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List Price: $4.95 | | Label: Winstar
Salesrank: 78704
Released: September 11, 2001 |
| Our Price: $2.08 |
| Used Price: $2.99 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Take a magical journey through sweden with music superstar crystal gayle and her guests david hasselhoff john davidson and michael damian. Featues 20 songs including silver bells and let it snow. Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 11/07/2006 Run time: 60 minutes Rating: Nr
Description of Crystal Gayle - A Crystal Christmas in Sweden:
Join Crystal Gayle, John Davidson, David Hasselhoff, and Michael Damian as they celebrate Christmas in the "crystal kingdom": Kalmar and Orrefors, Sweden. This 46-minute video from 1987 features 13 favorite Christmas songs performed in various Swedish locales as well as a brief tour of the Orrefors glass-blowing factory. Solo performances include Gayle's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "O Holy Night," Davidson's "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," Hasselhoff's "Country Christmas," and Damian's "Another Christmastime Without You." Gayle and Davidson pair up on "It's That Time of Year," Gayle and Hasselhoff join together on "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," and the four collaborate on a medley of Christmas carols. Song arrangements are fairly traditional, with overlaid string, rhythm, and vocal tracks providing the accompaniment. World champion pair skaters Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner give a wonderfully photographed nighttime skating performance set to Gayle's "Silent Night." In addition to its musical content, this video explores several Swedish Christmastime customs, including the four Sundays of Advent, the tradition of Santa Lucia, and the formal midday feast on December 24. --Tami Horiuchi
Crystal Gayle - A Crystal Christmas in Sweden Reviews:
A Merry Little Christmas with Crystal 
2005-12-18 - I'm stumped by the bad reviews people have been posting on this DVD. It is what it is - Crystal's 1987 CBS Christmas special filmed in Sweden. She is beautiful as always of course and sings heavenly, what more could you want. Well, I agree she is saddled with some not particularly talented guest stars, although David Hasselhoff seems like a likable California version of a good ole boy and he certainly was a good-looking hunk of man in his thirties. He may not be the world's greatest singer, foreign record sales to the contrary, but he works well with Crystal. It's kind of nice to see an old Christmas show on DVD in a fine print, this was likely one of the last "old fashioned" Christmas variety programs before they got hip and trendy and as false as a fake Christmas tree.
Disappointed 
2005-09-17 - I've been a Crystal Gayle fan since I saw her in concert in San Diego many years ago and feel some of the songs she sang in this DVD were good. The part where John Davidson sings to the kids outside the homes should have been cut. I would have liked to hear more songs sung by Crystal Gayle. It was hard to get into a flowing Christmas feeling.
Crystal DVD 
2001-12-31 - I am a big Crystal fan, and am always looking for something new from her, but I was really disapointed with the DVD. It was recorded several years ago, and many of the songs were dubbed from her Christmas CD, and were not even re-recorded for the DVD. In a word, stick to her Christmas CD.
AWFUL! 
2001-12-14 - THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO SAY...AWFUL! THERE'S NOT ENOUGH ROOM TO SAY HOW AWFUL.
Buy it for the singing not for the production 
2001-11-28 - I've had this video for a number of years. Sadly, each time I watch again at Christmas I notice one more example of bad filming and writing. No doubt, Crystal is a favorite of mine, and this being from her younger days, she shines in vocal abilities and beauty. But throughout the special, the writing is just plain bad, the lines corny, and the interactions awkward. It is mentioned that Crystal's guests are friends- David Hasselhoff, John Davidson, and Michael Damian. I don't mean to sound overly critical, but she didn't exactly choose gifted singers here. There is one scene with Crystal, David, and John singing together in a church, and at the end of the number, John goes totally off-key in his harmony attempts- and they didn't even cut it!
We get an education of sorts of some different aspects of Sweden. Good attempts, but there are times when Crystal is what you could call the interviewer of sorts. She seems a bit unsure of what to say, and the scene just seems awkward. I couldn't help wonder how some of these scenes slipped through.
The scenery does have its beauty. And without a doubt, Crystal Gayle's richness, power and vocal ability lend themselves beautifully to "White Christmas," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and a host of others. If it were an hour-long video of Crystal singing those holiday gems, I would give it six stars if I could.