Only two more days to go before Chrsitmas! I’m sure you’ve all bought and wrapped your gifts, planned and shopped for your holiday menu and had the dress you’re going to wear on Christmas Eve dry-cleaned and neatly pressed. But have you already prepared your holiday music playlist?

We have. And just in the nick of time too. We’ve all been sick for the past few days and haven’t really had time to enjoy the food and the parties (thank goodness we already bought our gifts ahead of the holiday rush) but being under voluntary house arrest for a much needed rest gave us all the time to listen to and pick out songs for Christmas.

After listening to countless versions of para-papum-pums, we’d like to share our holiday playlist this year:

This Christmas (Aretha Franklin, 2008)

The Christmas songs in this album are all sung in Franklin’s signature classic-Queen of Soul style. Check out her soulful renditions of Silent Night and Ave Maria. When this album first came out on iTunes, I must have been one of the first few ones to get it and I wasn’t disappointed. Her voice may have lost its youthful lustre but Aretha Franklin’s melodies can still give me goosebumps.

A Very Special Christmas (Various Artists, 1987)

This is a five-album series made especially to benefit Special Olympics, featuring top pop artists of the 80s. When I’m too lazy to pick out a playlist, this is the default holiday album I play on my iPod (there are just too many cool selections in this album bringing me back to my Debbie Gibson days). My hands-down favorites: Whitney Houston’s Do You Hear What I Hear, Sting’s Gabriel’s Message, Madonna’s Santa Baby, and Jon Bon Jovi’s Please Come Home For Christmas.

The Sinatra Christmas Album (Frank Sinatra, 1987)

I am a huge Sinatra fan and when I think of holiday tunes, I almost always hear Frank Sinatra’s Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and I’ll Be Home For Christmas in my head. They’re so classic and very smooth. Nice to listen to whenever I feel a little bit sentimental during Christmas.

Wishes (Kenny G, 2002)

I received a copy of this album 2 or 3 years ago as a Christmas gift from my then boss at a bank. It has always been a part of my Christmas repertoire ever since. As with most Kenny G songs, this album is all instrumental. When I want to close my eyes, sit back and rest from all the holiday stress, the Grammy award winning saxophonist is almost always my choice.

My Christmas (Andra Bocelli, 2009)

I have not had the pleasure of listening to recent holiday recordings that make a tug at my heart except for this one from the incredibly talented Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. He sings with such passion and vigor that I can’t help but be moved by his songs. The duets in this album are just unbelievable. My clear favorites are Angels We Have Heard On High and his duet with Mary J. Blige on What Child Is This.

The Christmas Album (Lea Salonga)

I have this album both on casette tape and CD. It’s a little embarrassing to admit but I used to sing out loud to the tracks on this album many many years ago and to this day, I swear I can sing the entire repertoire in Lea Salonga’s The Christmas Album by heart. Oh yeah. This is definitely one Christmas album you can belt out to and pretend you’re doing Broadway at the same time (haha). Hands-down gems in this album: Grown-Up Christmas List, The Gift (duet with Michael Lee) – super duper nice, and Pasko Na Sinta Ko.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Vince Guaraldi Trio, 1986)

This album was orginally released in 1965 as the soundtrack to the CBS television show A Charlie Brown Christmas and then re-released in 1986. Classic 60s piano jazz never sounded so happy and sublime. You don’t have to be a Peanuts fan to enjoy the songs in A Charlie Brown Christmas. This is for when I feel like I want to be a child again and sing Linus and Lucy.

Merry Christmas (Mariah Carey, 1994)

I purchased this album just to complete my collection of Mariah Carey CDs thinking it’s probably just so-so but I ended up liking it and listening to it year after year. Who hasn’t heard (or danced to!) her All I Want For Christmas Is You? This is definitely a Mariah Carey keeper.

Noel (Josh Groban, 2007)

This is the pop classical (is there such a thing?) singer’s first holiday album and was considered a sleeper hit during the year it was released. His voice packs quite a punch – tender one moment, passionate the next. O Come All Ye Faithful is a clear winner in this album and the grandiose ending always leaves me breathless.

Christmas Portrait (The Carpenters, 1978)

Okay, I just had to include this album for its cheesiness factor. There is no other occasion appropriate for cheesy and sappy songs except for Christmas. So go ahead and cringe when I say that I like Merry Christmas Darling by The Carpenters and still sing to the lyrics whenever I hear it on the airwaves from time to time.

That’s it folks. What’s on YOUR holiday playlist?