Kelly Clarkson's Christmas TV Special

Last night, NBC presented more sounds of music with "Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale," finding the diva in fine vocal form. The comic bits were corny, the child narrator grated on my nerves, the plethora of ads annoyed, but Kelly's performance was sterling.

The show's heart was in the right place with a sweet moral morsel at the end about the true spirit of Christmas, though the comedy filler was very contrived, featuring cameos and guest stars like Jai Rodriguez, Blake Shelton, William Shatner, Reba McEntire (Kelly's mother-in-law), Trish Yearwood, Jay Leno, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Natalie Cole and Matt Lauer.

Against a highly accomplished orchestra and back-up singers, Clarkson's vocals were just amazing. Defiantly zaftig, she was indeed wrapped in red in a variety of complimentary gowns (mostly crimson), and it was refreshing to see divaliciously dolled up as it was having a non-stick figure in the spotlight.

Her song set opened beautifully with "Run, Run, Rudolph," a rock'n'roll classic, and ended with the Spectoresque "Underneath the Tree." En route were flawless, potent renditions of "Wrapped in Red," "My Favorite Things," a beautiful acapella  harmony of "Silent Night" with Reba and Trish, the bluesy "Please Come Home for Christmas" and more.

This special was absolutely outstanding because of Kelly's tremendous singing talent, but proceed with caution regarding trite comedy moments that make old Bob Hope tv specials look edgy.