Josh Groban and his friends go home for the holidays is the latest installment of the long-running CBS holiday special and its partnership with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Home for the holidays has always promoted exactly that – raising awareness about placing children from the foster care system with new families. But this year, Josh Groban not only hosts the show, makes an appearance himself and sings a few seasonal songs with guests Jennifer Hudson, Tori Kelly, The War & Treaty and James Bay, but he also introduces a judge in his robe who officiates the ceremony leads adoption right there on the Home for the holidays Stage.

Opening shot: Tonight at the Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills there will be “a holiday special celebrating the power of family.”

The essentials: The stage is decorated with Christmas flowers and fancy snow and icicles as Josh Groban, dressed in his burgundy tuxedo, sings “Believe,” his Grammy-winning song from this Uncanny Valley Christmas classic The Polar Express. The string section rises and two drummers on stage add percussive notes. But it is the children’s choir with little children with red cheeks and scarves that rightly takes in all the applause. If Josh Groban suddenly showed up at your local elementary school’s holiday concert, it might look something like this. But that’s the issue Home for the holidays collaborates as Groban also moderates mini-interviews with former foster children who are now enjoying Christmas mornings with their families. It’s a sweet time of overload as a little boy estimates Santa’s age to be around a thousand and a half.

“There are thousands of children still waiting for a home,” Groban says later, and viewers are encouraged to visit the Dave Thomas Foundation website. But the organization’s mission also unfolds right before the eyes of the theater audience when a young couple makes the adoption of a little girl named Apple official. James Bay has to follow this climax of a heartwarming holiday moment and does his best by playing “Hope,” a Lumineers-esque number from his latest album. Jennifer Hudson also has a new record out, her first Christmas-themed release, and she sings “Find the Love,” one of his classic originals.

A holiday special isn’t complete without duets, and when it doesn’t involve adoption farewells, Home for the holidays Groban also sings with his special guests. Tori Kelly joins him for a nice, R&B-tinged run through the Donny Hathaway maroon “This Christmas,” the voices of Michael Trotter, Jr. and Tanya Trotter, performing as The War and Treaty, are featured on the standard “Do You” absolutely gigantic Hear what I’m hearing?” And J-Grob is joined by J-Hud for a rendition of “O Holy Night,” which features a Christmas orchestra to accompany her considerable vocal power.

What shows will it remind you of? A family-friendly atmosphere is also part of the Christmas spirit at CMA Country Christmas. And if you’re talking about season-appropriate celebrity duets, you should take a look A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter and the collision of two of 2024’s biggest pop stars, Sabrina and Chappell Roan, while singing “Last Christmas” by Wham!

Our opinion: I can’t say we’ve ever seen a show, with or without a Christmas theme, where an official adoption was performed in front of a live audience. But hey, Josh Groban and his friends go home for the holidays is committed to promoting its core concern. With cut-out segments showing crying children and the parents who took them in – a little girl says, before being rescued from a dubious foster home, “I was afraid Sana wouldn’t know where I was” – and Groban himself Using the camera to raise awareness, the promotion can sometimes feel like a charity fundraiser. But while this stuff takes up a lot of the spotlight, Home for the holidays has also booked some serious singing talent. Groban himself, of course – he brings an almost conversational quality to “Celebrate Me Home,” a difficult song to sing. But also Groban with guests. The duet parts of Home for the holidays really a hit, and the tremendous vocal power on stage really enhances things like “Do You Hear What I Hear” and “O Holy Night.” These are Christmas standards we’ve all heard a million times and in a million different versions. It’s an honor for Groban and his guests and a gift for us that they sound so fresh here.

Gender and skin: What? Light up. Absolutely not. Rather sweet and cuddly.

Parting shot: How the credits roll Home for the holidaysJosh Groban follows his Jennifer Hudson duet with his own rendition of Kenny Loggins’ “Celebrate Me Home.”

Sleeperstar: Jennifer Hudson can do it all. Incredible singer, EGOT status, daytime TV show host and sleeper star of this special, Hudson can also disarm you with a funny anecdote about those cold childhood Christmases in Chicago.

Most Pilot-y Lines: “Get ready to witness the creation of a family through adoption here on our stage!” An accompanying interview with the adoptive couple describing their journey to becoming parents threatens to bring your waterworks to a standstill.

Our call: Stream it. Josh Groban and his friends go home for the holidays creates a cheerful atmosphere and shows how magical Christmas can be for children all over the world. Groban is also a charming host, and musically it’s his duets with Tori Kelly, “The War and Treaty” and Jennifer Hudson that really bring the show home.

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent author and editor living in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media and Nicki Swift.