Music Friday: Christina Aguilera Gets a Diamond Ring in ‘Merry Christmas, Baby’

Welcome to a special holiday edition of Music Friday, when we bring you great songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Christina Aguilera belts out her rendition of the 1947 classic, “Merry Christmas, Baby,” a song about how a very special piece of jewelry has made this the best Christmas ever.

In first lines of the song, Aguilera — with an assist from Dr. John — sings, “Merry Christmas baby, oh ooh / You sure did treat me nice, oh ooh / You gave me a diamond ring for Christmas / Now I’m living in paradise, oh oh.”

Originally recorded by Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in 1947, this R&B holiday classic has been covered by a Who’s Who of music-industry legends, including Chuck Berry, Otis Redding, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen and Melissa Etheridge.

A little known fact about Aguilera’s version, which appeared on her My Kind of Christmas album in 2000, is that one of her heroines, Etta James, was supposed to be a featured performer on the track. For unknown reasons, Aguilera never got to record with James and Dr. John was picked as a replacement.

Nevertheless, Aguilera’s My Kind of Christmas peaked at #28 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and sold more than one million copies.

Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers’ recording of “Merry Christmas Baby” also was a great success. The song reached #3 on Billboard‘s R&B Juke Box chart during the Christmas of 1947.

Born in Staten Island, NY, in 1980, Christina María Aguilera moved to the Pittsburgh area as a 6-year-old to live with her grandmother after her parents' divorce. There she earned a reputation as "the little girl with the big voice." At the age of 9, she competed on Star Search and made it all the way to the semi-finals.

The next year, she auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club even though she did not meet its age requirements. Two years later, she would land a role on the series with castmates — and future stars — Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

With record sales tallying 75 million, Aguilera is recognized as one of the world's best-selling music artists. She's been referred to as the "Voice of a Generation" and claims a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Please check out the video of Aguilera’s live performance of “Merry Christmas Baby” on The Late Show With David Letterman. The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along!

“Merry Christmas, Baby”
Written by Brian Douglas Wilson and Mike E. Love. Performed by Christina Aguilera, featuring Dr. John.

Oh oh
Merry Christmas baby
You sure did treat me nice, oh ooh yeah yeah
Said uh, merry Christmas baby, oh ooh
You sure did treat me nice, oh ooh
You gave me a diamond ring for Christmas
Now I’m living in paradise, oh oh

I’m, I’m feeling mighty fine
Got good music on my radio
(Yes you do child)
Well I’m, I’m feeling mighty fine
Got good music, on, music on my radio, oh
Well I, I want to kiss you baby
While we’re standing underneath the mistletoe

Santa came down the chimney
About a half past three
Left all these pretty presents
That you, that you see before me, oh

Merry Christmas baby, merry Christmas baby
You sure been good to me, oh, oh ooh
Well I, I haven’t had a drink this morning
But I’m, I’m lit up like a Christmas tree
Christmas tree, oh oh oh, oh yeah

Oh, yeah yeah yeah
Oh oh ooh, yeah, oh, ooh,
Oh oh yeah, yeah, yeah

St. Nick came down the chimney
About a half past three
He left all these pretty presents
That you see before me

Merry Christmas baby
You sure been good to me
Haven’t had a taste this morning
But I’m all lit up like a Christmas tree

Oh, oh, oh ooh, oh ooh
Merry Christmas baby
You sure been good to me
Oh oh, oh oh
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh

Sure been good, to, to, to, me
Hey, oh oh hey

Credit: Photo by Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Underrated and Often-Misunderstood Zircon Is December's Alternate Birthstone

Underrated and often misunderstood, zircon is the colorful alternative birthstone for December. Available in a wide range of brilliant hues — from red, orange, yellow, green to blue and brown — zircon is the oldest mineral on Earth.

Back in 2014, a tiny zircon crystal that scientists believed was 4.4 billion years old was helping to unlock the mysteries of how the Earth first formed. John Valley, a professor of geoscience, and his team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, claimed that a translucent red zircon discovered in Western Australia’s remote Jack Hills region was nearly as old as the Earth itself.

Zircon likely got its name from the Persian word "zargun," which means “gold-hued.” The American Gem Society (AGS) also noted that zircon's name could be traced to the Arabic word "zarkun," which means "vermillion," the brilliant red pigment used to paint buildings in Biblical times.

While zircon has deep roots in science and history, contemporary jewelry buyers are often confused about the difference between zircon and cubic zirconia. Zircon is a naturally occurring mineral and cubic zirconia, also known as CZ, is a synthetic stone grown in a lab.

Zircon in its purest form is colorless and displays flashes of multicolored "fire" that can rival that of a diamond, according to the AGS. Other varieties of zircon owe their color to impurities in its chemical composition. The Smithsonian noted that zircons are most often cut as round brilliants to best show off their dispersion and brilliance.

The most popular color of zircon is blue, which happens to be the alternative birthstone for December. The others are tanzanite and turquoise.

The world's primary sources of zircon are Australia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tanzania, Myanmar, Canada and the US.

Zircon claims a hardness of 7.5 on the Mohs scale, compared to topaz (8), sapphire (9) and diamond (10).

The zircon gems in the photo, above, are from the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection. They were gifted by the Roebling fund and range in size from 48.3 carats to 105.9 carats. Two were sourced in Thailand and the other two were mined in Sri Lanka.

Credit: Photo by Dane A. Penland / Smithsonian.

Engagement Ring Survey: Millennials Outspend Younger Gen Z Counterparts by 63%

Millennials (ages 25-34) outspend Gen Zers (ages 18-24) by 63% when it comes to buying an engagement ring. The average price paid for a ring by Millennials is $6,700, compared to $4,100 spent by their younger counterparts, according to a newly released survey by The Knot.

Across all age groups, the average spend is $6,000 — up slightly from the pre-pandemic spend in 2019 of $5,900. Ring costs varied widely depending on whether the couple was buying an engagement ring with a diamond or non-diamond center stone. The average cost of a diamond engagement ring is $6,800, versus an average of $2,500 for a ring with a colored gemstone center stone.

Roughly two out of three couples said they stuck to a set budget, while nearly 30% spent more than planned (up 9 percentage points since 2020).

The most popular type of engagement stone continues to be a diamond (86%), with round (41%) remaining the most popular cut. The wedding planning site noted that the oval shape has been enjoying a steady increase in popularity over the past six years. Only 2% preferred it in 2015, but now that number is up to 19%. 

Among the 10% of respondents who chose a non-diamond for their center stone, the most popular pick is moissanite, which now accounts for more than one-quarter of non-diamond stones (28%, +9% vs. 2019). Moissanite is even more popular among Gen Zers (35%).

Nearly one in four engagement rings in 2021 featured a center stone that was lab-grown. That number is up from 11% in 2019.

The Knot also said that bridal couple’s precious-metal preferences are trending away from white gold. Forty-five percent purchased white gold rings in 2021, compared to 61% in 2017.  Yellow gold has increased in popularity by 11 percentage points since 2017.

What’s more, The Knot reported that while online channels, such as social media and jewelry websites, continue to be the leading resource for ring research and inspiration, proposers value the importance of in-store shopping. Exactly 67% of engagement rings were purchased in-store, with half of in-store purchases happening at local jewelers in 2021.

Proposers said they visited two to three retailers and checked out 10 rings on average — in-store — before purchasing. 

More than 90% of couples announced their engagement on social media, with Instagram (78%) and Facebook (77%) being the most popular, and 20% of couples announced on Snapchat. Of those who got engaged in 2021, more than 75% have already set a date for 2022, with fall being the most popular season. 

Of the nearly three in four engagements taking place outdoors this year, 35% occurred at a scenic spot, such as a mountain top or a place with a city view. Nearly one in three engagements took place during a planned trip, up 7% from last year when many trips had to be canceled because of COVID restrictions.

“The Knot 2021 Jewelry & Engagement Study” reflects the impressions of more than 5,000 respondents who got engaged from January through November 2021. 

Credit: Image by Bigstockphoto.com.