‘Christmas With Andrea Bocelli and Friends: A Grammy Holiday Special’ to Air on Christmas Eve
The Recording Academy and CBS will present Christmas With Andrea Bocelli and Friends: A Grammy Holiday Special, airing on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, and streaming live and on-demand on Paramount+.
Bocelli‘s guests include Josh Groban, Jennifer Hudson and Dua Lipa; singer and actress Sofia Carson; and Bocelli’s wife, Veronica Berti Bocelli, and daughter Virginia Bocelli. Hudson and Lipa are both Grammy-winners, but Bocelli, surprisingly, is not. The Italian tenor, 66, has received five nominations over the years, including best new artist in 1999.
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Lipa and Carson are both featured on Bocelli’s current compilation, Duets: 30th Anniversary, which is his 22nd album to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Albums chart and his 16th to reach No. 1 on Classical Crossover Albums. Lipa is featured on “If Only,” a track from his Billboard 200-topping 2018 album Si. Carson is featured on “Moon River.”
In association with Andrea Bocelli Management, the special is produced by Ken Ehrlich Productions, with Ehrlich, Veronica Bocelli, Harvey Mason Jr., and Francesco Pasquero serving as executive producers, Renato Basile as supervising producer, Branden Chapman as producer and Julia Knowles as director. Ehrlich, who produced or executive produced the annual Grammy telecast for 40 years from 1980 to 2000, also wrote the special.
“With this special, we are not only celebrating the holidays, but also one of music’s greatest voices,” said Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “We invite families everywhere to tune in and enjoy the festive performances that Andrea and his amazing guests have in store for us all.”
“All my life, I’ve enjoyed entertaining people in person, on record, on film and on television, and to have the opportunity of doing so on CBS, where I have had many memorable appearances over the years, and with the Recording Academy, which has been a supporter of classical music for decades, is quite exciting,” said Andrea Bocelli. “I am really looking forward to sharing performances with both friends and family on my own Christmas special.”
“I am thrilled to have executive produced a show that can be enjoyed by the entire family, full of Christmas music performed by Andrea, incredible guests, and his beloved wife and daughter,” added Ehrlich. “Thank you to CBS and the Recording Academy for agreeing to bring this show to life and air on a night when families are gathered to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.”
Bocelli’s 2009 album My Christmas logged five consecutive weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It is one of nine top 10 albums he has had on that all-genre chart.
Bocelli and his son Matteo performed “Time to Say Goodbye” over the In Memoriam spot on the 2024 Oscar telecast on March 10.
Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers will have access to stream via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service, as well as on-demand. Paramount+ Essential subscribers will not have the option to steam live, but will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs.
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