Come on, Emmanuel! Seriously....

 It being the Christmas season, it's time for me to get things all wrong and screw up but I'm not doing to do that this time.  Hopefully.  And no random assault singing clowns this time.  Hopefully.

I really like the carol "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."  A favorite one before I married and a greater favorite after, as Mrs. Andrew also shares my love of it.

Within reason, of course.  Parameters are:  Must be understandable if in English.  Must be orchestrated correctly.   No going Gospel or Progressive Jazz or Streisandish or Midlerish or Neil Diamondish or whatever.  Operatic treatments will be shot, same with Sarah Brightman (like a lot of her music but....)

Ya know.  Basic song, sing it.  Make it your own.  But stay within the lines.  Which leaves an awful lot of potential choices.

Like the bog standard version:

Traditional Choir.  Good but... there can be some flexibility.

Better is the Anna Hawkins version.  She has some serious pipe on her.  Clarity of voice and of diction.  And tossing in the Hebrew is a nice touch:

Decidedly not bog standard.

As I said, clear voice and diction.

Nice musical arrangement.

Filmed in Israel.

A little farther out in left field we come to Leah.  Who is the voice for a symphonic metal band.  You know, Heavy Metal but more symphonic.  Like if Alan Parsons (of Alan Parsons Project - progressive rock,) or Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra - progressive/symphonic rock) did heavy metal.  She's known (seriously) as the "Enye of Heavy Metal."  

And that's Symphonic Metal.  Harsh, but good sounding.

Great voice, too.

Way past left field, still very listenable, clear voice and diction is... uh... Geoff Castalucci, who sings bass.  That would be pronounced "Base" juvat.  Not Bass like the fish, Bass like the guitar, and, yes, I still irritate, after 39 years of wedlock, my bride by occasionally pronouncing it like the fish because I see the words in my head spelled out before I talk, sometimes.  Bass as he sings in the bass register.  Not tenors like most lead singers, nor baritones like a few lead singers or the second voice, the bass guys who usually just add sound in the background.  

How low can you go?  Geoff goes really low.

But very correct notes and diction.

So that's 4 versions of 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel.'  All done well.  (actually I tossed the first one on there so I don't know how it sounds but it's just for comparison with the other three.

No singing clowns!!!  Whooo hoooooo!!!!