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Friday Morning Diversion: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve, Four Ways

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 30, 2011 5:40PM

2011_12_30_diversion.jpg So this Youtube video of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt singing "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" has gone way past viral and become an earworm folks have had a hard time removing. And it's pleasant and all; we've been a fan of Deschanel's voice from back when she and Will Ferrell sang the Christmas date rape ditty "Baby It's Cold Outside" in Elf, even as her cutesy schtick has grown tiresome.

But there are other versions of "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" we love to listen to this time of year. Rufus Wainwright has an amazing version that made him some cash in a gap ad years ago. That doesn't make us dislike the version any less. Country singer Suzy Bogguss has an amazing version that's worth breaking out every 12 months. And our baseline interpretation of the song has to come from The Orioles. We've included all four versions here. Wainwright even gets an assist from Boy George in his. One of them will become an earworm for you, guaranteed. And you're welcome.

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Rufus Wainwright and Boy George

Suzy Bogguss

The Orioles