Ready to devour nieces and nephews of Singles Jukebox posters the world over.

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[4.38]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: I WAS AN AMATEUR THEATRE DORK ONCE SO I GET IT I GET IT BUT I DONT GET THIS BEING A HIT IT’S LIKE MAKING AN OVERTURE OR A CHASE SCENE IN TANGLED OR THE FILIPS FROM WEST SIDE STORY A HIT SINGLE WHY AM I YELLING OH YEA I WAS NEVER THAT GOOD AN ACTOR OR DANCER BUT I CANT TURN IT OFF SORRY NOT SORRY MARIA MARIA MAAARIAAAAAA I JUST MET A GIRL NAMED MAAARIAAAAAA
[5]

Alfred Soto: Before I checked the source I thought, “Ugh, this sounds like that self-affirmation crap from Frozen.” Kids these days learn to talk in psychoanalytic clichés. A generation ago they wanted to talk like Jamaican crabs. Diane Warren chords are another story.
[1]

Anthony Easton: I haven’t seen the film, and I am outside of the demographic, so I am not sure why this is such a monster hit. But one of the things I know is that Menzel is such a belter that she is perfect for Disney. She also has enough self-awareness that she brings an ironic tinge to the most earnest of genres (see Glee).
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: You’re telling me this is the best “Defying Gravity” ripoff Disney could commission?
[3]

Iain Mew: This song’s success means that the UK singles chart currently contains “Let Me Go,” “Let Her Go” and two versions of “Let It Go”! Idina Menzel’s version is the pick of the bunch. Admittedly that’s a very flattering coincidence, since Barlow and Passenger both show that there are more irritating ways to take your songwriting into the bleeding obvious, but it’s an obvious winner against Demi Lovato too. Both versions go too musically over the top, but while Lovato’s constant blast approach just emphasises that, Menzel’s theatrical one does find room for the relief of some subtlety. Just listen to the wry mix of humour and feeling that Menzel manages to squeeze out of “the cold never bothered me anyway” first time round. I’m still not going to listen to even this one out of choice, but next time I see my niece I won’t mind too much if she still keeps playing it from whatever phone is handy.
[5]

Brad Shoup: I heard this in full from that four-year-old on YouTube (I’m not linking because it’s called the “Baby Version,” ugh). If you’ve seen it, you know she’s not… on a Broadway track, but she keeps up with the tempo and gives an astounding enunciation effort. When I was little, I’d bop around to oldies, but the words were 90% gibberish. So I don’t know how many young vocabularies are going to acquire, say, the world “fractal.” But give credit to Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for making “isolation” a sly pun, even if they hang an inflection point on “the past is in the past.” Menzel is all control, pitched high, navigating the text of denial until that wonderful little close. It’s all a bit plastic, save that xylophone-heavy bridge, but to a four-year-old this must seem like the biggest music in the world. 
[8]

Scott Mildenhall: If you’ve ever seen any given Children In Need, you may be familiar with how, probably after a repeat of George Alagiah doing some kind of jig, casts of West End productions come on to perform something from their show. Stripped of intended context and setting, it’s confusing. Who are these people? Why are they singing in that affected manner? And what’s the story? Ultimately it just feels like people shouting at each other. EastEnders have already done their bit! Terry just wants to go to bed.
[4]

Rebecca A. Gowns: The endless cold metaphors; the cutesy synchronicity between “let it go, let it go” and “let it snow, let it snow”; the sounds of snow gusts; the musical theatre mezzo belt. It sounds like a Disney song, the kind that would be nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars. By jove, it is a Disney song that’s nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars! The Demi Lovato version is less hammy, but only slightly so — it’s still breathless and “burying the past in the snow.” It’s charting, but I’m not sure why. I’m not sure what the average citizen finds charming about belting. Or tunes from cartoons, for that matter. “Tale as Old as Time” and “Somewhere Out There” were big on the radio charts, but as mawkishly sentimental as those were, they at least practice some restraint. When I listen to this, I feel like I’m being auditioned to.
[3]