British Columbia

Does Bing sing it best or does Mariah take you higher? Vote now for your favourite holiday song

With just a few days to go until the big day, the bombardment of Christmas music is almost at its peak — and so is the debate over the best holiday tune.

Winner of in The Early Edition's Christmas Song Bracket will be announced Monday

Bing Crosby is pitted against Mariah Carey for the best holiday tune. (Bing Crosby Merry Christmas/Universal Music Group )

What's the better holiday tune: White Christmas or All I Want for Christmas Is You

All week, CBC's The Early Edition has been pitting songs against each other to find the top Christmas song of all time, from the classics to modern hits. 

It's down to the wire in the final round between Bing Crosby and Mariah Carey. 

Monday's vote put Sarah McLachlan's version of Silent Night ahead of Celine Dion's take on O Holy Night, while Bing Crosby's White Christmas blew past Mel Torme's The Christmas Song with almost three times the number of votes. 

On Wednesday, Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You blew Ariana Grande's Santa Tell Me out of the water. Nearly double the amount of voters chose Wham!'s Last Christmas over Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC.

In the second-to-final round on Thursday, it was tight between Mariah and Wham!, but All I Want for Christmas Is You pulled ahead. Bing Crosby proved significantly more popular than Sarah McLachlan.

Vote in the Christmas Song Bracket on Twitter

The winning song will be announced on Monday.

The shortlist — which is by no means meant to be all encompassing — was put together with the approval of some of CBC Vancouver's most musically trusted journalists, including Lisa Christensen, Margaret Gallagher and Mark Macarthur, as well as list-master Justin McElroy. 

Mariah Carey onstage in New York in December 2016. (Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

The 8 songs in the running

CBC Music Executive Producer Mark Macarthur explains why the following eight songs made the shortlist. 

  • White Christmas, Bing Crosby 
    "The biggest-selling single of all time — not just Christmas songs of all time — with 50 million songs sold. This is one that the second you hear it, you instantly feel a family-feel of home."


     

  • The Christmas Song, Mel Torme 
    "This is one that is usually known as 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.' It's a wonderful song, it has a kind of melancholy feel to it, but really does make you feel like you can smell and hear the sounds of Christmas."


     
  • Silent Night, Sarah McLachlan 
    "We have a wonderful song from the religious world. This is Silent Night, one of the most popular songs around the world to do around Christmas. This is done by our very famous Canadian, Sarah McLachlan. It's a wonderful, wonderful song."


     
  • O Holy Night, Celine Dion 
    "We have another wonderful voice, someone famous: Celine Dion with her version of O Holy Night."


     
  • All I Want For Christmas, Mariah Carey 
    "One of the most powerful, strong voices of the 21st century." 


     
  • Santa Tell Me, Ariana Grande 
    "If you don't know who this is, your kids will. In 2014, this was a major, major track with hundreds of millions of YouTube views."


     
  • Last Christmas, Wham!
    "We're going to harken back to the 80s for some Christmas classics. These are songs that we are still playing very, very heavily today. The first one is the boys from England — this is Wham! with George Michael." 


     
  • Christmas in Hollis, Run DMC
    "Here is an oddball one, yet still a classic. This is Run DMC, one of the original rap groups of all time … they actually made one of the first Christmas raps, for sure."