Apparently, when it comes to Christmas songs, Jesus is more popular than John Lennon.

In the second round of The Salt Lake Tribune's Holiday Music Smackdown, Lennon's song "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was soundly defeated by "White Christmas" in its head-to-head matchup.

The Sweet 16 have now been whittled down to the Elite 8, with the updated bracket provided at left.

For this third round, Utahns have until Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 9 a.m. to vote for their favorite Christmas songs that appear in the new bracket. Voters can only vote once, though they can vote for as many as four songs.

On Friday, Dec. 17, the Final Four will be revealed, and on Christmas Eve, we will publish the Christmas song that Utahns have deemed No. 1. And we shall see if it is relatively religious — or relatively secular.

Remember: Every vote counts. "Silent Night" smacked down "O Holy Night" by only one vote. —

How to vote

I To vote for your favorite Christmas songs, send your choices to music writer David Burger at dburger@sltrib.com (with Holiday Music Smackdown in the subject line), tweet him at @ davidburger, or call him at 801-257-8620. —

Get the latest bracket

Here's a pdf for the bracket of round three of the Holiday Music Smackdown: http://bit.ly/h5h2Gm