musgraves would work to close the window and begin singing again. The joke began as very humorous, but because it was repeated so much, it became old very quickly. The rest of the show followed in a similar fashion, with some actually funny jokes being overdone and becoming quite dull.
Fans of Musgraves love her because she displays her unique voice, wit and charm in her songs. She severely failed to do this in her special. Nearly all of the songs she sung sounded almost exactly like their traditional versions, with no unique “Kacey” twang or originality. One of the best performances in the special was of her own “Christmas Makes Me Cry” off of her 2016 holiday album. This was one of the only performances that lacked any banter, gags or smoke-and-mirrors special effects to distract from the song and performance. Musgraves’ performance of this song was arguably the best and most important part of the entire show, regardless of whoever her guests were and how hilarious they are known to be.
Amazon’s “Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show” was produced by Ben Winston and written by Matt Whitaker and Cathy Lew. Winston is the executive producer for CBS’ “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” including its “Carpool Karaoke” segments. He also previously produced One Direction’s “Best Song Ever” music video and the boy band’s film, “One Direction: This Is Us.” Whitaker currently writes for “The Late Late Show with James Corden”, and wrote for Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and the 73rd annual Tony Awards, hosted by Corden.
With all of this production talent, one would expect greatness from Musgraves’ special, but alas, it wasn’t even on the radar of greatness.
Amazon Prime Video’s “The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show” advertises an incredibly kitschy holiday celebration, which entertains fans of Musgraves’ and her guests’ personalities, but not their takes on holiday classics. The special, now streaming on Amazon, can act as a perfect, brief distraction just before finals.
