The Cheetah Girls

Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan, and Kiely Williams -- no Raven Symoné this time around -- kick off the Cheetah Girls' Cheetah-licious Christmas by adding some contemporary swagger to the usual seasonal album chatter. "Hey Cheetahs!" one of them says as bells chime in the background. "What's up?" and "Hey girl!" the others answer back. "Guess what? Christmas is getting closer," and the girls respond with emphatic calls of "For real!" and "Let's do this!" "This" is the modern kid-friendly Christmas album. "Five More Days 'Til Christmas" is a nice enough holiday original, but "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" is reimagined over a vague Diwali beat and twittering electronics, and "All I Want for Christmas Is You" offers some breathy, low-key R&B. Other Christmas favorites tumbled through by the trio: a saccharine "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "Feliz Navidad." Over the years the greatest holiday chestnuts have withstood hundreds of weird, wild, or misguided remakes, so the Cheetah Girls' wispy, junior Mariah Carey versions are pretty harmless. As for the rest, the girls do a nice job with George Michael's "Last Christmas," and "Cheetah-licious Christmas" is the tween catch phrase of the season. "Simple Things" and "No Ordinary Christmas" offer more of the same -- Christmas tidings and the usual yuletide clichés matched to mildly danceable beats and the occasional jingling bell. It's Cheetah-liciousness for real. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide