5 Hot versions of 'Baby It's Cold Outside'

It’s a wintertime classic, covered by everyone from Dean Martin to Lady Antelbellum to two “American Idol” alums, but the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” shows no sign of cooling off. Ever since it was first written in the early 1940s, the “patter”-style song has been recorded by a slew of artists, even winning songwriter Frank Loesser an Academy Award after the tune was performed by Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams in the 1949 movie, “Neptune’s Daughter.”

But some renditions of this duet are more memorable than others. Forget the traditional boy-meets-girl versions of this song—check out these totally hot versions of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

Rudolph Nureyev and Miss Piggy

Who can forget the shirtless ballet dancer-- dressed only in a towel-- as he performed “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” in a steam bath on “The Muppet Show”—with Miss Piggy, no less! Nureyev’s 1978 “Muppet Show” appearance was a groundbreaking event for the show, and his performance with the Divine Miss P was considered a highlight. You can check out this boy-meets-pig story:

Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel

The 2003 movie “Elf” featured Will Ferrell dueting  “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with co-star Zooey Deschanel—well, unbeknownst to her, anyway!  While Ferrell did the singing in the movie, the accompanying soundtrack had Deschanel singing the song with Leon Redbone. Incidentally, Deschanel must really like this song—in 2011 she recorded it again, this time as part of the Indie rock duo She & Him.

Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton

Blondes really do have more fun—at least in this case! This little bit country, little bit rock and roll dynamic duo teamed up to record a decidedly traditional version of the song for Stewart’s 2004 album,  “ Stardust…The Great American Songbook Vol. III.” Amazingly, after decades in the music business, Stewart finally won his first Grammy Award in 2005 for this album. Maybe his duet with Parton did the trick!

Chris Colfer and Darren Criss- “Glee"

Gleeks across the universe got an extra dose of holiday cheer when, in 2010, “Glee” stars Chris Colfer and Darren Criss performed the song on a Christmas-themed episode of the popular TV show . Colfer’s character, Kurt Hummel, sang the song with Criss’ Blaine Anderson in the episode "A Very Glee Christmas,” garnering kudos from reviewers. (Entertainment Weekly gave this version of the song an A+, calling it the “complete and total highlight of the episode and one of the best moments of the second season.”) You can check out the full performance here:

Rock Hudson and Mae West

Their duet of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” at the 1958 Academy Awards  made People Magazine's list of “Unforgettable Oscar Duos”—and what a duo it was! Part steamy, part comedic genius, the 65-year old West donned a feather headdress and kept a persistent Hudson, then just 33 years old, at bay. Check out their May-December showmance here.