page_title: My Only Wish (This Year)
section_title: Critical reception
hierarchical_section_title: My Only Wish (This Year) / Critical reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Mariah Carey sings at the Neighborhood Ball in downtown Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2009. More than 5,000 men and women in uniform are providing military ceremonial support to the presidential inauguration, a tradition dating back to George Washington's 1789 inauguration.
context_page_description: "My Only Wish (This Year)" is a teen pop Christmas song performed by American recording artist Britney Spears. It was co-written by Spears with Brian Kierulf and Josh Schwartz. It was released originally in the Christmas compilation album Platinum Christmas. In it Spears asks Santa Claus to find her a lover during the holidays. The track received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. However, close to a decade after its release, reviewers felt the song was considered a modern holiday classic. "My Only Wish (This Year)" has charted in various countries, mainly on Billboard's Holiday Songs. On October 22, 2013, an audio-only video of the song was uploaded on Britney Spears' Vevo account.
context_section_description: Michael Roberts of the Dallas Observer described the song as "an unobjectionable but generic retro bounce-fest". Lori Reese of Entertainment Weekly called it "festive". In her review of Now That's What I Call Christmas!, Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch commented, "Thankfully, only a small portion of disc two is devoted to tween magnets including Britney Spears ('My Only Wish [This Year]') and 'N Sync ('You Don't Have to Be Alone [On Christmas]')". Gabrielle Rice of Yahoo! called it one of Spears's best and most remembered songs, saying, however, that it only "made the Top 10 list because the lyrics [and] fast shuffle rhythm ... are just plain cute". In his review of classic Christmas songs, The Sydney Morning Herald's Richard Jinman said that this track and Mariah Carey's 1994 single "All I Want for Christmas Is You" were "ho-ho-horrible singles", and Adam Graham of The Detroit News also commented that the "sleigh bells and holiday cheer abound on this bouncy teen-pop ditty ... follows in the tradition" of Carey's single.
  Sam Lansky of PopCrush included the song on his list of Top 10 Original Christmas Pop Songs, writing, "another millennial teen pop jam, Britney Spears' 'My Only Wish (This Year)' follows the time-honored tradition of asking Santa Claus for love", and finding it "a sweet throwback to the simpler days of [Britney]". Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine considered the song a "pop holiday classic." Steve Leggett noted the song was "a nice and bright backdrop for that Christmas party or dinner". MTV blogger Tamar Anitai praised it as "the absolute holy grail of 1990s pop Christmas songs".
caption: "My Only Wish (This Year)" received comparisons to Mariah Carey's 1994 hit single "All I Want for Christmas Is You".
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