Michael Buble charms in annual Christmas special

Michael Buble’s Christmas in New York

8 p.m. Wednesday, NBC

The challenge with a Christmas special is how to sing “Blue Christmas” and “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and make them seem fresh as a new snowfall. The answer is simple: Get Michael Buble to sing them, which he does on his fourth annual holiday special Wednesday.

“Michael Buble’s Christmas in New York” is, of course, set at Radio City Music Hall, with a real audience, no doubt filling every seat in that singularly cavernous barn. Yet the Canadian-born crooner achieves a surprising sense of intimacy, as if he were really singing in a small club, or maybe even in your living room. It features Ariana Grande, the Rockettes,

But the real heart of the show is Buble singing with a small ensemble. It’s at this point that his many gifts are on full display. First, of course, there is the voice. It’s a great voice, one of the best in popular music. He has always been unabashed in acknowledging his musical heroes, including Frank Sinatra and others. We see and hear it again when he does “Blue Christmas,” not exactly doing an Elvis impersonation, but working the late singer’s phrasing into his own song styling.

Another gift is that ability to make the audience – whether at home or at Radio City – believe he’s singing to them. With the musicians grouped in a tight circle around him, he offers “Cold December Night” and “I'll Be Home for Christmas” with a minimalist arrangement to maximum effect.

You may have many opportunities in the next two weeks to hear those old familiar holiday classics, but I can guarantee you'll never hear them done better than when Michael Buble does them, just for you and 10 million of your closest friends.

This story was originally published December 15, 2014 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Michael Buble charms in annual Christmas special."