RuPaul

VH1 PRESENTS RuPAUL: HO HO HO

(Rhino)

All Christmas records are annoying to one extent or another, but few are as out-and-out irritating as this. Although it's unfair to expect subtlety from RuPaul, he's capable of better than this indignity: a selection of holiday covers treated to horrendous disco renditions played on a synth that sounds one step up from a Tamagotchi, and smothered with camp clichés. RuPaul has got a couple of decent jokes left in him ("I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus," ba-da-boom), and he gets credit for digging up Little Steven's "All Alone on Christmas" and Dolly Parton's "With Bells On," but not for treating them this shabbily. When he tries to sing outright (as on "Santa Baby"), he can barely hit the notes, and when he takes a stab at being serious, with the interminable "Christmas Nite," it's like fake nails on a chalkboard. Perhaps the best use for Ho Ho Ho's novelties will be to drive people away when the Christmas party is over.

-- Douglas Wolk

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