I Always Have A Cheetah-licious Christmas Every Year And You Should Too
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s fall editorial intern Jess Newman. Find her on Instagram at @_jess_n_. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
It’s that time of year again, it’s time to blast the most festive music while you’re wrapping gifts, baking cookies and sipping some fun holiday cocktails. Christmas songs can become repetitive. That’s why we need to recognize when artists put their spin on the classics. OG Disney Channel holiday songs were something else in the best way possible. Here are the songs from back in the day you should put in your holiday rotation.
A lot of Disney Channel stars dabbled in singing holiday classics (I honestly think it’s part of their contract) but the Cheetah Girls have the best holiday album all around. This album has unique takes on the classics and a few new ones too. I find that sometimes when you hear Disney Channel holiday songs the mind easily goes to Kidz Bop and this album couldn’t be any farther from that. I can honestly say A Cheetah-licious Christmas is a no-skip album for me. I tried to narrow it down to my top three but there are just too many good ones. My top five songs are Cheetah-licious Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, This Christmas, Five More Days til Christmas and Christmas in California. Not only are there so many originals on this album, the vocals are elite. These girls can sing. My bonus favorite is Feliz Navidad. It’s my favorite rendition to date.
My favorite original Christmas song of all time comes from the Radio Disney Jingle Jams album. Jesse McCartney has an original song called One Way or Another. It’s a timeless 2000s song. It’s his take on I’ll Be Home for Christmas. This song brings back so many good memories. I remember making a dance routine with my cousins at my grandma’s house to this song. You know those lame dances we all have on VHS somewhere. I’m just glad we didn’t have TikTok back in the day. I feel like no one knows about this song, it’s such a hidden gem! Hilary Duff also has a great track on the same album called Santa Claus Lane.
Speaking of blonde queens, Aly & AJ’s song Greatest Time of Year is another amazing original from their holiday album Acoustic Hearts of Winter. The other keeper from this album is Not This Year. This is a song for when you are in your feelings and aren’t in the Christmas spirit, think teen angst. I played this song over and over when my dad got stationed in Florida and it was my first Christmas without snow.
The OG besties Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato both have a holiday song as well. Selena Gomez & The Scene have their own version of Winter Wonderland. It’s super punchy and upbeat. Demi Lovato’s version of Wonderful Christmastime lets her vocals shine as always. Both of these were made when Demi and Selena were just joining Disney before they were household names. Such a blast from the past.
I have two honorable mentions that are from more recent Disney Channel stars. I’m a huge Ross Lynch and R5 fan. They have a holiday original called Christmas is Coming. It’s so cute and happy. Another recent addition to my playlist is more naughty than nice. Sabrina Carpenter posted a spoof Christmas version of her song Nonsense on social media and everyone convinced her to release a real version. She did and it’s called A Nonsense Christmas. It’s a fun take and a good change-up to all the cookie-cutter PG Christmas songs (pun intended).
Which Disney Channel holiday songs are you going to add to your playlist this holiday season? Let us know if we missed any good ones!
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