The countdown to the countdown. So many versions, how do we choose?

You have until 11:59 PM North American Eastern time this Friday to cast your votes in Mushroom FM’s holiday countdown and receive an invitation to our Christmas party where we play the top 100 on 19 December.

From a listener’s perspective, you may think that this show would be an easy one for the fun guys to prepare for. After all, the listeners are in charge of what songs make the chart, so that’s the music taken care of, right? Well, it’s not quite that simple.

When it comes to some modern songs that are often popular on our countdown, like Straight No Chaser’s “Text Me Merry Christmas”, The Pogues “Farytale of New York” or indeed last year’s number one, there’s only one version to play. But Have you ever thought of how many versions of the same Christmas songs are out there, be they modern standards or traditional carols? Some versions of “Silent Night” are so unique that you’d prefer the night to stay silent. Jethro Tull’s fluty version of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” has a catchy swing about it that puts a spring in your step, but it’s hardly traditional.

Because Christmas is more about traditions than any other season, people feel a strong sense of attachment to the Christmas music they identify with. This means that we take great care with the versions of each song we choose. Where there are literally hundreds, even thousands of versions to choose from, we aim to strike a balance between the traditional and the adventurous. The idea is that you’ll hear something familiar one moment, perhaps a recently released version of a Christmas classic that’s popular presently, and of course our listeners make sure you’re never too far away from a Christmas novelty track.

It’s for this reason that in most cases, we don’t accept a specific artist for Christmas classics when you vote. Good though it is, few people would want to hear the chart monopolised by, say, 100 versions of Rudolph. We make an occasional exception where there are two versions of the same song that are so different that they tend to be polarising. “Mary’s Boychild” is a case in point, where the Bony M version is very popular, as is the Harry Belafonte original.

So for the team behind putting the countdown together, the votes closing is the end of the first part of the process, but it’s at that point that preparation really picks up. We trust that yet again, this year we’ll bring you a mix of old and new, familiar and interesting, that fills you with Christmas cheer.

You be the judge. Cast your vote, and let your friends and family know to vote too. http://mushroomfm.com/countdown2021 and then join us on Sunday at 9 AM Eastern for 10 hours of great music and festive fun.