(L-R) Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey, and Ariana Grande perform during Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas One And All!” at Madison Square Garden on December 09, 2023 in New York City. Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MC/Getty Images
Mariah Carey had a very special holiday gift for her fans attending her Merry Christmas One and All! concert on Saturday, December 9, in New York City: a surprise reunion on stage with Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande. After singing “Oh Santa!” together for Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special in December 2020, they performed the song live for the first time.
“This is a season full of surprises, y’all,” Hudson, 42, said on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Tuesday, December 12. “Miss Mariah Carey, she’s always coming up with big great ideas. And she came up with the idea that her Christmas angels, which is Ariana Grande and myself, be a surprise for her Madison Square Garden performance.”
Carey, 54, originally recorded the song for her 2010 album, Merry Christmas II You. For the “Oh Santa!” tenth anniversary in 2020, Carey rerecorded and rereleased the song as a new remix featuring Hudson and Grande, 30. The new version served as the lead single from Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special soundtrack album.
“Nobody knew we were coming,” the talk show host continued on Tuesday. “It was so fun, it was like a reunion for all of us… It felt like being with family. It felt like Christmas!”
Hudson also proudly displayed the pearl necklace she and Grande were gifted by Carey, and added, “The crowd, when I say they went crazy — I’m still getting tags on Instagram from that performance.”
Hudson shared a snippet on Instagram of her on stage with Carey and Grande. “The Queen of Christmas” also posted a photo of their performance with the caption, “Grateful to have the gorgeous and talented, the Christmas angels @arianagrande @iamjhudjoin me on stage tonight @thegarden for our song ‘Oh Santa! (Remix)’.”
Carey previously appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show in November, and she revealed that her personal favorite holiday song is not her own bestselling 1994 hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
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“I have to say, my favorite all-time Christmas song is Nat King Cole‘s version of ‘[The] Christmas Song,’” Carey told Hudson.
(L-R) Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey, and Ariana Grande. Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MC/Getty Images
The five-time Grammy winner added that she decorates her home with a large gold-themed tree along with a smaller tree reminiscent of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
When asked to name her favorite holiday movies, Carey said, “I love Elf. I like Miracle on 34th Street, the original one.”
Carey is very serious about “the most wonderful time of the year,” and as she celebrates the holidays, she has a firm requirement for her home.
“I don’t let anybody listen to anything but Christmas music when I’m celebrating Christmas,” Carey told Hudson.
