TV REVIEWS : ‘Christmas Album’ Rests on Tradition

David Foster may be known as a contemporary pop-rock producer but--like many who find themselves in the service of Christmas music--he turns traditionalist with a languid vengeance in “David Foster’s Christmas Album” (tonight at 10 on NBC Channel 4).

The hourlong special repeats most of the music found in producer-pianist-host Foster’s current album of the same name, which mixes old-style crooners such as Johnny Mathis and Michael Crawford with newer lights such as Wynonna Judd and Vanessa Williams. Most of these talented singers wind up sounding fairly interchangeable, because the arrangements have an easy-listening sameness that doesn’t leave much room for tailoring to individual personalities.

“Blue Christmas” may essentially be a country song, and Judd is certainly a great choice to essay it, yet in this slowed-down, orchestrated, de-Elvis-ized context it’s just one more “lite” carol. Likewise, BeBe and CeCe Winans are perfect picks for “The First Noel,” but even with the hint of an urban contemporary beat and a gospel choir eventually kicking in, it remains closer to Mitch Miller than Mahalia Jackson.

So audiences cued in to modern pop, country and R&B; currents may be rightly disappointed by how very strictly all participants here hew to the middle of the road. But older viewers, and the very youngest, too, will probably find fewer hindrances blocking enjoyment in hearing some of the most familiar standards sung by standard-setting vocalists, comforting sets like a faux-holiday living-room party or a live Nativity scene.

The one sequence not directly based on Foster’s album is also the most affecting, as Ben Vereen animatedly recites “The Night Before Christmas” before a charmed group of small fry. And while no mention is made of the near-tragedy Vereen and Foster shared, when the host says “I’ll tell you what, Ben, this is the best Christmas present ever for me,” real heart-warmth briefly breaks through the soft-focus good cheer.