Arts: Christmas With Cee Lo

Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com.
Television Christmas With Cee Lo With elfish assistance from Rod Stewart, the contestants of The Voice, Miss Piggy, and the Phantom of the Opera. By J. Bryan Lowder Posted Friday, Nov 30, 2012, at 03:54 PM ET The holiday special is a risky thing to attempt in this irony-soaked age. At its core, this type of program is designed to create an intimate, earnest—indeed, "special"—moment, a simulacrum (with varying degrees of glitz) of the joy and warmth we're supposed to feel with friends and family during the holiday season. Watching a big special at this time of year—whether it's a variety act or a classic movie like A Charlie Brown Christmas—promises the sense that the whole country is at one big Christmas party, everyone taking a break from the stress of our individual lives and stepping inside for an hour of cheer and hot chocolate. It's old-fashioned, charming, cozy, delicate—and therefore, very, very easy to mess up. Enter Cee Lo's Magic Moment (TV Guide Network, Friday at 8 p.m. ET). The title art for Cee Lo Green's new Christmas special features a scene of the singer careening out of control. The candy-apple Cadillac carrying him (bundled in snowy furs, of course) threatens to overrun a trio of flying white horses, while Santa C's bag of presents—including his successful back catalog of neo-soul and Southern hip-hop hits—tumble, one-by-one, off into star-spangled space. The glowing reflection in Cee Lo's sunglasses and expressionless face suggests something terribly bright in his future—but what? The glitter of Las Vegas, perhaps? Or, more specifically, the strobes and lasers and spotlighting of an overproduced, under-rehearsed Christmas show taking ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate We Won the White Vote The Big East Is a Failed Experiment Liz Lemon Gets Married and 30 Rock Solves the Traditional Wedding Dilemma for the Rest Of Us	Advertisement
Manage your newsletters subscription: Unsubscribe | Forward to a Friend | Advertising Information
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group | Privacy Policy The Slate Group | c/o E-mail Customer Care | 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 | Washington, D.C. 20036