Martina McBride knows good corn from bad. Take last year’s Timeless, the Nashville vet’s goodhearted tribute to old-school country music: Instead of drowning the tunes in sentimental schmaltz, the singer emphasized the homespun universality of the material; McBride went Hallmark, but not in a way that made you queasy.
This could change, however, with McBride’s The Joy of Christmas. Promoted as “a two-hour multimedia event with elaborate sets, impressive special effects, and a talented cast of actors,” the family-oriented holiday spectacular will surely contain its fair share of corny moments. But as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has proved with more guitar solos (and just as much hairspray), corn ‘n’ Christmas belong together.
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2006.