By Chris Varias
Enquirer contributor

Amy Grant began her career in Christian music before crossing over to the pop charts.

Grant's Saturday night Christmas concert at U.S. Bank Arena with country-superstar husband Vince Gill took a reverse order, making its way from the secular to a spiritually filled finale.

The couple's "Simply Christmas" tour delivers everything that would be expected: plenty of classic carols with contemporary Christmas songs put in the mix. Backed by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Grant and Gill also played a selection of their nonholiday hits, with Grant taking on one of her husband's songs and vice versa.

In all, it could be most television-ready Christmas show ever fashioned for the stage. What more could TV viewers want? It's family-friendly, mildly entertaining, and it stars two good-looking people.

The Christmas material was delivered in traditional arrangements for the most part. Gill's take on "The Christmas Song" rivaled Nat King Cole's in its clarity and simple beauty, but his decision to slow down Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" was ill-advised. Gone was Elvis's catchy rock 'n' roll Christmas classic, replaced by a melodramatic ballad in the style of one of Gill's country-weeper hits.

Gill redeemed himself a few songs later as he paid tribute to two of his guitar-playing heroes. His Chet Atkins homage, a rewrite of "Mr. Sandman" called "Mr. Santa," was filled with virtuoso finger picking, and Buck Owens received his due in a version of one of the all-time great Christmas country songs, "Santa Looked a Lot like Daddy."

When it came time to play the hits, Grant chose to cover Gill's ballad "Whenever You Come Around." She had a bit of fun at her husband's expense as she introduced the song, saying, "When we talked about singing each other's songs, I was scared because he sings so much higher than I do."

Gill followed with Grant's pop smash hit "Baby Baby." This was Gill's turn to make fun of himself. "Every guy that looks like me dreams of wearing spandex and being a pop singer."

The most memorable selection on the night was a Gill number, "It Won't Be the Same This Year," a Christmas song he wrote after his older brother died.

As for the religiously minded finish, an a cappella medley of "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" was the simply presented performance to drive home the message.

The two-set, 21/2-hour show also featured comedian Henry Cho, who did a couple of 10-minute stand-up routines that went over well with the crowd. Cho's interplay with Gill and Grant, where he would lead into songs with a quick joke, didn't work as well.