Christmas is just around the corner, people are flocking to the Christmas markets, warming themselves with mulled wine and Christmas songs are trickling out of the loudspeakers everywhere. In 2015, Kylie Minogue and Helene Fischer released entire Christmas albums and conquered the charts. And this year? Are there new hits or are the well-known Christmas songs played over and over again? Songs like Happy Xmas by John Lennon, Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid or The Power Of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
The special thing about The Power Of Love: The song was not intended as a Christmas song at all. But the title is not alone in this. ABBA's I Have A Dream or Westlife's cover version of it weren't originally intended as Christmas songs either, but were only made into one by the radio stations.
The 90-minute documentary Pop Giants - Christmas Hits celebrates the biggest Christmas hits of all time. Both the centuries-old Ave Maria sung by Paul Potts or Silent Night sung by Miley Cirus and the modern classics like Wonderful Dreams by Melanie Thornton or My Only Wish This Year by Britney Spears.
The show tells the stories behind the great Christmas classics. For example, that Driving Home For Christmas was created when Chris Rea was still poor and unknown, he couldn't afford a train ticket to go to his parents' house and was taken in the car. Or that George Michael was accused of plagiarism by Barry Manilow for his world hit Last Christmas and an out-of-court settlement was reached, but he still earns around 8 million euros every year from Last Christmas. And that not only his greatest success, but also his early death is directly linked to Christmas.
The documentary is also dedicated to the Christmas songs that play a leading role in films such as Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You in Love Actually or Bing Crosby's White Christmas in Home Alone.
The films, the Christmas hits and the stories behind them are commented on by eloquent celebrities such as curvy model juror Angelina Kirsch, singer Jay Khan, actress Jeanette Biedermann and the moderator couple Giovanni Zarrella and Jana Ina. Music producer Alex Christensen, who produced her Christmas album with and for Helene Fischer in 2015, also has his say.
The stars talk about their most unusual Christmas experiences and presents, and the celebrities with foreign roots report on the special Christmas customs in their home countries.
