Mild spoilers for A Very Murray Christmas, which should not matter, follow
Once in a while, when she’s not sticking her tongue and ass out at the same time while testing the limits of pasty glue, Miley Cyrus reminds us why she’s a performer. She did this earlier this year when she performed a genuinely sad song in honor of her deceased pufferfish, Pablo, and she does it again on A Very Murray Christmas, available now on Netflix. In a clip posted on Huffington Post, Miley wears a very short but appropriate red and white trimmed mini dress and sits on a piano to sing “Silent Night” with The Late Show’s former music man, Paul Schaffer, accompanying her on the piano. It’s an impressive, understated performance and highlights the strength and timbre of her voice. You can take a look at the video above. Miley does a couple of other performances including “Let it Snow,” and they’re just as good.
A Very Murray Christmas, is directed by Sofia Coppola and is a wacky, cynical take on a musical holiday special. The show opens with Murray in reindeer ears and an untied bow tie, belting out “The Christmas Blues” in a hotel suite in New York City. Murray can sing, in his kind of reluctant curmudgeon way. The premise is that Murray is set to do a telecast Christmas Eve special in the Carlyle Hotel when the city is shut down by snow.
Murray doesn’t want to perform and at first acts like he’s over it and hates it, but he does it anyway and starts to enjoy himself. He’s bolstered by his famous friends, some of them playing themselves and some playing characters at the hotel. There are a lot of “inside Hollywood” jokes and there’s a would-be manager, played by Michael Cera, who berates Murray for doing a Christmas special and jeopardizing his career. There are appearances from Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph and George Clooney, some in a dream sequence and some who actually show up. One funny scene is between Murray and Chris Rock as he tries to convince Rock to perform. “You sing. You’re a rapper.”
“I don’t rap. Do you know me?” It becomes clear that Rock doesn’t sing, either, but he still tries and it’s hilarious. It just gets better from there, with my favorite being a performance of The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” with Buster Poindexter, Murray, Jenny Lewis and most of the bar. Murray couldn’t do a straight Christmas special, and we wouldn’t want to see one anyway. There are fabulously good performances and there are tongue in cheek acts and it all adds up to an entertaining, unique Christmas special.
Also, there are F bombs peppering the dialogue between the performances and it’s clearly not network material. I’m reminded of something Aziz Ansari said about working with Netflix and not having to censor himself for the networks. Netflix is killing it right now, with the exception of their collaboration with Adam Sandler, they should really rethink that.
And of course Miley being classy didn’t last long. She’s wearing multicolor braids for her Dead Prez album tour.
And this is what she wore to the Very Murray Christmas premiere. A kind of half-Miley, half-decent look. She should realize that she gets more attention when she cleans up.
I’ve grown to dislike her antics and her public persona greatly. BUT I’ve always found her voice to be amazing and personally a favorite singer of mine. I’m bummed she doesn’t just sing more.
Maybe she will knock off the ridiculous antics and stick to her talent as she gets older. Who knows?
Maybe one day she’ll be like Nicki Monaj and just grow out of all of the antics. Even Gaga I think realized the voice speaks for itself. But I think in the beginning you have to do it to make sure you get noticed. Sadly voice is not enough these days. You need to be “an act”. And maybe Miley doesn’t think she’s strong enough yet for people to notice her just for her voice? Her version of Jolene is still my favorite.
She will blame her phase on Disney, believe me. I absolutely hate her behavior and dressing right now, but she has a great voice.
Yes, yes, yes, iseepinkelefants, thats’s my favorite too! Absolutely love her version!!
I feel like she worked on her style a lot. That Backyard Sessions was the first time she gave a really mature performance. I think she’d sound better if she cut back on smoking though.
I know what her boobs look like but i had no idea she could actually sing! I’m impressed.
Miley can actually sing. I find it a shame that her antics have replaced her talent. She is on the same vein as Gaga.. someone with talent that lets all the costumes and antic overshadow it.
I see the comparison too, but thought people might be outraged if I compared them.
I think they are comparable as well. It’s a shame when people with actual talent can’t just rely on that and need the attention all the nonsense brings.
I TOTALLY agree!
Miley has a lovely voice, very strong and unique.
She would be taken much more seriously as an artist if she toned her rebellious, sloppy ways down. She certainly has talent, but it gets drowned out by her ridiculousness. Kind of like Justin Beiber. Im no fan of his but his latest album really highlights his talent…but much like Miley, gets drowned out by his wreckless lifestyle
I mean this in the nicest was possible, but what talent does Justin Bieber have?? He doesn’t have a good voice. While his songs are catchy lately, he’s not writing them.
Exactly what I thought while reading this comment: how can this be a comparison since he doesn’t have talent, ANY talent.
I think his voice has really matured over time & think he really does have the chops. Unfortunately its everything else he needs to work on. Being a douche isnt a talent. But of course this is all merely my own opinion
I remember watching some of Bieber’s performances in his mid-teens on YouTube and feeling he really did have talent. He used his voice skillfully, like an instrument. I wondered if his crazy behavior was partly due to him losing that control over his voice as he went through puberty. Maybe if he’s getting back that control, he’ll mature in other ways also.
Justin does have a pretty decent, even good voice and loathe as I am to admit it, one of his albums journals or something that ny friend snuck on the playlisy had some decent songs if you’re in to pop n b
I perfectly agree with you on all accounts.
I haven’t heard Justin’s new album, but I’m aware he can sing and has played several instruments from a very young age. He does have talent.
Isn’t Justin also a pretty good dancer? That certainly requires talent too.
Can’t play this video but I’ve seen her backyard performances as well as a few covers she’s done and girl can sing. It’s everything else she does that gets the side-eye from me.
I may be in the minority but her voice is raspy AF and always reminds me of nails grating on a chalkboard.
I had Miley’s Bangerz album, and my niece begged me to turn it off, calling it nails on a chalkboard. And that album had a lot of mid-tempo songs and ballads on it. No matter what song I played, she couldn’t take her voice. She can have a very grating voice.
CATWOMAN there’s two of us! The contestants on shows like The Voice could easily out-sing Miley. She desperately needs voice training and her talent really is nothing special. I feel terrible for all the truly talented young people out there who could do a far better job – but because of some twist of fate Miley ends up with the fame.
Someone compared Miley to Adele and I got stabby. Come ON. Don’t people have ears?
I totally agree. I have never been really awed by her vocal ability. I always think of a heavy smoker singing. I think Lady Gaga has much more talent. (To compare another performer who’s “image” can overshadow everything else at times.)
Heavy smoker voice! That’s it exactly. Lounge lizard
Her voice has always had that raspy quality, even when she was very young. I don’t think it’s from smoking, it’s just natural. I don’t find it unpleasant.
I agree. Gaga doesn’t have a wide vocal range IMO, but she still sounds better. Miley has a strange vibrato. I don’t get why people think she has such a great voice. Personally, I think she kind of butchered this beautiful song.
ITA
do people think she is good because they expect so little from her?
i think it is bad though not the worst. if she went on the voice, no one would turn their chair for this bleating raspy mess from the back of her throat.
I think that has a alot to do with it, yeah. She’s a decent singer, not outstanding.
count me in Catwoman
Me too! I saw A Very Murray Christmas over the weekend and thought people were going to mock Silent Night since I thought it was horrible! I’m shocked that people found this a tolerable rendition, let alone an amazing one.
im still in shock it’s so well received, it’s like opposite day
I feel that way about Ariana Grande’s voice – so irritating.
I watched it because I really like Bill Murray, but IMO, Miley was by far the worst thing about it. He picked her up twice and her skirt was so short that she kept tugging it down constantly. I don’t know why she bothered – it’s not like she hasn’t made it a point to flash her lady bits in the past. It was tacky, but then again, it’s Miley.
And if she doesn’t stop smoking as much as she claims she does, she’s going to quickly lose whatever voice she has. I’m ambivalent about her as a singer, but I think you can really, really tell that she’s damaging her vocal cords.
Not surprising at all.
See:
50 ways to leave your lover
https://youtu.be/AhYZuNTuww4
The sessions: Jolene
https://youtu.be/wOwblaKmyVw
After 50 Ways I felt like I wanted her to become successful for her raw talent.
That cover of Jolene is one of my favorite songs. She has an incredible voice and is not doing herself any favors with all this “look at me!” behavior. She could’ve achieved post-Disney notoriety with just her voice and some well-chosen material. But then again, most of us thought we knew it all in our 20’s, too, and made some dubious choices. 😉 Hoping she grows out of it.
Also, her cover of Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High is really great.
Miley’s current image is just a phase. She’ll reinvent herself in a few years when she decides who she really is.
Her voice is lovely, and I liked her rendition of Silent Night, but her sitting up there dressed as a sexy elf or whatever she’s supposed to be sort brought home everything that makes me sad about how commercialized Christmas has become. I wouldn’t call her outfit “appropriate.” I rarely care about stuff like this, but I actually found her outfit to be cheesy and somewhat disrespectful.
I think the show is supposed to be that way, so she wasn’t being out of line. It fit in with the show’s concept.
Yeah, I was a little strong on that one. I just feel like Christmasis divided into the religious part and the Santa Claus part, and Silent Night is the religious part and I don’t like them to mix. But I need to get over it.
Well at least her boobs aren’t on display and she’s not grinding on anyone.
Good point, and she’s not lucking the piano or sticking her tongue out.
I love her voice she did a dynamite version of Landslide during her last tour. As a grandmother I wish she would cover up a bit. But it seems she’s having a bit of fun..perhaps too much fun but nevertheless Mily is harmless with her clothing choices after all she’s not a role model and I can’t see teenage girls dressing like her.
As most everyone else said, she really can sing. I recognized that on a Dylan tribute album a few years ago. Hopefully, one day she’ll see that she’s better than the shock value persona she’s putting out and just let her talent shine.
I wonder if she is afraid to just sing because she was so controlled as a child and now she fears that her own voice is not good enough?
i loathe that I like her voice in the christmas special. then she spoke and her smoking habit shined through with a rapsy old-lady voice.
So she better get herself together if she doesn’t want to lose that voice altogether. IMO.
I think she has a very unique voice that is constantly overshadowed by her outfits & controversial performances. Bangerz had some fantastic tracks that should’ve been singles – Drive & Get It Right really highlight her vocals. But just like Gaga, she caters to her fans over the masses or critics and dresses in theme with her album. She’s very influenced by who produces her album (Mike Will for Bangerz and Wayne Cote for Petz) I wish she would find her own style. But – just like Gaga – I think in the next few years we’ll see her mellow out and change it up.
Side note – its prob just a typo but its the Dead Pets tour not the Dead Prez tour.
I fast forward through her segments. The one thing I hope happens after this is Murray and Rock doing a film together because that was the funniest thing in the whole hour. One of them need to get on it.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Will
Definitely have to check out this special!!
This is all the more impressive because Murray approached her to do this at the last minute.
He states in Vanity Fair someone was a no show (can’t remember who) so she pulled this off with little or no rehearsal. Can’t help it , I’ve always had a soft spot for her. Murray says everyone on set was blown away!
Beautiful and love her shoes! But, it’s “Allelujah”…NOT “Hallelujah.”
In American English, it really is Hallelujah with a pronounced “H” sound. The Allelujah is used in some contexts also, but Hallelujah is definitely widely used especially in Miley’s church background. Not at all surprising that she would use this variant regardless of the original lyric.
Disagree. Understand it has the same meaning, but it’s a classic and should be respected by being done as it was originally written. And I’m sure Miley sings Hallelujah because she doesn’t know the difference.
I have a church background, too, and it was never sung “Hallelujah.”
I’m not surprised because I know she has a really good voice and when she does clean up and be a little bit serious is is nice to listen to and look at. Such a shame.
Where and when is this on???
If it’s on Netflix, you can watch it anytime. Just search for it.
My hope for this one is that she grows up,chills out, and uses her talent instead of being so extra extra looka me!!!!
Can’t bring myself to listen. If it was just about any other song yes, but not “Silent Night”… sung by Miley it would feel wrong somehow.
I know she has a great voice though.
Different strokes for different folks I guess. All I hear is a goat being slaughtered while singing Christmas carols. Festive!
I hear bad enunciation and trying to make it a country song with the pacing, rather than the classic that it is.
Couldn’t make it through listening to the entire song.
Dead Prez tour? LOL if she sings that she’s “blacker than black, I take it back to my origin” I predict a lil backlash from Nicki Minaj …. can you just imagine Miley retelling Orwell’s Animal Farm? hahahahha this idea is really making me laugh. what a great typo.
My boyfriend made me watch that Christmas Special this weekend and I hated it. Why was Bill Murray singing so much when he isn’t a great singer? Why were we supposed to recognize some famous people as famous and not others? I have all of these questions!
I like her. I laugh at her antics. I enjoy her voice.
Ditto @ “A~” . DITTO!
I’m rooting for her. I hope she stops exploiting her body and sexuality to get ahead.
Sure, she could’ve “ended” like most Disney girls: Forgotten and unemployed. But Britney is now a mom and still has a fanbase, I’m sure Miley can also be done with the stripping phase.
i know miley’s thing is dirty trippy hippy
but it just kinda comes off a someone culturally appropriating black culture and riding the wave of gay but more so gender-fluidity visibility.
so thus i cant take her seriously…
There’s a video of her and Ariana Grande singing “Don’t Dream It’s Over” for one of Miley’s backyard performances and it’s sublime. They sound incredible together.
I got teary eyed listening to her sing this. I thought she sounded beautiful.
I could care less about what she’s wearing. She’s young and she looks cute.
I liked her little bit on the Xmas special including her outfit. But does anyone else think she is looking a lot like Amanda Bynes lately? Especially that Perez shot.
Miley actually has one of the few voices in pop that I think is better live than in records. Some of that may be the musical choices she’s make, but I was very surprised the first time I saw her live and realized she really could sing.
She is a belter – and I mean that in the very best possible way. Can you imagine if she took on some Elvis / gospel songs? Amazing. Good on her.
She sounds better in that song in the trailer for the film. Don’t like her voice. I think she has massive issues with her body from her Disney days that don’t need to be aired in public via Terry Richardson shots, but which are anyway because it’s about her having a *cathartic* experience and expressing her *real* self.
There is absolutely nothing to criticise about this performance….at least nothing of consequence (I’m an ex professional musician, and you can ALWAYS pick out little things but they are usually things you yourself would have done differently, and not really criticisms). Paul Schafer should also be commended for his accompaniment. These are two very accomplished musicians who know how to work well together and get it right with ease.