A very Ally Christmas --- Vonda Shepard/Cast --- 2000 (Epic)
Ever get into a show on TV and suddenly end up realising you hate it after all? I thought Ally McBeal was really quite cute until about halfway through I think the second season, when I realised just what a whiny little biyatch she was, and how annoying just about everyone around her was. That was the end of my association with Flockhart and her bunch, though I must admit I did like Vonda Shepard's theme tune to the series. No surprise, then, that when the Christmas CD from the show came out in 2000 it would be mostly Shepard's baby.
There is involvement (sadly) from the cast though, (egos like those are never left at the door) and so we have Callista "Ally" Flockhart painfully trying to sound sexy on "Santa baby" (and failing miserably), Lisa Nicole Cannon's really weird "Santa got stuck up my chimney" (please keep your sexual proclivities to yourself, young lady!) and even Jane Krakowski singing TWO songs, "Run Rudolph run" and "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus", the latter of which, given the character and actress's age is just creepy and wrong.
There's an attempt to rescue things by the great Robert Downey Jnr and his rendition of Joni Mitchell's "River" shines through this like a jewel in a pigsty, but it's not enough and the rest of the album is so-so Christmas fare like you'd expect, with "Let it snow", "White Christmas" and my favourite, "Silver bells", plus Macy Grey getting unnecessarily involved in "Winter wonderland". Gaah!
TRACKLISTING
1. This Christmas
2. The Man With the Bag
3. Please Come Home for Christmas
4. Silver Bells
5. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
6. Winter Wonderland - Macy Gray
7. Run, Rudolph, Run - Jane Krakowski
8. Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney - Lisa Nicole Carson
9. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Jane Krakowski
10. Santa Baby - Calista Flockhart
11. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
12. River - Robert Downey Jr.
13. White Christmas
14. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve