Idol Chatter & Voice Views

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t new holiday tunes out there worth downloading.

Kris Allen, Dalton Rapattoni, Lauren Alaina and Kellie Pickler have made sure of that.

Here’s a rundown of the American Idol holiday releases so far in 2016.

Dalton Rapattoni: The guy who finished third on the final season of Idol released his post-show debut single (“Turn to Stone”) earlier this fall. Now he’s followed it up with a nice cover of John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas,” released Dec. 9

* David Archuleta: I featured this brilliant original called “My Little Prayer” from the Season 7 runner-up when it was released. Offically, it’s listed as a Christian-gospel song on iTunes, but it certainly fits the holiday theme, especially considering the accompanying video. It’s also number 22 on the iTunes Christian songs chart as of Sunday morning.

Lauren Alaina: She released her first holiday song “O Holy Night” for the “Country Christmas Greatest Hits” album released in mid-November. The song is also available as a stand-alone single on iTunes. Lauren is set to release her sophomore album — her first since 2011 — in 2017.

Scotty McCreery: Speaking of that “Country Christmas Greatest Hits” album, it also features a song called “Christmas in Heaven” by Scotty McCreery. The song was one of two new tunes featured on Scotty’s 2012 album, “Christmas with Scotty McCreery,” so it really doesn’t qualify as a new release, but I’ve listed it here anyway.

Kellie Pickler: Kellie’s 2010 version of “Santa Baby” is still one of my favorite covers of the song. This year, she continues her tradition of a holiday single with a version of “White Christmas.” It follows “My Christmas Caroline” from last year and “The Man with a Bag” from 2013.

Kris Allen: The Season 8 winner delivers the only full-length holiday album so far from Idol alum. The 10 tracks include a refreshing mix of new songs, including “Somethin’ About Christmas Morning,” “Just Like Snow,” “Baby Won’t You Wait Until the New Year” and “Mommy, Is There More Than Just One Santa Claus.” Former Voice contestant Caroline Glaser joins Kris for a nice cover of “Jingle Bells.”

Did I miss anyone with a new Christmas song, EP or album out? Let me know by commenting below or emailing me at VoiceViews@comcast.net.