"Oh Santa!" is a song by American singer and songwriter

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...

from her second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album, ''

Merry Christmas II You ''Merry Christmas II You'' is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas album by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Island Records on November 2, 2010. Recording began in April 2010 and continued while Carey beca ...

'' (2010). Carey wrote and produced the song in collaboration with

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

and

Bryan-Michael Cox Bryan-Michael Paul Cox (born December 1, 1977) is an American record producer and songwriter who is notable for his work with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton. Among his most notable productions are " Be Wi ...

. It was released as the lead single from the album on October 1, 2010 by Island Def Jam Records. It is an up-tempo R&B song about Carey making a plea for

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

to bring back her partner in time for the Christmas holidays. It received a positive response from music critics, with many praising its composition and style. The track set a record on the United States ''

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Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

songs chart, debuting at number twelve and peaking at number one the following week for four weeks. It became the first song to reach the summit in two weeks. It further became Carey's seventh number-one song on the chart. Carey filmed a 1960s-style music video to accompany the song's release as a single, and performed it on various programs in the lead up to Christmas, including her own TV special called ''Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You''. It was later adapted to be the finale of '' A Christmas Melody'', a 2015

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies ...

Christmas movie, with its lyrics tweaked to be relevant for Broadway child performer Fina Strazza's character singing about her single mother finding love. On December 4, 2020, a new version was released featuring singers

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

and

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisi ...

, as a single from the soundtrack to '' Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special'' for

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Background and composition

"Oh Santa!" was written and produced by

and

for Carey's second Christmas/thirteenth studio album, ''

'' (2010); Rye Songs administered by Songs of Universal ( BMI)/Shaniah Cymone Music, EMI April Music Inc. (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

)/WBM Music Corp Inc./Pamela & Lorrence's Publishing LLC (SESAC). Her vocals were recorded by Brian Garten, Marcus Johnson and Thomas Kanarek, Martin Cooke, Nicholas Essif and Peter Mack, and the music by John Horesco at Guardian Angel Studios,

Westlake Recording Studios Westlake Recording Studios is a music recording studio in West Hollywood, California. History Westlake Recording Studios was founded in the early 1970s by the American audio engineer Tom Hidley under the name Westlake Audio. Hidley was experienc ...

, Henson Studios and Capitol Recording Studios. It was mixed by

Phil Tan Phil Tan is a Malaysian-American music and audio engineer. Early life and education Tan was born in Malaysia. He attended Full Sail University in Florida in the U.S., where he attained a degree in Recording Arts in 1990. Afterwards he moved to Atla ...

and Damien Lewis at The Ninja Beat Club. Dupri played the drums and

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...

performed bass. Cox plated the keyboard and percussion. The background vocals were sung by Angie Fisher, Melonie Daniels, Maryann Tatum, Sharlotte Gibson and Toni Scruggs. "Oh Santa!" was one of four original compositions by Carey to be included on the album. It premiered on October 1, 2010, in the United States. An EP consisting of six remixes by

Jump Smokers Jump Smokers were an electro house music group from the United States. The band consisted of members Justin Roman (vocals/lyrics) and Flipside (production/DJ). Background The two met in Chicago, Illinois working for Chicago radio station ...

and Low Sunday were released on December 7, while a mix of "Oh Santa! and one of Carey's previous Christmas songs " All I Want for Christmas Is You", titled "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)", was released on December 17. "Oh Santa!" is an up-tempo and festive R&B song, which lasts for a duration of three minutes, thirty-one seconds. It has a 1960s girl-group

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

feel. The song, in the key of C♯ major, has a tempo of 80

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Carey's voice spans more than three

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s, from B₂ to the high note of F₆. Instrumentation consists of

sleigh bell A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic Sled, sleigh bell sound and Morris dance, ...

jingle bell A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. The ...

s, hand claps and a piano melody, backed by a "school-yard chant beat". Lyrically, Carey makes a plea to

asking him to bring back her "baby" in time for Christmas, singing "Santa's gon' come and make him mine this Christmas."

Critical reception

Mike Diver of the BBC wrote that "Oh Santa!" is a "boisterous" song which "makes perfect sense" as a lead single. He continued to write that although it fell substandard to "All I Want for Christmas Is You", it would still "warrant revisiting 12 months down the line". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' writer Caryn Ganz commented on the composition, writing "Mariah bops to a schoolyard-chant beat". Joey Guerra of the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'' described the song as "irresistible" and predicted that it would "dominate ringtones" in the run up to Christmas. A reviewer for

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

described the track as a "boppy" Christmas version of

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, '' Let Go'' (2002), is the best-selling album of the 21 ...

's "

Girlfriend A girlfriend is a female friend, acquaintance or partner, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed relationship where the ...

". Rich Juzwiak of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' was critical of the song, writing "Of the four Mariah-penned new tracks, the Jermaine Dupri/Bryan-Michael Cox collaboration 'Oh Santa!' tries the hardest, an antique kitchen-sink replica that manages to invoke a cheerleading squad, the

Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blu ...

, Mariah's own '

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly " Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits ...

', and

Hey Ya! "Hey Ya!" is a song performed by American hip-hop duo Outkast, specifically group member André 3000, who wrote and produced the song. Along with "The Way You Move", recorded by Outkast's other member Big Boi, "Hey Ya!" was released by Arista ...

'. Full of mumbling and cattiness, it's difficult to sing along to, so its prospects of becoming a perennial favorite are dim."

Chart performance

In the United States, "Oh Santa!" became a record-breaking entry on the ''

songs chart. It debuted at number twelve for the issue dated December 11, 2010. The track soared to number one the following week, marking the quickest ascent to the peak position since Nielsen BDS began tracking airplay in 1993, in just two weeks. Previously, eight songs had reached number one within three weeks, four of which were Christmas entries due to adult contemporary radio stations playing an increased amount in the holiday season. "Oh Santa!" became Carey's seventh number-one hit on the chart, and her first in fifteen years since "

One Sweet Day "One Sweet Day" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey and vocal group Boyz II Men. The song was released on as the second single from Carey's fifth studio album, ''Daydream'' (1995) by Columbia Records. The artists co ...

" (1995–96), a duet with

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Natha ...

. The singer also topped the chart with her debut single " Vision of Love" (her first) and " Love Takes Time" in 1990, " I Don't Wanna Cry" in 1991, and " Can't Let Go" and " I'll Be There" in 1992. "Oh Santa!" remained atop the chart for four consecutive weeks altogether. It finished at number 42 on the 2011 Adult Contemporary year-end chart. For the week ending October 30, 2010, Carey occupied the top two positions on the Holiday Digital Songs chart: "Oh Santa!" debuted at number one while "All I Want For Christmas Is You" charted at number two. On January 1, 2011, the track debuted at number one-hundred on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and number forty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs chart. Elsewhere, the track debuted at number thirty-six on the South Korean Gaon International Digital Singles Chart for the week ending November 20, 2010. It later peaked at number thirty-two for the week ending December 25, 2010. On the International Download Singles Chart, the track peaked at number thirty. "On Santa!" peaked at number sixty-eight on the

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by '' Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thu ...

. The song peaked at number seventy-three on January 1, 2011, for two consecutive weeks on the Canadian Hot 100 chart.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for "Oh Santa!" was directed by Ethan Lader and was shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

on October 6, 2010. Reports surfaced online that Carey's then-husband

Nick Cannon Nicholas Scott Cannon (born October 8, 1980) is an American television host, actor, rapper, and comedian. In television, Cannon began as a teenager on ''All That'' before going on to host ''The Nick Cannon Show'', ''Wild 'n Out'', ''America's G ...

would be directing the video, however Cannon dispelled the rumors on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, saying "I am NOT directing." The video for "Oh Santa!" premiered on entertainment news program ''

Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', formerly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was create ...

'' on November 2, 2010. Prior to its release, various media outlets speculated that the video was going incorporate the same on-set style as seen in Outkast's music video for their 2003 single "

", with the singer as the main feature in front of a large audience. Carey's fan site MariahDaily posted a message on their website asking people within the Los Angeles area to appear for a casting call for a chance to be featured in the video.

Synopsis

The video draws influence from the 1950s and 1960s variety shows and features Carey wearing a short, red "sexy Santa" ensemble, whilst on stage with a band, which featured gospel backup singers as well as a group of dancers, consisting of cheerleaders. The plotline is centered on Carey hosting a "Mariah Carey Christmas" television show. The announcer introduces Carey saying "here she is, the greatest singer of all time, Ms. Mariah Carey!". The video then shows Carey's backup singers belting out the chorus while the singer is seen performing in front of a cheering audience. Her collection of fragrances is also advertised in the opening. In the second half of the video,

makes an appearance, waving to friends and sharing a hug with Carey. The video ends with the singer laughing while the audience cheers and claps for her performance.

Reception

Becky Bain of Idolator commented on the simple structure and themes of the video, writing "There’s not much to this simple vid, but it does feature Carey doing her usual hand-waving theatrics while hitting some absolutely killer high notes." Bain also observed that the vast majority of the shots of Carey are either long shots, showing the singer from a distance, or close-up shots, showing Carey from the shoulders and above so that the viewer was not able to easily recognize that she was pregnant. Nicole James of MTV Buzzworthy also praised the content of the video, writing "Of course, it wouldn't be a Mariah Carey video without some glitz and glam so the stage and backdrop are covered in (what else?) glitter. Mariah puts on a great show and sings her heart out with that famous eight-octave range ... scrooges need not apply, 'Oh Santa!' is fun and festive and has you longing for a sip of eggnog."

Remixes

When the song was first released as a single in 2010, six dance

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es were commissioned and were later released as a digital EP. A mashup of the song with 1994's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" produced by

titled "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)" was also released on December 13, 2010.

Track listings and formats

* Album version # " Oh Santa!" – 3:31 * Mashup digital download # "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)" * Oh Santa! (The Remixes) EP # "Oh Santa!" (

Edit) – 3:53 # "Oh Santa!" (Low Sunday Edit) – 4:09 # "Oh Santa!" (Jump Smokers Extended) – 4:08 # "Oh Santa!" (Low Sunday Club) – 6:16 # "Oh Santa!" (Jump Smokers Instrumental) – 3:52 # "Oh Santa!" (Low Sunday Instrumental) – 6:18

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson version

For the tenth anniversary of the song, Carey re-recorded and re-released the song commercially as a new remix. Carey recorded the new version of the song with

and

. The new version served as the lead single from Carey's second soundtrack album, '' Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special''. The song was released across all streaming platforms on December 4, 2020, accompanied by its official music video, premiered the same day on Carey's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

account.

Background

Talking to ''

'', Carey stated in regards to the song that "originally, I was blending with myself ..but it was cool to be able to work with the different vocal textures and play around with it and reimagine it." She went on to describe the song as a "girl group moment".

Reception

The remix received positive reviews on release. ''

'' writer Rania Aniftos wrote that the three singers "trading verses and harmonies" amounts for a "truly angelic result". Chris Murphy, writer for ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...

'' went on to say that "the trio, the remix, and the accompanying music video absolutely makes the nice list in every possible way." In its first week of release, the song sold 10,000 downloads in the United States and 9,250 equivalent units in the United Kingdom.

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Songs about Santa Claus 2010 singles 2020 singles American Christmas songs Mariah Carey songs Matt Fishel songs Ariana Grande songs Jennifer Hudson songs Song recordings produced by Jermaine Dupri Songs written by Bryan-Michael Cox Songs written by Mariah Carey Songs written by Jermaine Dupri 2010 songs Def Jam Recordings singles Song recordings produced by Bryan-Michael Cox

Background and composition

Critical reception

Chart performance

Music video

Synopsis

Reception

Remixes

Track listings and formats

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson version

Background

Reception

Charts

Release history

See also

References