Tag: Christmas carol contest

Should We Have A Hymn Contest?

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

The Wind from Heaven (Bell Mountain, 13)

I don’t know what’s holding up The Wind from Heaven, but it should become available any day now.

Meanwhile, we have a mostly empty house today; and although I know Big Tech is stifling Christian bloggers left and right, I still have to try to get my view numbers back up to where they were last year.

Contests? Everybody like contests–right?

How’s this for an idea? (I won’t bother with it if it doesn’t excite interest.) A hymn contest along the lines of our annual Christmas carol contest. Within a set time limit, the person who requested the hymn that received the most views on the day it was requested will win the prize: an autographed copy of The Wind from Heaven or a cool red-and-white T-shirt bearing the quote, “If they have to kill us, they’ve lost.” Wear it to the supermarket and collect dirty looks from liberals!

Anyhow, that’s my suggestion for trying to liven things up around here. I’m tired of losing one, two, three thousand views a month compared to last year.

Should we do it? Are you ready to play? Please let me know.

And the Winner of Our Carol Contest Is….

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

May we have a drum roll, please?

Ahem! The winner of our Second Annual Christmas Carol Contest, with Joy to the World by Nat King Cole, is [trumpet fanfare]–

Hey! You! I asked for a drum roll, didn’t I? Look alive up there, willya? Now where was I? Byron, have you seen that piece of paper with the numbers on it? “It’s right there in front of you, boss. Don’t be so nervous.”

Ah. Yes. Our carol contest winner. Y’know, it was a funny thing. The winning entry was posted on the day after the contest opened, got 25 views that day, and no one ever overtook it. I never expected that to happen. I thought the lead would change hands again and again, leading to unbearable suspense and lots of hyperventilating. But the only one who hyperventilated was Byron the Quokka’s Uncle Ulysses, who always hyperventilates around this time of year anyway.

What? What did you kick me for? Who do you think you’re poking? What’s that? “The winner, boss! Who is the winner?”

Didn’t I say? Sorry! Gimme another trumpet fanfare. [Drum roll] (He sighs. There is nothing to be done about it.)

The winner of our Second Annual Christmas Carol Contest is… Erlene!

That means you get an autographed copy of His Mercy Endureth Forever, Erlene–or any earlier book in the series (except Bell Mountain, I’ve run out of those), or you can wait for The Wind from Heaven, whenever it gets published: sometime this spring, I expect. Anyway, send me your mailing address and tell me what book you’d like to get–we’ll do the rest at our end.

Thanks, everybody, for playing and enjoying our carol contest. We’ll keep on posting Christmas carols for as long as you want them–and don’t forget the comment contest, which has started already!

Happy New Year to all!

By Request, ‘Mistletoe and Wine’

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

This request (not the other one!) comes from our friend Ina, in Scotland–Mistletoe and Wine, by Cliff Richard.

This is the last day of the carol contest, so get your entries in now.

But of course we can keep on playing Christmas hymns after the contest is over.

By Request, ‘Such a Strange Way to Save the World’

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

It’s the last day of the carol contest!

This request comes from Sue, one of my Pogo friennds–A Strange Way to Save the World, by Jason Crabb and Jay DeMarcus.

So far the leading carol was posted on Day One of the contest and has never been overtaken. I didn’t expect that!

By Request, ‘The Coventry Carol’

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As the carol contest winds down–where is everybody this morning?–we still have plenty of carols to play for you.

Requested by “Thewhiterabbit”: The Coventry Carol comes down to us from 16th-century England. Sung by the Columbine Chorale, this original melody was first published in 1591, although it does go back some years farther than that. The lyrics are in the form of a lullaby for the children who would be killed by Herod in Matthew Chapter 2.

By Request, ‘Mary Had a Baby (My Lord)’

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Coming down the stretch in our Christmas carol contest, we have this entry by Phoebe: Mary Had a Baby (My Lord), by the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers.

Who will win the contest? Whoever posts the carol that gets the most views on the day it was requested. And the winner gets an autographed book. It was the best I could do be way of a prize, once King Tut’s golden mask was taken off the table.

Carol Contest: Only 4 Days Left to Go

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Our Second Annual Christmas Carol Contest got off to a great start, but has since let all the air out and is just lying there. Ninety percent of the entries were made by 5 percent of the readers; and the leading carol emerged on the first day of the contest and is still in front today.

All I can say is, I dunno what happened.

Anyhow, we’ve got four more days and anything can happen–right?

So here, to get somebody, anybody, started–Away in a Manger, British melody, sung by the choir of Kings College, Cambridge.

‘Gesu Bambino’ (Pavarotti)

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Gee, no one entered this one in the carol contest! Maybe if I post it, the contest will heat up today. There’s always a slowdown after Christmas.

Without further ado: Gesu Bambino, sung by Luciano Pavarotti.

By Request, ‘What Began in a Manger’

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Christmas isn’t over yet–not here, at any rate–and we still have a carol contest going.

Entered by Erlene–What Began in a Manger, by Carroll Roberson.

If you haven’t entered yet–well, the contest closes Dec. 31.

‘On This Day Earth Shall Ring’ (‘Personent Hodie’)

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

I’m surprised no one has entered this in our Christmas Carol Contest–glorious 14th century Christmas hymn, On This Day Earth Shall Ring, more properly Personent Hodie, sung here by the Mount Holyoke College Vespers. We sang this, long ago, in our middle school Christmas concert. Before they outlawed wholesomeness.

As for the contest, the leader from the first day is still the leader with 25 views on the day it was requested… and still leading on Christmas Day itself.  So many of you haven’t entered!

And don’t forget to show up for our cyber-Christmas party…