Michael Bublé’s new holiday special Christmas in the City — produced by Saturday Night Live head honcho Lorne Michaels — airs tonight on NBC with special guests including Camila Cabello and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham. It’s the first Christmas special in several years from Michael, and he explains why he stopped doing them for a while.
“Every time I would have a guest –whether it was Mariah Carey or Justin Bieber or Mary J. Blige, or Celine Dion or Barbra Streisand or Rod Stewart — I always had to call them. I was the one who had to do it,” he tells ABC Audio. “And it was like, ‘Y’know what? I don’t want to keep doing this’…it was tough.”
“But, y’know what? When Lorne Michaels calls, you don’t say no,” he admits. Michael says he and Lorne, a fellow Canadian, had the same vision for the special, which is marking the 10th anniversary of his hit album, Christmas.
“Both of us talked a lot about COVID and what the world has been through,” Michael notes. “And we felt, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this record, it would be really fun to have a really family-friendly, funny celebration.”
Michael’s also celebrating the anniversary via his partnership with bubly sparkling water, which has created a “yummy” special limited-edition flavor called “Merry Berry Bublé.”
“I really hope that I can be part of the bubly family for many, many years to come,” Michael says, “and I really believe if that is to happen, we always need to make sure what we do is fresh and organic and really fun.”
You can win your own can by sharing something you did this year that was naughty or nice, and follow and tag @bublywater, using #merryberrysweepstakes.
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