The endless joy that is The Late Late Show’s Carpool Karaoke has debuted its Christmas Special, which features none other than Mariah Carey singing her celebrated “All I Want for Christmas Is You” with James Corden as their SUV makes its way through the streets of Los Angeles with a Christmas tree tied to the roof—and a heap of perfectly wrapped presents stacked in the back seat.
Carey wears a low-cut red leather jacket while Corden sports an ugly Christmas sweater decorated with snowmen and Santas.
However, there is a treat in store for Carpool Karaoke fans, as the clip cuts in with cameo lines of the same song being performed by some of Corden’s most illustrious guests of 2016, including Elton John, Lady Gaga, Chris Martin, Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas, Selena Gomez, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Adele.
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Appropriately enough, Carpool Karaoke owes its very existence to Mariah Carey, who was the first celeb to agree to do the skit with Corden on The Late Late Show. And Adele took it to the next level, with her edition of Carpool Karaoke breaking records as the most-watched late-night clip in YouTube history (139 million views and counting).
The sketch originally started as an item for Britain’s Comic Relief charity, in which Corden picked up George Michael and drove around while singing with him.
Corden said he found the experience “joyful” and when he took over as host of The Late Late Show it was one of his big ideas—but the idea failed to excite artists at first.
“Imagine a recording artist. They said no,” Corden told Stephen Colbert in an interview earlier this year. “There wasn’t anyone who would do it, and then there was a chance meeting with Mariah Carey, and she said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’”
Juiced with Mariah’s star power, the sketch snowballed and today, Carpool Karaoke is one of the most eagerly anticipated items on late-night TV.
