Justin Bieber, Mariah Carey, and Other Highlights of the Annual Rockefeller Plaza Christmas Event

Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey's duet version of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" was clearly promoted as the main event of CBS's Rockefeller Plaza tree lighting, an annual event that always features a surprising list of music stars. This year, the lineup included Cee Lo Green, Carol King, and Michael Bublé.

Bieber was on hand to introduce the video for his song, which was largely unchanged from Carey's original song, although Bieber used a liberal amount of autotune for his sections. It was a long video, and while it was good to see Carey and Bieber sharing a screen, it would have been much better to see the two perform the tune live.

Nevertheless, the video was one of the highlights of CBS's annual Rockefeller Plaza musical event. Here's a look at a few of the other high points.

Tony Bennett Brings The Class - The 85 year-old jazz singer was in fine form on Wednesday night in his pre-taped performance of a classic Christmas tune. Bennett sang by the book, but it was great to see him looking and sounding great.

There was a lot of emphasis on "switching things up" throughout the show -- hip-hop versions of "My Little Drummer Boy" and overdone, overly-orchestrated tunes can easily fall flat, but Bennett did what he always does: he sang his song perfectly.

Katharine McPhee Covers Aguilera - Katharine McPhee was one of the only performers to choose a song unrelated to the holidays. Her cover of Christian Aguilera's "Beautiful" was much more understated than the original version, which made it much more subtle and nuanced. The song choice took guts and McPhee pulled it off.

The Very Best Of Neil Diamond - One of the best live performances came from Neil Diamond, who still has amazing vocal chops. He's always been adept at handling standards and brought his trademark energy. The crowd seemed to appreciate Diamond as much as many of the younger singers.

Of course, the highlight of any tree lighting is, well, the tree lighting. Rockefeller Center's legendary tree didn't disappoint. As the tree lit up, a chorus of "Joy To The World" filled the air, delivering an experience that brought an enormous crowd of people to their feet. Wiith over five miles of Christmas lights, it was a visual delight and a great way to end an overall solid night of music.

What did you think of the Rockefeller Plaza tree lighting? Post in the comments section below.