"Carol of the Bells" is one of my favorite holiday songs and I really liked the version sung by Celtic Woman on the Bonnie Hunt Show today.  The song appears on their album A Christmas Celebration along with 14 other classics (including a couple tracks in Gaelic).

I still prefer the one by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir but this was so much more intimate feeling and the instrumental portion with the fiddle (violin?) was both sensual and sweet. 

image: Amazon.com

Katy Perry performed her new single "Hot and Cold" on the Ellen show today and, well, I guess it was a decent performance if you like either Katy or her song (or both).  I, unfortunately, don’t like this song very much nor am I particularly a fan of Ms. Perry’s.  Still, it was a pretty good performance.

I loved that her band had on elf hats, though.  Didn’t really peg her for the festive type…

Ellen Degeneres talked with to Brad Pitt via satellite (he was in New Orleans) this morning.  She congratulated him on the success of his Make It Right foundation, which aims to provide affordable housing to those who survived Hurricane Katrina.  Brad thanked Ellen for her support since her show has raised over 1.2 million dollars for the cause.  That’s amazing! 

Ellen also lamented over the fact that she hasn’t been able to get George Clooney on her show (despite her best efforts).  Brad had an interesting suggestion for success…

Watch Part 2 after the jump!

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The Today show took a look at Good Housekeeping magazine’s first annual "Best Toy Awards" and with most of my holiday shopping left undone, I was really interested to see what made the grade.  I trust both the Today show and Good Housekeeping so I thought I would share the findings with you!

Watch this video - who knows?  You might revise your own shopping list!

Here are the toys, listed by recommended age:

Ages 3-4

• Melody Express Musical Train by Learning Resources ($43, ages 3+)
• Mattel Hot Wheels Trick Tracks Power Loop Stunt Zone Set ($30, ages 4+)

Ages 5-6

• Hasbro Martian Matter Alien Maker ($18, ages 5+)
• Mattel’s Barbie iDesign Ultimate Stylist CD-ROM Game ($30, ages 5+, PC only)
• The Disney Pixar U-Command Wall-E ($60, ages 6+)
• Scientific Explorer Magic Science Kit ($20, ages 6+)

Ages 7-9

• Lego, Creator Cargo Copter ($20, ages 7+)
• WowWee RS Tri-bot ($100, ages 8+)
• Air Hogs Zero Gravity Micro car ($30, ages 8+)
• Jakks Pacific Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker ($30, ages 8+)
• Wild Planet Spy Video ATV-360 ($99, ages 8+)
• Cranium Family Edition ($20, ages 8+)
• Jakks Pacific Night Vision Goggles ($80, ages 8+)
• Elmer’s Totally Glamorous Spa Kit ($20, ages 9+)

American Idol finalist (and Oscar winner), Jennifer Hudson, has seen her life turned upside down these past few weeks after her mother and brother were found murdered in the family home and her little nephew, Julian King, was found shot to death in the back of a vehicle just three days later. 

Police treated William Balfour, Jennifer’s own brother-in-the-law, as a person of interest since the crimes took place but he was not charged until just now so I’m guessing they have gathered some more evidence.  If he is guilty, I hope they can just get on with his conviction so that the Hudson family can begin to heal.

Singing superstar, Beyonce, was on the Ellen Degeneres show where she performed “Singles Ladies” and the most emotional “Flaws and All.”  Naturally, during “Single Ladies” she had to do the choreography from the video that you are seeing all over the place (she’s doing it with every performance and Justin Timberlake even spoofed it on Saturday Night Live).  Honestly, I’m kind of tired of seeing it but she did a good job on Ellen.

To see more video, including her interview, visit Beyonce-K.com!

Singing superstar, Beyoncé, performed on the Today show this morning and she was spectacular, of course!  She sang older hits like "Crazy in Love," the Etta James classic "At Last" (she will be portraying James in the upcoming movie Cadillac Records) along with tracks off of her new album I Am… Sasha Fierce including "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies."

For more pictures from her performance, visit Beyonce-K!

"Crazy in Love"

More videos after the jump!

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Martha Stewart welcomed Snoop Dogg to her show last week where they made mashed potatoes with cognac.  She asked about his upcoming Christmas album which, he said, contains a song called "Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto."  Too funny! 

She told him to put a stick of butter into the mixing bowl to which he replies "the whole thang?"  She says "yes" and then he asks if it’s Parkay or margarine (she reiterates that it’s butter).  So then he mentions that he used to like the Parkay commercials and says "Par-kaaaay" (remember those?).  What a cooking segment!  I had fun just watching it.

Dancing with the Stars finalist, Lance Bass, pulled a slightly cruel joke on talk show host, Bonnie Hunt, and I couldn’t stop laughing.  He made his way down the fireman’s pole on her set and, when he reached the bottom, he claimed to have hurt his ankle (which would be a nightmare considering he has a real shot at winning the dancing competition!).  Bonnie is so sweet, she was really worried and was about to call someone over to look at his ankle when Lance kicked out both legs and said "just kidding!"  Bonnie responded by pretending to take a nasty fall herself.  It was quite a thud - I can’t believe she did that!

Bonnie also asked him if he has noticed a big physical change since starting the show (he’s lost 15 pounds in the last 3 months!), how it feels to see himself dancing (he TiVos his own performances and is amazed!) and what it’s been like to have his grandfather in the audience.

They also talked about the fact that he grew up in a very conservative, Christian family in Mississippi and how hard it was for him to come out as a gay man.  He said that his family struggled at first but that they are entirely accepting now.  He believes that if a group of people like his family can become accepting then the whole world can be a better place.  Aww!!!

image used with permission

This morning on the Today show, Rosie O’Donnell talked to Meredith Vieira (with whom she has something in common - they both were moderators on The View) about her famous feuds with former co-hosts, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Barbara Walters.  Meredith asks Rosie about her comments to reporters last week where she implied that the women on The View are not really friends off the set.  Of course, Barbara responded to these allegations by referring to Rosie as "lady" and told her to "get on with [her] life."  Rosie said that despite everything, she respects Barbara and cares about her.

She also talked about her upcoming primetime variety show, Rosie Live, which I think looks interesting.  She describes it as a "jam-packed show" where she will have a 2 minute monologue at the beginning of the hour.