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WHEN IT comes to Christmas songs, it's hard to top Bing Crosby.

Or for that matter, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams.

Christmas tunes sung by those artists dominated the top spots in voting by readers.

Today, I'll share the winners in the popular songs category.

Tuesday, I'll share the carols and hymns readers listed as their favorites.

More than 100 different songs got votes in the popular-music category, ranging from Jimmy Buffett's "Christmas Island" to Grandpa Jones' "Christmas Guest" to Amy Grant's "Grown Up Christmas Wish" to Maura Sullivan's "Christmas Eve in Washington," a beautiful tune indeed.

Dozens of readers listed "White Christmas" as their favorite, most noting that to them, Bing Crosby simply is the sound of Christmas.

Faith Rumph of Dumfries explained why she loves to hear Johnny Mathis singing "Silver Bells."

The retired piano teacher said: "I looked forward as a youngster to the day when I would play this song in its original sheet music form on my piano. Johnny Mathis has sung so many songs with such a distinctive style and in his delightful and unmistakable way."

Sally Marcus of Spotsylvania County said she loves "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" because it reminds her of Christmas when she was a child.

"To a middle-class child in the 1950s, Christmas was just unbearably exciting," she said. "My life was a lot like Ralphie's in the '40s, except that I was a girl and didn't want a BB gun and didn't do 'double-dog dares' with my friends."

She said that back then, people didn't rush Christmas, waiting until well after Thanksgiving to get into the next holiday.

And so, to a child, sometime around the first or second week of December, she noted that "a terribly exciting thought occurred: 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!'"

Eileen Greene of Fredericksburg said she remembers being 10 years old when Santa brought her a record player and Gene Autry's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

"I played 'Rudolph' over and over that most delightful Christmas--listening to every word," she said, noting that her granddaughter, Karlee, now plays the song on the piano.

"The lovely way she plays it brings back warm and wonderful memories," said Greene.

Melissa Troutman of Stafford County said she loves "All I Want For Christmas Is You" because it always makes her smile and hum along.

Another favorite, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" makes her think of another holiday favorite, "Home Alone," the movie.

Jennifer Quinlan of Spotsylvania noted another movie connection, listing one of her favorite tunes, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," sung by Judy Garland.

"It's the original and still the best," she said, "from one of my favorite movies of all time, 'Meet Me in St. Louis,' which I always watch at Christmastime."