O Holy Night

"O Holy Night" (French: Cantique de Noël) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by a wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau (1808–1877).

In Roquemaure at the end of the year 1843, the church organ was recently renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest asked Cappeau, native from this town, to write a Christmas poem, even though the latter never showed an interest in religion, and Cappeau obliged.

Soon after, Adam wrote the music. The song was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey.

Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, created a singing edition based on Cappeau's French text in 1855. In both the French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol, as well as many other languages, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and of humanity's redemption.

Lyrics

Notable renderings

The song has also been recorded through the years by many notable singers including Anita Bryant, Mariah Carey, Cher, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Céline Dion, Josh Groban, Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, The Lettermen, Ellie Goulding and Andy Williams.

Susan Boyle

Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer who came to international attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. Her first album was released in November 2009 and debuted as the number one best-selling album on charts around the globe.

Boyle's initial appearance on the talent show fired public imagination when her modest stage introduction left audience, viewers and judges alike unprepared for the power and expression of her mezzo-soprano voice. Before she had finished the song's opening phrase a standing ovation for Boyle had erupted. An international media and Internet response coincided. Within nine days of the audition, videos of Boyle—from the show, various interviews and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River"—had been watched over 100 million times. She eventually finished in second place on the show behind dance troupe Diversity.

Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed a Dream (2009), instantly became the UK's best-selling debut album of all time, beating the previous record held by Spirit by Leona Lewis.I Dreamed a Dream is ranked fourth in its first week sales according to the Official Chart Company in the United Kingdom. Topping the Billboard 200 for six weeks, it was the second best-selling album of 2009 in the US. In her first year of fame, Boyle made £5 million with the release of I Dreamed a Dream and its lead-off singles, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Wild Horses". The success was continued with her second album, The Gift (2010), where she became only the third act ever to top both the UK and US album charts twice in the same year, and was followed by Boyle's third album, Someone to Watch Over Me, released on 31 October 2011. Boyle subsequently released her fourth album "Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage" in 2012, her fifth album "Home for Christmas" in 2013, and her sixth album "Hope" in 2014.

Larry King

Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger, November 19, 1933) is an American television and radio host, actor, voice actor and comedian whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and 10 Cable ACE Awards.

He began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s and became prominent as an all-night national radio broadcaster starting in 1978. From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program Larry King Live on CNN. He currently hosts Larry King Now on Hulu and RT America during the week, and on Thursdays he hosts Politicking with Larry King, a weekly political talk show which airs in the evening on the same two channels.

Early life and education

King was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jennie (Gitlitz), a garment worker who was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Aaron Zeiger, a restaurant owner and defense-plant worker who was born in Kolomyia, Ukraine. Both parents were Orthodox Jews.

King was educated at Lafayette High School, a public high school in the Brooklyn area of New York City. His father died at 44 of a heart attack and his mother had to go on welfare to support her two sons. King was greatly affected by his father's death, and he lost interest in school. After graduating from high school, he worked to help support his mother and did not go to college or university. From an early age, however, he had wanted to go into radio.