The infamous 'Christmas Carol Bloodbath' of ... 2011

This week we pit musical legends against upstarts and imitators, in a duel to the death. You be the judge and jury.

Let’s start with the best selling single of all time, Christmas or not … 50 million copies of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” have been sold. Here’s the crooner from the musical Holiday Inn from 1942:

Crosby was dismissive of his role in the song's success, saying later that "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully."

Lady Gaga couldn’t resist the challenge. Here’s her “White Christmas”:

One of the most loved seasonal songs is this chestnut (sorry) from Nat King Cole, “The Christmas Song”:

Who but a teenage upstart would dare to challenge the supremacy of Nat Cole? Why none other than young human Justin Bieber:

To hear more shocking audio, listen to the episode through the above audio link. We pit Burl Ives against Michael Buble, The Harry Simeone Chorale against The 3 Tenors, and Frank Sinatra against Frankie Valli. No contest!

Which is your favorite?

Every week on “Record bin Roulette,” KPLU’s John Kessler and John Maynard put an insightful and fun spin on a century's worth of discarded vinyl. The feature is published here and airs on KPLU 88.5 every Thursday during Morning Edition, All Things Considered and on Weekend Saturday Edition.