About Carol Derby

 I started the first Christmas Carol Derby in 2020, a tense and scary time when people needed more fun and whimsy in our lives. I love holiday music as a genre, and for years I'd quietly glared at the mention of Whamaggedon or Little Drummer Boy Challenge. Sure, I find some holiday tunes intensely annoying, but I can't get on board with games which discourage players from listening to holiday music at all. Besides, I like "Last Christmas," and I'm not alone. I also love several Christmas songs that get less air time than your Rudolphs, Harks, and O Little Towns. I thought, What if I started a game that encourages players to listen to holiday music, introduces them to songs they may not know, and rewards the unpleasant experience of getting stuck in a store listening to that one song that makes you feel like invisible hands are rubbing ground glass into your soul?

And so, Carol Derby was born. 

Here's how it works: Every year, I ask friends what holiday songs they love, hate, and hear constantly. I use the answers to make the list, which is divided into categories:

• Stocking Stuffers: frequently played songs that earn the fewest points. Jingle Bells will never not make this list
• Nice: common songs people seem to like, worth more than Stocking Stuffers
• Naughty: common songs people seem to dislike, worth more than Stocking Stuffers or Nice
• Tried to Be Good: songs that split the vote, worth somewhere between Nice and Naughty (Note: This category is suspended for 2022 due to lack of split votes.)

Then, from my own research and extensive listening, I choose a handful of songs for the last category:

• Christmas Miracles: worth the highest points, these songs rarely get airtime and may be unknown to players. I choose them by listening to a lot of Christmas music from various times and genres, and I do mean a lot!

Players keep their ears open through December and cross songs off their lists as they hear them on the radio, in stores, on internet stations, in holiday movies, and anywhere else they might stumble across a song without warning. Some play casually while others listen to internet stations in their downtime to catch the ever-elusive Miracles. 

Derby runs from December 1 through December 31, at which point "runners" give me their point totals and, if they've finished the list, the date on which they finished. I decide 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place based on a combination of points and whether the list is completed. The winners get small prizes.